This has been on my mind all year.

Would someone please explain to me the reason why someone would buy an offroad capable 4wd, remove the offroad tyres and buy low profile road tyres?



It certainly gives me a small chuckle and shake of the head while waiting at the lights.

But am I missing something?

One would simply end up with a heavy slug of a sports car or a 4wd that wouldn't do very well offroad.

Is it image??? If, like 60% of all 4wd's in Australia, the owner has no intention of getting the tyres dirty, what type of image are they trying so hard to portray?

I guess we all blow dough on things that do not make sense to 99% of the population but we usually have some twisted logic that enables us to justify it to ourselves and anyone who asks why.

What that logic might be for the low pros on the 4wd I could not even guess at. Ask the guy. I am sure it will be a beauty.

Its fashion. Someone thinks it looks different and cool, their mates do it and all of a sudden you see them all over the place.

At least with the tyres you can always take them off and put the originals back on. I once had a holiday in mainland USA and all around town were these little utes, or pickup trucks. They all had been resprayed but for some reason their trays were all skewed and twisted at an angle. They were all lowered too. Basically a little work truck was now good for nothing but to show off to their friends.

Perhaps the low profile tyres also let the vehicle get into height restricted underground carparks too?

I understand your point moby (and it's a good one) - that people may get grungy cars and do them up in an unusual way to get attention. We have all seen the added extras such as coloured lights underneath, changing colour paint scheme and heard the sub woofer 3 streets away.

The motivation for doing this is to hopefully attract attention - particularly from a potential partner. It would be fair to say that these things are done by younger people (males under the age of 30).

But what about the 30, 40 and 50 somethings? Business people, families, the movers and shakers who want to portray a deliberate image of themselves through their pride and joy automobile for the boss, co-workers, friends and family. I have seen low profile tyres on Landcruisers, Hummers, Hiluxs and Navaras.

While waiting at the lights I look out the side of my sunglasses and try to think what the owners of 4wd's with performance road tyres are possibly thinking, and hope there is a perfectly reasonable explanation that my feeble brain hasn't yet considered.

But I haven't come up with much...

I have come up with the image of a tough & rugged looking body with sensitive shoes. Say, someone like Steve Irwin wearing shiny italian business shoes from Giorgio Amani.

Then I have come up with the mate who wants to have a similar car to you but conveniently prefers you to take your car away, “We better take you 4wd down south this weekend Jim just in case we decide to go off road!”

Elroy Jetson said...




While waiting at the lights I look out the side of my sunglasses and try to think what the owners of 4wd's with performance road tyres are possibly thinking, and hope there is a perfectly reasonable explanation that my feeble brain hasn't yet considered.

Maybe it's nothing more than they like the look of big diameter rims and low profile tires.

Elroy Jetson said...

Would someone please explain to me the reason why someone would buy an offroad capable 4wd, remove the offroad tyres and buy low profile road tyres?

The owner sounds "short" to me...

ka43 said...

Q: Why do thousands of women drive big f*** off 4WD's around the suburbs and taking the kids to school??
A: same as above. Image, "Im cool", fully sik and most of all, just wankers!!

Women do it to feel safe AFAIK, and to ferry lots of kids around. My wife uses my Landcruiser sometimes because it's got 8 seats and she doesn't need a dedicated Tarago etc when she can borrow my car.

ka43 said...

Q: Why do thousands of women drive big f*** off 4WD's around the suburbs and taking the kids to school??
A: same as above. Image, "Im cool", fully sik and most of all, just wankers!!

A: Possibly cause 4wd's have larger seats to better accommodate the wide loads.

That common range of light commercials gives one, from very hard springing and thinly padded seats to suit the mass of the nip, add to that a low profile tyre that have no give, and one is sure to rattle one's brains, and provide lotsa dollars to chiropractors down the road a ways.
Pneumatic tyres, those that contain a certain amount of air as a buffer against the road bumps transmitted thru the iron tyred wheel, were invented to take the pain out of vehicle travel.
Seems to be a back to the future of the brain, mite have greeny points, for the brain dead[}:)]

I need to think of something witty to say when I come across one of these people bogged at the beach.

I can honeslty say the reason people have low profile on 4WD is freedom of choice.
I"ve had the impreza's with the sports muffler that you can hear it 3 blocks away . And now realized i was getting to old for it, so got a new hilux SR5 with all the bling....nudge bar, side steps,roof rack, the usless rollbar that comes with it and the hard canopy. Havent got the low profile wheels for it yet but i'm just going to go for the 18inch wheels. The 20's look good but have to be a be a bit practical, if you hit the side of a gutter with 20's on you gona make a mess and cost you alot to replace it.
So why am i wanting to go low profile? Am i going to go 4WD'ing...NO. best i'll do is maybe on a dirt road. The reason I'm doing it is cuase I belive it looks good and I like it. If i was to take it offroad then yes the mud tyres would be my first choice. But there is no way in hell i'm gona take a brand new hilux and scratch the paint work

Hope this enlightens people on the reasoning of the low profile problem. In case I didnt say it clearly Its cause the owner think it looks good

So that's it!

It is simply image.

Good on ya for telling it how you see it.

Now I have many questions for you Nightbreed:

Does it bother you that your car probably has at least one third of a tonne of extra weight that you don't require at all and this will slow your car down and/or make it less fuel efficient.

Secondly, could you please bring me up to speed as I purposely avoid most advertising regimes, is it the thing to do or do you intend to add any traditional 4wd add ons such as a snorkel, winch, air lock diffs, suspension and body height increase?

Thirdly (this thought process doesn't apply if you're a fortunate person who enjoys all aspects of work), all that bling costs money. Money is energy from you working. Working takes up a large proportion of your time. Some of this time could be spent on the water instead.

Lastly, you live in a beautiful part of Australia and not in Chicago. Before you spent money on your vehicle it had the possibilty to get you to some beautiful and less visited beaches and camp spots. Do you still have the same urge like many of us do to go and explore, or at least have the feeling that you could get out and do it one day?


This is my angle:

I go away at least every second weekend. Most weekends the 4wd is needed to get to a destination. I appreciate the benefit of the 4wd system on the car because I have been previously (sometimes hopelessly) bogged in a 2 wheel drive over a 100 times (once for 18 hours!).

With this in mind, when I get back to Perth for the work week I can't help but find it comical that someone has bought a specialised car that is designed for a specific purpose and they have consciously spent more money and time to make it totally unsuitable for the purpose that it was designed for. And to top it off the owner of a 4wd with low profiles tyres are trying to display an image, presumably of being cool!

As a comparison. You may not be into 4wding but into boats. If someone bought a very seaworthy boat that had a hull with a highly respected design. In the interest of image and "looking cool" they got the depth of the hull cut right down to just above the waterline. Of course they would have a powerful motor, have some colourful bling lights and a loud stereo. Now unable to go out into the open ocean you see them putting around the marina all afternoon showing off in their name brand boat in the hope that people notice. Would you find this comical?

Well Elroy i can certainly see the comical side to it .. put a smile on my face with that last comment. very good point.
A for the weight problem.. nah doesnt bother me to much basically just drive it form A to B i bought it due to the fact use to have a old 85 hilux and think there a great car. cant buy the 18inch wheels yet anyway havemnt got the money for it lol.
I think about the snorkels and winches and stuff people buy it if there gona need it or use it going out bush probably say yep go for it. Mind you people stick them on just cause they look good on a ceratin car and never take out.
As for the exploring unvisted beaches if had an old 4wd yep probably take it on the sand.
I think it comes down to personal choice what u put on a car or boat, someone out there will think your a knob anyway so best just to please ya self

I agree on ya angle totally. got my car specifically for carrying dive gear and tanks to and from the dive boat. also being a family man great for throwing the kids in the back tray, wife in back seat and all that room in the front for anything else haha .

I still find it funny watching the young kids with hyudai excel with there sports kits, spoilers and flares trying to make there car into a evo or sti, but some one must like them cause theres so many out there.

each to there own i say not making fun at people with or without low profile. Long as that person is happy I recon thats what matters the most.

Elroy Jetson said...
The motivation for doing this is to hopefully attract attention - particularly from a potential partner. It would be fair to say that these things are done by younger people (males under the age of 30).

Because there's nothing like all guys, flashing lights and dance music to make you look ... yeah.

Seriously, in the history of driving around like this has anybody ever picked up a girl? It's like watching street skaters try to land a trick.