Ask most 4WD drivers how much time spent on/off-road and there’s every chance the answer will be inaccurate. Not because drivers are lying, but because no-one really counts up the hours to say with any accuracy what percentage of time is spent on tarmac and what’s spent off it. Because that would be boring.
Some tyre brands boast of their MT’s off-road performance yet they squirm all over the road. Others talk about being capable ATs, yet the first mud bog they encounter ends the journey. So just how to match the right tyres to a 4WD?
The answer is to choose tyres that do more than one thing. Because every 4WD does. Not only that, but that 4WD probably does more than one thing really well, so the tyres need to also. If the 4WD spends a majority of the time tread deep in mud then a tyre with big self-cleaning hunks of rubber is good. But big hunks of rubber that grip the tarmac also are better. So a tyre like the Maxxis MT772 RAZR MT is ideal.
But what about if the 4WD spends time split between the open road and the open range? If that’s the case then the Maxxis AT811 RAZR AT will work. This may be an All Terrain in name but it’s a Rugged Terrain tyre in nature: it’s a tyre can take to the tough with a clawlike grip through dirt and gravel, even though it’s reassuringly smooth on the road. In other words, it does more than one thing very well.
Those who only ever veer from the highway a little bit will still need puncture resistance for sharp stones and some grip for unsealed terrain. In which case, a tyre like the Maxxis Bravo AT is a good bet (and has been for the last decade or so).
The point is: don’t accept a trade-off in performance based on the split of time between different surfaces. Spending a lot of time in the mud does call for a mud tyre. But that mud tyre must work on the road too, and preferably doesn’t hum like an aircraft taxiing for take-off. Don’t write off 20 percent of the performance because the vehicle spends 80 percent of the time off road. Maxxis says its tyres have proven to be remarkably effective in New Zealand and can be trusted.
