Anyone in the Tyre business?

[KK20]

Footprint is not width. It's length. Driving on sand requires both better footprint on bigger tyres with smaller rim sizes is always better. The narrower tyres were always popular on farm bakkies (General SAG were first prize) but not necessarily a great all round choice.

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[Fire-stick]

Keep the following in mind when buying, some people have pointed out a few:

A wider profile tyre, deflated for driving on sand will give the "floatation" aspect or "buoyancy" on soft sand.
The same tyre, deflated for absorbing shock when driving on rocks will possibly (more than likely) have the sidewall shredded.

A larger diameter tyre has a longer rolling circumference thus a direct impact on your speed figure at any given engine revolutions when comparing a smaller tyre and a larger tyre at the same engine revolutions.
It may be a small difference but sometimes noticeable and sometimes affects the drive ability or efficiency of a vehicle.

The larger tyre (depending on the size jump) will have the vehicle travelling slightly faster at the same revs, this can sometimes affect the vehicles economy in a negative way.

The change in speed above can impact the sand driving ability, sand requires more torque at the wheels than speed for efficiency.
Tyres spinning in sand dig in faster whereas slowly turning tyres sufferers less of the same fate and allows forward movement.
Even with a 4x4 vehicles low range engaged there can be a noticeably different drive and available torque for low down traction at low down revs.

A hard rubber compound tyre with a fantastic looking aggressive tread pattern will be durable on rock and stones or mud but can be crap when driving in the wet on tar.
Mud will be fun but abrupt stopping on tar not so fun...

A tyre with a high rating on it's sidewall (strength wise) is not the best tyre to deflate for sand, the sidewalls are not designed for the balloon effect.

The same tyre above used on rock terrain will generally suffer less when the sidewall is cut and there are a good few more layers with the higher ply rating to protect the sidewall of the tyre or have a few more layers in reserve when cut.

Tread patterns have a direct impact on the type of terrain on which they can be used but in turn some will have an impact on the type of road surface on which they are used and the handling or vehicle response you will receive in return.

Technique, common sense and understanding a vehicles limitations is the crucial part of off-road driving and the actual drive ability of any tyre.

Fit for purpose and the general terrain usage is the bottom line aspect to consider and keep in mind.

Having a hard compound tyre that will last a high mileage on rough terrain but not be suitable or ideal on tar where they are predominantly used may have a downside on everyday drive ability.

[KK20]