Wide tires or pizza cutter tires?

[TeCKis300]

Just playing devil’s advocate, the LX600, LC300, and Sequoia all come on 265 aspect tires. They weigh almost as much as the LC200 and have more power and torque. The TRD Pro Sequoia does have 285/65r18 Wildpeaks (P rated)…but that could be for looks versus performance.

I get that no test is perfect but every off road related test I see favors skinnies. I would like to see the test that favors wide tires. I found the results showing contact patch being the same area between skinny and fat, with the skinnies being longer, to be surprising.

Fair point.

It still comes down to weight. The 300-series dropped a lot of weight and is more MPG focused. Curb weight is down by 400-600lbs.

The 200-series also had 265s fitted overseas. These were lighter weight and lighter power configurations. Operating in regions with lower prevailing speeds.

Tires are complex things with lots of dimensions and trades. These "tests" are rudimentary at best and not indicative of total performance.

Skinnies may feel great with more agility due to unsprung mass, mpg, and performance in niche conditions. But they will have significant trades to overall performance and it's a balance for the individual to decide on.

 

[whodoe]

I ran several sets of KM2 255/85 16s on my 100. Room for chains up front, allows you to pick lines you can't with ~300 aspect ratio tires, cut deep into muddy tracks, good performance on rocks, but horrible in sand with a 6k lb. truck.

Hey boss , did you run a lift or mods to make a 255/85 fit in the 100?

 

[staggrlee]

Hey boss , did you run a lift or mods to make a 255/85 fit in the 100?

OME medium lift. No other mods were necessary and no interference or rubbing issues even with chains.

 

[Heckraiser]

There's another thread on this topic floating around out there. I like the Tinkerer videos a lot and the guy is smart, but I think comparing one model of tire, one vehicle (weight) is not exactly a comprehensive or definitive. I can say anecdotally, without having measured or done any of the Tinkerer tests in the video, switching from 35"x11" to 35x12.5" improved every aspect of how my truck drives on pavement, on dirt and in the rocks. Handling and ride quality are both better. Despite Tinkerer's carcass flex tests, what isn't addressed is the margin of safety when airing down a wide tire--it has an inherent bead-retention benefit, making it safer to lower the PSI more with less risk of losing a bead than you could safely do with a skinny tire. If you consider the lower PSI you can safely run on a wider tire, the flex testing and contact patch measurements almost certainly would have turned out different. Only downside of going wider (for me) was MPG, which to @JohnPW 's point above, is probably the deciding factor in why Toyota decided to mount narrower tires on the newer models.