Which tyres to buy for sand driving in India, and what pressure to run

Short answer first. For sand, buy a good all-terrain in the size your 4x4 came with, then spend what is left on a decent pressure gauge, a deflator and a 12V compressor. Sand rewards a big, soft footprint and steady momentum. It does not reward aggressive tread blocks, and it punishes a tyre you cannot air down and then air back up.

Pressure does more work than the tread pattern

BFGoodrich's own 4WD advice on its India site is specific. Drop pressures by 5 psi at a time until you find the right footprint on sand, do not go below 20 psi, and at 20 psi do not drive faster than 25 km/h. The same guidance says momentum is your friend on sand and that you should use a proper gauge instead of guessing.

That is the whole drill. Air down where the track turns to sand, keep the car rolling in a gear that lets the engine pull, and air back up to road pressure before you touch tar again. Thar owners are typically running somewhere around 32 to 34 psi cold on the road, with the driver's door label as the final word, so you are putting back 12 to 15 psi in four or five tyres. A compressor is not an accessory on this beat, it is the thing that lets you use the tyres you bought.

Mud-terrains are the common mistake. BFGoodrich's guidance for mud is that proper mud tyres let the vehicle's weight push down through the slop to grip firm ground below. Sand asks for the opposite. You want to stay on top. Big open lugs also mean more road noise and faster wear on the 1,000 km of highway it takes to reach Jaisalmer or Kutch, and a worn blocky tyre is no better in sand than a fresh all-terrain.

What a set costs, and the sizes to work with

On the Mahindra Thar, the AXT runs 245/75 R16 on steel wheels and the LXT runs 255/65 R18 on alloys, with all-terrains fitted to the 4WD versions from the factory. Replacement costs work out to roughly ₹6,800 to ₹13,000 per tyre in 245/75 R16 and roughly ₹9,000 to ₹13,500 per tyre in 255/65 R18, which is about ₹36,000 to ₹54,000 for a set of four, and remember the tailgate spare makes it five.

If you are still choosing a variant, the 16-inch steel wheel is the friendlier sand setup in my view. More sidewall to deflect and a rim that can be hammered back into shape costs less to replace after a bead-off moment.

The Maruti Jimny runs 195/80 R15, weighs 1,205 to 1,210 kg, has 210 mm of ground clearance, a 40 litre tank and no lockable differential, with 104.8 hp and 134.2 Nm. Light is good in sand. A Thar diesel at 1,774 to 1,783 kg has to be driven harder to stay afloat, which is where its 132 hp and 300 Nm earn their keep.

The trade-offs to accept

Keep the load index and speed rating at least at the original figures if you change size, because a low-pressure tyre in soft sand works hard and gets hot. Stay under the 25 km/h at 20 psi line and you will not cook a sidewall. Budget for the compressor and the gauge in the same purchase, not next year. And pick your sand carefully: drive marked routes, take the permits a site asks for, and leave protected desert and forest land alone.

Sources

• BFGoodrich India: 4WD tips for driving on different terrains
• BFGoodrich MENA: off-road 4x4 tyre tips
• Spinny: Mahindra Thar tyre guide, size, price and recommended pressure
• Autocar India: Maruti Suzuki Jimny specifications
• Autocar India: Mahindra Thar 4x4 vs Maruti Jimny performance comparison