Off Road Tires

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2013

These converted our AWD Montego to a winter half track. Studded these tires on their own wheels and they actually out performed the Blizzaks on our other car, for a lot less cost. They have the usual studded winter tire squirm and noise, but not as bad as others were before. But after getting a 3 foot blizzard and many other snow storms, these have proven themselves. And on ice? You can't beat studded tires in my opinion. Took Tire Rack's advice and went down an inch in wheel and tire size, but the taller sidewall gives us the same effective ground clearance, which is valuable in deeper snow. And that taller sidewall is more forgiving on Maine's frost heaved, potholed roads.

Our new Michelin hydro all seasons were downright dangerous in snow the previous winter, so glad we got them off for winter!

Initial Review, 35,000 Miles on Tires
March 24, 2013

have a 2000 F150 7700(same as light duty F250) It's lifted 11" with cut out fenders and sees it's fair share of off-roading. We have hot dry desert climate in summer w/ cold icey n snowy winters here. I travel 264 miles each way every other week to go home from work. Over there its a mountain pass usually snow covered 4-5 months and heavy rains at home. I truely get the best/worst of all driving. These tires aren't pretty but siped they are great! 35,000 miles and still holding strong for probably a third year and totaling 60-75K miles. Now if they would just make larger tires!! hint hint ;)

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2013

Initial review-
Amazing grip, don't have to brake on on/off-ramps, these beat the Nitto 555's and Sumitomo HTZ3 by a wide margin. Added 275-35-18 tires and GT500 SVT rims to a stock GT Mustang, simply amazing tire in the dry. Have not driven in rain yet so will update down the road.
Tire rack confirmed these were date stamped late last fall, shipping in 4 days and balanced very well. Money well spent!! Running at 37 psi currently. These do seem to pick up small rocks and sand and shed it just as fast, no biggie its a max summer tire!

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

I cannot say how much I love these tires off road !!!! If you're looking for an exceptional offload tire with good on road manners then look no further. I've tackled mud, rocks, and extremely deep snow (several feet deep) and these tires have pretty much reduced my winch usage to monthly checks and maintenance because I've yet to need to use it since getting these tires. I wheel mostly in the Black Hills of SD, that being said I cannot tell you how good they handle deep mud, however if they perform half as well in deep mud as they have in all of the other terrains then they will do great! These will be the only tires I put on my Jeep unless Goodrich develops a better set :)

Initial Review, 150 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2013

I have to write this review to talk about these tires. First the Goodyear F1 RFT came stock. They were great in the rain, good dry traction especially on the 1/4 mile track, hooked and leapt off the line, however the ride was horrible. One think I really did like about the Goodyears, they have a protective lip that covers the rims, protects them from curbs. The turn in was terrible. The Goodyears lasted 14,000 miles. The insides wore past the wear bars, on factory alignment.

Now on to the Michelins, unbelievable difference in ride quality and road noise over the Goodyears. These are non-runflats so the side walls actually give. Better ride more compliant over bumps, so far no tramming (live in the D.C. area 495 on and off a lot). The best part is the turn in these tires are so willing to turn and give you so much more confidence than the Goodyears. I cant believe the grip they have, the harder you throw them into a corner the better the grip. Have not got them to squeal yet. That will happen next week at the track. Will update next week after the track. They look a lot more aggressive on my rims as well.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 02, 2013

Bought these almost 1.5 years ago for my wife's Audi A6 Quattro AWD and it became an absolute tank in the snow. Nothing could stop it. Turn the traction control off and it just dominated the roads. Truly forged a path for plow trucks to follow in the February snow storm where New England saw upwards of 3 (THREE) feet of snow. I was beside myself with this tire being labeled as "All-Season". Props to Audi on their AWD powertrain and all that, but these tires just showed to up perform, and they did just that. The roads have dried up now and the ride is still very smooth. Our two kids (3.5 and 7mo) both pass out from the smoothness and quietness of the ride. Had a 4 wheel alignment done at the time of installation.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

The first summer tire I had on my car was the Conti DW, and I was blown away. They were a bit noisy, but wet or dry, they stuck like glue. Then I decided to go with an A/S tire, the Bridgestone 970 AS Pole Position; after 2100 miles they came off. Great tire, really, but not the tire for my car, not enough grip.

So while I contemplated going for the DW again, I thought I'd splurge and try the PSS. First thoughts, WOW. Quiet, quiet quiet. Shortly after having them installed, took them on a really twisty road or two north of Portland, up hwy 30 a bit. It was raining out a bit, so I thought the perfect time to try them out.

Wet grip? Outstanding. Very predictable, great on-center feel. They feel heavier than the AS tires, but I think that's just the increased level of grip and being so quiet. Dry grip? Got a chance to try that this weekend a bit. Again, outstanding. Did I mention they're quiet? Yeah, my MINI has never had it this good. Dry grip was great, I'd say this compares very well with the DW, but the PSS is quieter by far.

I plan on rotating every 2K to make sure I get the most out of them that I can as I tend to drive pretty aggressively when I do drive =)

Updates to come.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
April 25, 2013

Just put these on my Cayman after wearing out my second set of Michelin PS2's and taking off my Michelin Alpin winter tires. They look great. Very different feel. Immediately more comfortable - softer ride, quiet, but there's a slightly "floaty" feel and a brief delay when you turn the wheel before the car turns. Still grips on a hard curve, its just the connection between driver and road is a little fuzzy compared to the other tires which, frankly, are punishing as every day drivers. Was only getting 32,000 miles out of the PS2's and needed more durability for my dollar. Haven't driven them in rain or snow yet. Will update. So if you switch from a dedicated high performance summer tires, which are all considerably more expensive and last half as long, be prepared to trade off some precision for comfort.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

I live at a ski resort at 8500 feet with an annual snowfall of 500". These tires on a subaru were awesome. I passed other all wheel drives and SUVs that didn't have snow tires and they were sliding off the road. The traction is unbelievable. These tires were cheaper than blizzaks and I knew I would be driving some highway miles as well. Stopping and turning on snow was no problem. Driving up to Alta and Snowbird was a dream! I am not sure about the wear. I drove 2000 dry highway miles and then six months of 50/50 snow and dry driving and the tires look brand new.

Initial Review, 43,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2013

These are now discontinued tires replaced by the Latitude Tour. Like the truck like off road aggressive look of the Cross Terrain tires. The tread is still good but the tires are literally developing large deep cracks in the tread blocks and side tread blocks and the rubber is disintegrating to the point where they now have to be replaced per the recommendations of multiple tire shops. Guess it is time to replace as they are OEM 10 year old tires now.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 04, 2013

After 5K miles a pretty good experience. Good off-the-line grip, stable cornering and tracking, good braking hold. Limited wet road exposure, but in light to moderate rain no cornering breakaway or hydroplaning at 80 mph+. The tire is noisier than I'd like; running at 38-40 psi and tread wear is almost non-existent. This tire had gotten mixed reviews (cupping, rapid wear) but with proper inflation and rotation I'm hoping for 30K plus.

Initial Review, 35,000 Miles on Tires
February 13, 2013

This is a very impressive tire. It has great looks, performs well on and off road, and is even quiet.

I previously had different brand mud-terrain tire, which performed well off road, was very difficult to balance, and as the tread wore was horrible load. I have been pleasantly surprised at how quiet these tires are. It still has the traditional mud terrain hum, but the volume is turned way down. It's actually quieter than many AT tires out there.

I have driven this over ever terrain possible, and it performs admirably. The thing it does the worst on is wet pavement, and it still does that rather well. I have found that when it's rainy, I can expect a little loss of traction if I push it too much. But I have never felt unsafe. It certainly won't hydroplane with the tread depth on these tires.

Tread wear has been good, I think I will probably replace them at about 50,000 miles of use, which is far beyond most sticky mud terrain tires. One thing to note about these or most mud terrain tires, is that they are heavy. I upgraded my brake discs and pads to compensate for the extra weight these carry.

Overall I couldn't be happier!

Initial Review, 41,000 Miles on Tires
April 08, 2013

These tires are way better than OEM factory set in almost every way possible. When new, within the first 1000 miles of purchase, I took a long road trip from AZ to WA and back. These tires performed very well on this 3000 mile road trip, on forest service roads, city roads, highways, interstates and at one point a rock quarry road. Since then, I’ve put on almost 40K miles, and these tires are still very good. Road noise is great, wear has been excellent, and other than some deep mud, I’ve always felt in control of my truck in all the weather conditions these tires have seen.
I got these tires on discount at the time of purchase; I’m waiting and hoping they go back on sale or that I can find them cheaper than they currently are. I consider these tires at the edge of A/T, being a little more street than off-road. But for my driving, they’re off-road and all weather enough to do the job when needed. If I can get them a little cheaper, I’ll skin my truck in these as long as I own it.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 09, 2013

Bought these to replace my worn out Pirelli Scorpions. Thinking spring had arrived I pulled off my Blizzak WS-70's and put these on. As luck would have it, 3 days later we got hammered with almost 2 feet of snow. Very quickly found out how good my Blizzak's really are. Calling these "All Season" tires is being optimistic. Traction in loose snow (after roads were plowed) is marginal at best. Cornering in loose snow caused the front end to plow and the traction control to activate immediately. Deep snow (unplowed roads) resulted in lots of wheel spin and darting. To be fair, I didn't buy these for winter driving and I did get a chance to evaluate them on dry roads prior to our spring snow. Road noise is low to moderate. Not as quiet as my Pirelli's but not annoyingly so. Haven't seen wet roads yet so I can't comment on how these do on them. Dry traction feels good but there is a small amount of sidewall squirm that you can feel in cornering. We have a lot of rutted roads thanks to the use of studded winter tires and these tires wander around when you get in a rut. It's not uncontrollable but it does make me feel a little loose compared to the OEM tires. I only have 500 miles on the tires so maybe they will get better as they break in and the roads warm up. I'll write a followup review in another 1000 miles to see if this is the case.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
March 17, 2013

Good tire used on road and off road, on the road good wet braking and cornering no hydroplaning even in heavy down pours. Good in the snow and light and deep both. Off road in the deep snow up to the sides of the 4Runner they worked well in 2WD. Did need to engage 4WD to get out of over a foot of deep snow while off road. It was while helping someone off the side of the road. Considering the design isn't an off road design they did pretty well. Tire noise is minimal and fuel economy was much better than the Dunlop Grandtrek AT20s they replaced. The 4Runner used to get 17 mpg in town driving after mounting the Conti's the mileage came up to 18 to 19 on avg in the summer. Used them for some off road in the desert and they did fine on National Park and State Part dirt roads. Some wash outs and sand gravel and rocks nothing serious. Not a real off road tire but a good one for what it's designed for street and highway and mild off road. This is only a 20000 mile report will see how they age and resist hydroplaning as the tread wears out. So far I'd strongly recommend this tire.