Vauxhall Insignia Country Tourer driven

[LizziePope]

We've recently done a full tow test with the new Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer and now we've had a chance to drive its all-terrain sibling, the Country Tourer. Please click here to read more.

 

[otherclive]

Looks a nicely kitted out car with a good towing capability and the four wheel drive and extra ground clearance would be helpful in difficult conditions. But All- Terrain it certainly isn’t. Just look at the tyres they wouldn’t help a great deal getting off a soggy CL/CS as I’ve found out with my XC70 and latterly the Superb. Mind you Penrith does seem to be my bete noire as even my Sorento with BFG All Terrains on couldn’t exract the caravan after one Penrith downpour.

 

[DaveA1]

I'd love to be able to afford one, pension won't run to one Some Town and Country tyres would sort that, I used to fit them., I once very gently pulled my old Swift Corniche off a wet CL in Wales with my rear wheel drive Omega, whilst a chap with a 4x4 Forester was gently moving sideways, and he kept piling on the rev's. :dry:
Think my Sports Tourer is the bees knees.

 

[otherclive]

Town and Country that takes me back a long while. I had them on a Marina Estate and on a pre Xmas run back from Leicester down the M5 it started to snow until only lane 3 was passable with care. On joining the M4 we kept moving and even manoeuvred around stranded vehicles up the hill leading to the A46 turn off to Bath. Great I thought it’s all downhill from here. But unfortunately drifting snow had even trapped the snow ploughs and so the police diverted us into the gritting depot for soup and bread. One consolation is that the Queen also became stranded approaching that junction and spent the night at a local hotel in Old Sodbury just up the road. Guess she and her security vehicle were in Range Rovers too.

 

[Hutch]

Bought these tyres a month ago. Alĺ weather, Knokien Weatherproofs. Should get me off a wet cl site.

 

[DaveA1]

Hi Hutch
May be a bit daft question. But, what do they mean by waterproof tyres?
I've never had mine fill up with water.

 

[otherclive]

Bought these tyres a month ago. Alĺ weather, Knokien Weatherproofs. Should get me off a wet cl site.

My sons got them on his Freelander 2 and finds them good on tracks and wet grass where he lives in Wales. I’ve got Cross Climate+ on our two daily drives.

 

[Hutch]

Hi Hutch
May be a bit daft question. But, what do they mean by waterproof tyres?
I've never had mine fill up with water.

Thought I got it wrong for a moment, They are Weatherproofs not Waterproofs, basically the new type of all weather tyre, that has great braking in the cold and wet but also good rolling resistance , even in the summer.
You fill big tractor tyres and JCB tyres with water to get better grip, thats why they bounce down roads.
Also the area indicated in Green gives you tread depth left.

 

[Anseo]

I'd like to see a separate thread or reviews on mud-terrain type tyres for cars SUV's after reading some comments here.

 

[otherclive]

Mud terrains are very aggressive treads only suitable for proper off road vehicles including pick ups. Most unsuited to cars or SUVs. I had 33inch BFG MTs on my SWB Pajero but this was not very good to drive on tarmac but ace off road.
Look at Tyre Reviews website and they link to lots of independent tyre tests mostly by German testing organisations. But you won’t find Mud or All Terrain included for these you need specialist 4x4 magazines and forums.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

Saying that there’s an AT test review in the link

 

[Hutch]

Mud terrains are very aggressive treads only suitable for proper off road vehicles including pick ups. Most unsuited to cars or SUVs. I had 33inch BFG MTs on my SWB Pajero but this was not very good to drive on tarmac but ace off road.
Look at Tyre Reviews website and they link to lots of independent tyre tests mostly by German testing organisations. But you won’t find Mud or All Terrain included for these you need specialist 4x4 magazines and forums.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

Saying that there’s an AT test review in the link

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre-Type/

 

[Anseo]

Mud terrains are very aggressive treads only suitable for proper off road vehicles including pick ups. Most unsuited to cars or SUVs. I had 33inch BFG MTs on my SWB Pajero but this was not very good to drive on tarmac but ace off road.
Look at Tyre Reviews website and they link to lots of independent tyre tests mostly by German testing organisations. But you won’t find Mud or All Terrain included for these you need specialist 4x4 magazines and forums.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

Saying that there’s an AT test review in the link

In general l agree otherclive.

I have used General Grabber and Bf Goodrich mud-terrains on Land rover 110's and Discovery's and used them for all types of roads and driving conditions with excellent results.

I had previously experimented with other brands of mud-terrains and found that for road use at legal permissible speed, many were bone shakers or sometimes downright dangerous.

CAD and other developments in tyre construction have I found produced some remarkably good tyres, albeit cost and to quite large extent aesthetics when car and SUV users view them (no street cred ) being a barrier.

 

[otherclive]

Thanks Hutch

 

[Hutch]

I'd like to see a separate thread or reviews on mud-terrain type tyres for cars SUV's after reading some comments here.

John, check out the reopened thread.

 

[DaveA1]

Hi Hutch
May be a bit daft question. But, what do they mean by waterproof tyres?
I've never had mine fill up with water.

Thought I got it wrong for a moment, They are Weatherproofs not Waterproofs, basically the new type of all weather tyre, that has great braking in the cold and wet but also good rolling resistance , even in the summer.
You fill big tractor tyres and JCB tyres with water to get better grip, thats why they bounce down roads.
Also the area indicated in Green gives you tread depth left.

Sorry Hutch.

 

[Hutch]

Hi Hutch
May be a bit daft question. But, what do they mean by waterproof tyres?
I've never had mine fill up with water.

Thought I got it wrong for a moment, They are Weatherproofs not Waterproofs, basically the new type of all weather tyre, that has great braking in the cold and wet but also good rolling resistance , even in the summer.
You fill big tractor tyres and JCB tyres with water to get better grip, thats why they bounce down roads.
Also the area indicated in Green gives you tread depth left.

Sorry Hutch.

By the way I am not saying all JCB and tractor owners fill tyres fill them with water, many years ago this was done to fill them with about 25% to get more grip.

 

[Anseo]

By the way I am not saying all JCB and tractor owners fill tyres fill them with water, many years ago this was done to fill them with about 25% to get more grip.

Used to be common practice round these parts, particularly with the old lightweight tractors with narrow wheel base, lowering the centre of gravity with water in the tyres helped particularly when working on side slopes.