Buyers Guide to off Road Tyres
So, you want to buy some off road tyres?
The first thing you have to do is decide what sort of off road driving you want to do.
There are many types of terrain that you may be driving on, and you should direct your choice to the main type of terrain that you are likely to encounter. For instance, if you will be mainly driving on sand, a snow tyre is perhaps not a good choice.
Before we look at tread patterns etc. you have to make another decision. How much tarmac time will your tyre be taking up? The reason why this is, in my opinion the first choice, is because you need to decide between all terrain tyres that generally have a 50/50 split, tread pattern wise, between on and off road; or, mud style tyres that are designed for around 20/80 % road/off road. Another advantage of all terrain tyres is that often they are made of a harder rubber compound, which means they tend to wear less, particularly when used on the road, so last longer. A good example of an all terrain tyre is the BF Goodrich, which last for a very long time, but still have good to fair off road capabilities.
As this title is geared towards off road tyres, lets presume you have decided for the more aggressive mud tyre as opposed to the all terrain offering?
The next thing to look at then, is the main use of the tyre, because this will help point you towards the required tread pattern. For instance, if driving a lot in mud, particularly the type of mud with high clay content, you will need a tread pattern with good self cleaning capabilities, otherwise the tread will quickly clog up, and all you will have is the off road equivalent of a racing slick with no grip at all.
However, if sand is your choice, although the same mud tyre may do very well, there are tyres that do very well in sand such as the Geolander MT, whose tread pattern allows for better flow of the sand between the treads. Its interesting that sand shows some of the qualities of water or very wet mud.
Should you have a lot of snow to drive through, you may choose a tyre that has the ability to add studs when required, amongst others Hankook manufacture a tyre that is basically a mud tyre, but does have the facility for adding studs.
My choice is a good all rounder, mud tyre wise, and reccomend the Kumho KL71 as a very good choice indeed. It has a very good and original tread pattern style. The tyre is also, for a mud tyre, very well behaved on the road, with good resistance to wear.
A small caution to end here, if one chooses a mud tyre, please remember that generally, it will not behave as well as a road tyre, when on the road. Grip may suffer, particularly in the wet. So I advise a little practice and perhaps a slightly gentle right foot until you are used to the handling charactaristics of your chosen tyre.
