Technical Panda Cross 185/65 r15 off road tyres

[chopsuk]

Does anyone else have any experience of off road (rather than the std all season) tyres? I've ordered some £70 Riga Maxi Cervinia off-road / knobblies, to try for better grip in a muddy and debris strewn area, which has also punctured two standard tyres.

The Riga Maxi Cervinia has a circ of 1970mm v the standard 1952mm rolling circum, so it may just work. There are others, such as the Riga Rally2, but at 1998mm, the circumference is more of a risk. It's possible that a 175 could fit the arch better, but I have a feeling it may not fit the wheel. I don't want to go too far from the standard, and keep them road legal too - these are E labelled.

"Particularly good tire for loose and sandy conditions. Tread depth ± 10mm with an open profile with a lot of grip. The Maxi Cervinia has a slightly tighter pattern compared with the Riga Rally2.
The tire features an E-label and number.
In addition, the Maxi Cervinia is much cheaper in comparison to the various designs such as the Indy Sport SG, FEDIMA F/Kx. "

http://www.rallybanden.com/en_GB/a-38140117/riga-maxi-cervinia/riga-maxi-cervinia-185-65r15/

 

[Phantom3D]

195/65-15 fits fine. But would not run snow chains with that small gap!

 

[R1NGA]

Those Riga's will be full of hellish vibration on the road, but will undoubtedly work on the rough and mud. Just what sort of terrain do you visit with your 4x4 Panda then!?

 

[illy]

As a person with off road experience and tried different tyres on my land rover and ford maverick, fit them and your in for a lot of road noise and lets be honest I have a 2015 Panda 4x4 and they are not the quietest as standard, just sayin thats all lol:devil:

illt

 

[chopsuk]

thank you chaps, that's useful. It's rough ground, steep in places, mud plus old debris which punctures normal tyres too easily. Yes, the road noise will be significant, but they won't be run all the time - I intend to get a spare set of cheap steel rims for them and will try running a front pair first, to ensure it's OK before forking out for the rear 2 tyres and rims.

Phantom 3D - haha, yes - barely room for anything in there, let alone snow chains. For info, I had trouble when a 195/65 r15 was fitted in error to the front - it fouled the arch when turning right, another reason I may go for the smaller circumference of the 175/65 r15 on some cheap steels.

They have no 185 in stock and 175/65 R15 are 1940mm v the 185's 1970mm (stock is 152). http://www.rallybanden.com/en_GB/a-38140101/riga-maxi-cervinia/riga-maxi-cervinia-175-65r15/

Some more questions, if anyone's able to answer:?

1. I assume a set of 6J x 15" steels should fit, but does anyone know if I need to be particularly cautious about offset etc, or 35mm should be about right as similar to other panda wheels?
2. Is the 2015 Panda Cross either 4x98 PCD, or 4 x 100 PCD (I can't find a definitive answer anywhere and it looks as though it may have changed from 2013 models which were probably 4x98)?
3. Does anyone know if the standard 2015 Cross rims are 6" or 6.5" (again, seems to be some confusion with the smaller wheeled 4x4 and older cross etc)?

 

[MikeySkiBoy]

Would having tyres of different radius on both axles cause any problems with the clever gubbins figuring out when to engage the 4x4 mode and maybe cause problems with driving two different sized axles when in 4x4 mode?

In my head it will be working to turn the top of the tread on the bigger wheels slightly faster than on the smaller wheels and space between them on the ground will stay the same. This might cause a bit of grief to the mechanism and excess fuel use and wear and tear in the drive mechanisms, clutch, and tyres.

Or am I talking rubbish?

Maybe an expert can clarify?

 

[R1NGA]

You're right - you SHOULD put the same rolling radius wheels on both ends of a permanent (or equivalent) 4x4. So I'd suggest to Chopsuk that the angry 175's are the ones to go for, but fitted all round, not just on one axle.

 

[chopsuk]

Thought I’d update the thread to say that the Riga Maxi Cervinia 185/65R15 work very well. I bought a second pair of wheels to use them with. The added traction is truly great. Apart from routinely pulling a heavy trailer through mud with ease, the Panda Cross also pulled a stuck van out of my field. It was also superb fun off road in the deep snow (remember the beast from the east?) and surprisingly good on ice.

I’ve not used them for a couple of years, because I bought a Land Rover series 3 as a better tool for the dirty and bigger towing jobs. This is also simpler than continuing to annoy the family with the high road noise of the Cervinia’s heavy tread and also easier than worrying about on road safety performance (necessitating driving even more slowly everywhere than I usually do), plus having to swap wheels regularly.