Any cheap or steel wheels for the LR3?

[jwest]

Its been a while since I originally posted this -- and I still haven't found a cheaper winter set of rims. Is any one aware of any cheaper choices for wheels to mount snow tires on for a '05 LR3?

just curious, you made it through 2 winters - what did you do then? all terrains, winter/summer tire swaps? By now you might have long forgotten having bought $800 in stock oem 18" rims. Just do that or find the person who has bought an lr3 SE which comes with 18's, and they want to go the bling route - their 18's will be cheaper, but $200 ea for a simple perfect fit is not too bad considering they'd be new.

Better yet, why don't you just get a great tire for all seasons up there in VT? I got some Nokian WRG2's for the Audi and they are really quite awesome. They are nearly a "winter" tire but fine all year if desired. They make some fantastic all around tires like the WRG2 suv, WR suv, which would be good or you could sell the 19's (assuming that's the issue) and run bfg at ko's all year round. Safety "sipe" them for better winter control.

 

[lionvt]

I've just been doing the winter/summer tire swap. I'm still looking for someone who went the bling route so I could buy their old old OEM 18" wheels. For some reason the 19" wheels are generally more available, but I've discovered its invariably a headache to have more than one size tire/wheel for a particular vehicle. Even watching on eBay, the 18" wheels seem to be only single wheels (the spare usually) instead of a complete set.

The vehicle has still been under warranty, so I've just been paying for the tire swap because it was in for scheduled maintenance anyway. But I prefer to have the second set of wheels so I'm still looking.

We live on a class IV road -- so an all weather tire won't cut it (see attached pic, that's the LR3 behind the mired Honda, the photo is from my Disco I that I used to pull him out). I run Nokian studded Hawks in the winter, supplemented with some square link chains (which I very occasionally need). In the summer I replaced the original (and absolutely terrible) Goodyear Eagles with Pirelli Zeros -- which are nice and quiet at highways speeds but can handle the occasional mud bog on our road.

 

[jwest]

Great photo - you are lucky to have such a cool road to get to your house. I'd take it in my audi just fine except the clearance might be tricky in a few spots. I think the 340 hp and these nokians make a huge difference with the quattro. We went looking for steep streets in Seattle during the big storm this past christmas and it made it up every one that had "road closed" signs at the top and bottom - momentum and hp was key though when feathering the throttle all the way.

Aren't you spending $10-$25 per wheel to swap and balance each time...?

 

[lionvt]

Yes, its costing $150+/yr just to swap tires out -- which is the primary reason I want to get the extra rims.

My brother has an Audi with the nonstudded Nokian Hakkapeliittas and can usually make my road -- if he has the available clearance, which is not always. Those Audis are little tanks with snow tires on them -- but their ground clearance kills them when the road is like this.

I have to point out one fun factoid about that photo (taken 1 week ago) -- that is my 75 year old urban mother in law in the LR3. She had called me from her cell phone to say someone was stuck in the road and I had gone to retrieve the Honda.

Although I wouldn't trade my D1 or the RRC straight up for the LR3 -- I smile when I read these Discovery v. LR3 debates on Discoweb because I think many here are missing the point of the LR3.

Anybody can drive it. Almost anywhere.

I had sent my mother in law into the village for groceries. Try doing that in your Discovery when the road is like this and see if you stay married. One day last mud season my mother in law took my Discovery into town and it so scared her coming back that my wife almost didn't talk to me for a week.

But put her in the LR3, rotate the terrain response knob to a suitable setting, and say, "Don't forget the eggs" --- That's really all it takes. I ask her, "how was the road" and she honestly says "I didn't notice anything."

Which is one reason I don't like the rig all that much -- its a bit boring, and its a little too smart for its own good sometimes, but any idiot can drive it, and that is damn impressive much of the time.

And I'm talking stock vehicles on a road (or close to it). I love the mods and those guys who are out bushwhacking on trails and goat paths (love the tent on your web page) but its really hard to make those apple to oranges comparisons. But for a stock vehicle that can drive me to work down a road like ours and then carry a client to a business luncheon without missing a beat -- there is really nothing else like it that is 100% stock.

And going down the icy road, it totally rocks on days that I am sliding sideways down it in my Disco. Going down hill on our twisting driveway on an icy day is nothing short of amazing in the LR3.