Bongo Fury

The question: are 195s significantly better in the snow than 215s

The reason for the question:
My 4WD Bongo came with the standard set-up of 215s on the back & 195s on the front - but fairly cheap ones. Oh and a Japanese 205 on the full-size spare

I'd planned to replace all 5 with 215s for the usual reasons. ie Simplicity of replacement with the spare in the event of a puncture & a long drive ahead and the ability to rotate the tyres to keep the wear even & protect my viscous coupling.

In practice the rears wore down to 3mm, while the fronts have hardly worn though, so the ability to rotate the tyres may not be much of an issue.

Back to the original question.....
I replaced the rears just before christmas with Quatrac 2 215s, but they only had 2 in stock, so the question of what size to put on the fronts was delayed until new stock (probably Quatrac 3's) is in Jan/Feb. I'm still half minded to put 215s on the front for the puncture issue, but a fair amount of my driving is done on remote roads that have more than their fair share of snow. The Bongo has performed faultlessly over the last 2 winters, and I'm wondering if having the wider profile on the front might reduce the steering effectiveness in snow? I'm also thinking that, if the wider rear tyres start slipping, then maybe the narrower profile on the front will give better traction.

What's the snow experience of those with 4WDs fitted with 215s all round?

I am on 215s and have a manual box.
I have not got stuck in the snow, I tend to use the bongo in situations where a 2 wd car can be used and if the snow gets out of hand, the 4wd will get me out. For heavy snow and play, the Landie is used.
On the road, you might find that four 215s might make the steering twitchy. My 4x215 is twichy, I have not driven a 195/215.

Mine isn't twitchy on the current 195/215 set-up. I haven't heard others commenting on their 215 equipped bongos being twitchy - some seem to reckon that it handles better than with the 195s. Maybe tyre type? Still looking for someone with comparative experience in snow though....

Mine's a 2WD Auto and I have brand new (<1000mile) 215/16 Quatrac 3's all round - been out today and did the run detailed in "Was it you" thread.

Snow nearly everywhere along with tw@ts who think that if there is a bit of snow anywhere you mustn't exceed 15mph on the road - all following each other nose to tail in the tyre tracks. Got fed up with it in the end and just blatted past in the uncleared lane on a dual carriageway stretch - no twitching, slipping or anything.

IMHO 215 is just about the perfect width for any conditions if using a decent all season tyre.

We have 215s all round and 4wd. Very good on snow on flat or slightly inclined ground, quite good up fairly steep hills. Rubbish coming down hills due to weight of vehicle.

Can't really add to what has been indicated by folks who have posted.......
back in my 2CV days...... the 2CV had 125 tyres and the Dyane 135's..(some 2CVers fitted the wider tyres).... now that is only 10mm in it and to be honest..... you couldn't really tell the difference on snow or otherwise(and I drove plenty of 'em when I was a specialist).....the only difference was the makers..... up to around '82 you could only get Michelin but then Uniroyal & Firestone starting making tyres for them......there was a time when the racing guys preferred the Firestones as they "scrubbed" easier, but the Vanners preferred the Michelin for longevity and as many were converted to sleep in the extra weight..... So Make/Type could be another variable in the debate....just a thought

When I used to drive this:

I preferred the Firestones on the front - less understeer. Back didn't seem to matter, as long as you stuck to 28psi, with 26 in the fronts.

Drove it through a few snowy winters, and aside from the heating issues it was fine - with the roof off, of course!

But when I had this:

It was Michelins all the time for longevity. Performance really wasn't an issue.

(That photo was a while ago - that wee 'lad' is now 18!)

Our 4wd was twitchy on 195 (front) 215 (rear), now we have 215's all round (by choice) and it's settled right down.

Doone wrote:Our 4wd was twitchy on 195 (front) 215 (rear), now we have 215's all round (by choice) and it's settled right down.

I was thinking of 215's all round are the standard Alloy wheels all the same size and just under or over sized with tyres then?

On the one we have now, they're on 16" alloys. We have had 215's on 15" wheels before and we prefer how it handles with 215's in all weathers including snow.

Doone wrote:Our 4wd was twitchy on 195 (front) 215 (rear), now we have 215's all round (by choice) and it's settled right down.

Exactly - my experience also.

SFAIK rim width is uniform.

scanner wrote:

Doone wrote:Our 4wd was twitchy on 195 (front) 215 (rear), now we have 215's all round (by choice) and it's settled right down.

Exactly - my experience also.

SFAIK rim width is uniform.

Ta Scanner

I reckon I need new tyres all round fairly soon- MOT is due shortly

my manual 4wd is on 195's all round and its been up the steepest inclines i could find as hasn't had any misshaps at all

dobby wrote:

scanner wrote:

Doone wrote:Our 4wd was twitchy on 195 (front) 215 (rear), now we have 215's all round (by choice) and it's settled right down.

Exactly - my experience also.

SFAIK rim width is uniform.

Ta Scanner

I reckon I need new tyres all round fairly soon- MOT is due shortly

If you can manage to get some of the Vredestein Quatracs you won't regret it.

Was on the original 195/215 setup on my 4wd Manual with the standard 15" alloys, but would be lucky to 10k milkes out of the fronts. I was told it was because I was using van tyres, and was advised to go 215's all round, so did using budget tyres Nankang 611's ( recommended + fitted by Wheelquick) now some 30k miles / year and a half later I've still got them on and although they are getting close to the wear indicator, I've had no problem with the little snow we've had, so I've just purchased four new Nankangs @£37 a corner + p&p from camskill.com. ( life to far away from Wheelquick )
I can not fault the Nankangs at all, road handling, noise etc.