Off Road Wheels and Tires

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
December 29, 2012

The General are great tires for wet NW, performs great last week crossing I90 Snoqualmie Pass to I97 Blewett Pass, a 780 mile trek in ice snow blizzard condition, from Seattle to Wenatchee and back, across the Cascade Mountains. Highway 2 was completely closed due to avalanche and huge trees blocking. With 9" snow fall that night and 21F temp at mile 47 many cars and trucks could not traverse the road. Many 4x4 spinning all 4 going nowhere, trucks with chains spinning at 5-10 mph, many two wheel drivers going up skiing were in the ditch, but the General kept going without losing traction or use of chains at 25-35 mph. I easily drove around a group of 4x4 trucks and commercial trucks in chains spinning out in front of me on an off camber turn. The 07 Expedition has Electronic Active Stability Control RSC, 4x4 and General Grabber HTS . I can see the Skid control light up on my dash but could not feel the vehicle losing traction or sliding. When I got to Eastern Washington, I tested the car in an empty parking lot to determine how much traction I had before the vehicle spinout, it took a lot of ham fisted driving at over 30-35 mph in 2-3" snow and ice before the car spinout, at 15-20 mph the electronic skid control would kick in and prevent the car from skidding even in turning braking maneuver. Amazing Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer with 4x4, RSC Active Skid Control and General Grabber HTS. It took 8 hours to drive 158 miles each way over the pass, the ham-fisted testing in the snow covered parking lot was only done so I know how far I can push the car before losing control. That is not the way I drive with my wife and two girls. Very quiet tires, my girls complain when other car's tires are too noisy driving along side of our car on the freeway. Great traction in wet and dry conditions. Good feed back in my steering wheel for such a big vehicle. Gave it an 8 for rock because it picks up too many pebbles then toss them, pack with clay mud will lose traction.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
January 28, 2013

I bought my 88 Toyota 4x4 P/U in 2004. (95,000 original miles) Nick named "MINI MONSTER" by fellow 4x4 Club members, Previous owner gave it a 4" frame (suspension) lift and 5" Body lift, sporting BFG 33" tires. Being a redneck Female, I thought bigger tires were needed. After doing some off-road 4 wheeling with friends & much researching & gathering male opinions, I decided to replace the 33's with 35" & change the Brand. Using Tire Racks web site I searched brands. First sight of the Dunlop Mud Rovers and my search was over. The Meaty look of the tires would add a finishing touch to My Toy. In 2006 I purchased the 4 tires for appx. $150 each from the Rack. Off Roading in the Nevada Desert, salt flats & sand became a lot more thrilling for me. The tires dug right in with every condition. The first big snow when I pulled a STUCK full sized Ford P/U to Safety, I knew, once again I made the best choice in tires. Throughout the past years I have received many compliments on these tires,& have been the reason some have decided to replace their brand & style to these. 7 years & 10,000 miles later (not my commuter vehicle) when they're clean, these tires look as good as when new. Amazement over no dry rotting. Now 7 years later, after having a tire slashed, you could see where it took 3 attempts to get the knife blade to finally go through the sidewall, I was delighted to discover from Tire Rack that the price for replacement had only increased by $50. Thank You Dunlop for the Mud Rover Tire.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
December 29, 2012

The winter performance of these tires is embarassing. With 12k miles I am struggling to keep the car on the road, while other small front wheel drive cars with oem tires pass me. Traction/Stability control kicking on and off in light snow, straight line stability does not inspire confidence, can feel the rear end drifting.

Looks like I have to buy some Conti Dedicated Winters again, never had any luck with Yoko's.

Initial Review, 18,000 Miles on Tires
December 26, 2012

One winter in Truckee, CA (High Sierra's) now going on two. Ran over a broken set of tourist cable "chains" and tore my left rear tire nearly off the rim during a heavy snow storm. Didn't even know I was nearly riding on the wheel rim when someone came along side and pointed out I had a flat and it was coming of the wheel rim. Drove to Tire Rack the next day and purchased two more for the rear. Saved the good right rear for the spare and I'm back in business. This tire is the best snow and dry road tire I have ever driven. Buy it and you will love it!

Initial Review, 400 Miles on Tires
December 26, 2012

I currently own two vehicles and did some tire testing tonight with both vehicles so I could write a proper review. The car I bought the Winterforce tires for(Size: 195/65R15) is a 2000 Saab 9-5 wagon. It's front wheel drive with traction control and ABS. The other vehicle is a 1991 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4 with 31 inch Yokohama Geolander AT-S tires. We have about 6 inches of snow and it's still falling. The roads are very slick right now with a nice packed layer of snow on them. Plus there is a large unplowed parking lot across the street. The Pathfinder in 2 wheel drive didn't fair so well in the traction department. I was pushing both vehicles to their limits and the rear wheel drive had me sliding and spinning out fairly easily on both the road and especially in the parking lot. With the truck in 4wheel drive it did really well but I was still able to pitch the truck sideways at will and set it into a nice controlled slide. The Geolanders are great in the snow but mine have quite a few hard miles on them. As for the Saab, the Winterforce tires have about 400 miles on them. When I got into the car I didn't have high hopes due to the way my truck was handling. To my surprise the Saab easily out performed my truck even with it in 4wheel drive!!!! On the slick road and in the unplowed parking lot it really took quite a bit of effort to shake it loose. Granted the traction control is playing a major role in this. When I turn it off I can easily spin the tires but it still never really felt out of control. Plus it's a manual transmission car so popping the clutch in the snow will spin any tire on the market. Even under braking the tires did awesome. I can't complain at all. They do what they were made to do very well. As for dry handling. Some are saying they make their cars feel out of control. I don't know what they are talking about. They handle really well for a specialty snow tire being used on a dry road. Even at 70mph they feel fine. They do make noise though.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
December 31, 2012

Let me start off by saying that I purchased these tires solely to quieten down the noise level on the highway. What I was not expecting is the mind blowing amount of straight line grip. My car is modified, and nearing the end of my previous tires life (BFG KDW) I would encounter wheel spin in 3rd gear (in cold temperatures). With the Continental DW's on, I can balls-to-the-wall launch the car wide open from a stop. They hook every time, even in cold temperatures. I am not exaggerating, these have to break some laws of physics or something. I have never experienced a tire grabbing the road this aggressively when the pavement is cold. I haven't tested out the braking ability yet, but I suspect it will be face-warping.

As for agressive cornering, I must say my KDW's were better when they still had tread. These Continental's still corner very well, however the softer sidewall is evident. I can feel a bit more tire rollover in tighter corners. It's really not too bad though, and it's certainly not a deal killer for me.

Anyway, back to ride comfort. Umm, it's excellent. These tires take pot holes like a CHAMP. Rough roads are no longer rough. A significantly less amount of road vibrations make it into the cabin. I also immediately noticed how much more responsive and "lively" the steering feels in everyday low-speed maneuvers. The steering wheel feels much lighter when turning around town compared to my previous KDW's. The ride comfort as a whole is very much improved. I would highly recommend them. Providing the tread doesn't wear out too soon, I would definitely buy another set.

Initial Review, 3,500 Miles on Tires
January 12, 2013

I bought a set of these Blizzak WS70s to mount on a set of dedicated black steel wheels when I realized the OEM low-rolling resistance tires were woefully inadequate and bordered on dangerous in any sort of snow or near/below-freezing conditions. A recent trip up Mount Hood on a variety of road conditions revealed them to be very competent performers in a wide variety of conditions. The road up to Timberline Lodge was hard-packed snow and these tires never once slipped or needed the intervention of the stability control, even at speeds of 35-40 MPH and with temperatures in the around 10ºF. A quick test on some fresh powder of around 6-8" in depth revealed similar performance; easy starts, easy stops and turns. These are among the best snow tires out there.

These tires also perform admirably on wet and dry roads although there is a bit more road noise than one might like, it's a trade-off that I'm more than willing to make. If you've used studded tires or think you can't make it through winter without them, try these instead. They'll make you a believe in studless tires!

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
October 30, 2012

Great dry condition tire, unusually poor wet condition tire. LRR is great, drops RPM by 150 at 60mph, great ride, low noise, good handling for a grand touring tire, the tire gives every indication that it will be long wearing. So the trade off, a tire that acts like it is on light snow with any damp road surface (I should not be able to spin the wheels when accelerating down a damp freeway ramp in my slow 10 sec 0 to 60 CRV). We have been in a drought here, so I wanted to wait for a good rain storm before rating. I have never driven a tire that is so jekyll and hyde, please be careful with this tire in the wet everyone. With good VSC and ABS, hopefully this tire won't be too dangerous, definitely not to be purchased if you live in a wet climate. It is a pity really, this tire is so good in all other areas. No free lunch I guess. No winter experience yet, will post if noteworthy.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
December 20, 2012

Bought these as replacements to the OEM rugged trails and the rugged terrains are so far, far superior. Wet and dry traction is superb on highway and I use my truck off road in the woods around the house to tow a firewood trailer, cross horse pastures, and travel plenty of dirt/gravel country roads. I would say the truck is actually smoother with these on vs the R Trails's and possibly even quieter, but that might be due to the mileage on the R trails which I replaced at 30K. I did not want to venture the winter with the remaining tread on those. We should be getting some light to mod snow around Christmas and am looking forward to seeing how the Rugged Terrains do in the white stuff. And we'll be taking the tacoma down the OBX again this summer and i'll get to test these in the sand. The R Trail's managed OK this past trip to the beach, even allowing us to pull out a stuck Tacoma & a range rover, but I think that was mainly due to the Tacoma's 4 wheel drive systems. But the perfect application should come in September when I need to drive the truck from the east coast to Colorado and then up into the mountains for an Elk hunting trip. BTW, at 70 mph on the interstate, these tires run very smooth and quiet with no vibration or chatter...If your experiencing this I would take them back to the shop for a re-balance and get your shocks and alignment checked, its not the tires, unless in the very rare case you got one with a broken radial, which I have experienced with another Brand, but not with BF Goodrich. I hope Michelin lets BF G continue to put out the quality they have in the past... I used to run BFG AT's on my old truck and never had a problem at all, but since I'm now using this truck as a commuter and weekend off roader, the rugged terrains seems to be the perfect solution so far.

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
November 30, 2012

I bought these tires for driving in the PA winters. i wanted something that would give me good traction on road and off road, but my main concern was snow due to having a camp in the mountians of pa and on untreated back roads in the winter. So far i have had the chance to take these through 4 inches of snow and muddy roads and have not had a single issue. In fact i was on a steep incline with these tires that was muddy and snow covered and never took the vehicle out of 2 wheel drive the tires just dug in and climb right up the hill. i will defintely be buying these tires again.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
December 03, 2012

Stock tires on 2010-13 Subaru Legacy with 17" alloy wheels are the Turanza EL400-02. They were reasonably acceptable on my 2010 Limited model, however, for 2013, the Legacy's suspension was tightened up to decrease body roll by 40%, resulting in an ultra-stiff & harsh ride except on only the smoothest of roads. The base model with 205/60/16 tires isn't as harsh but the 17" 50 series tires on the Premium & Limited models pick up an excessive & unacceptable amt of road feel & roughness. After several trips to the dealer & mucho correspondence with Subaru of America, I decided, at only 3K miles, to take them off and replace them with the new Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus tires. The difference was amazing - the vehicle is transformed - I've lost only a minimal amt handling compared to the stock EL400 & the car still handles way better than comparable '13 Altima, Accord, Camry, Sonata & Optima - all of which I test drove, the Serenity Plus tires are not only quieter but most importantly take the edge of the feeling of getting your teeth knocked out at every expansion joint or patch in the road for a smoother more comfortable ride. Never in my 53 years have I ever had a new set of tires in the same size make such a positive and profound difference in a vehicle. If you're unhappy with the ride of your 2013 Legacy - I highly recommend the switch, you won't go wrong. Haven't rated them for snow yet, but wanted to get this up asap in case anyone's been as frustrated as I have been with the 2013 suspension changes. If you have a similar mid-size car like those mentioned previously with low profile tires - my guess is that you'd be even more satisfied with upgrading to the Serenity Plus - as many previous Michelin owners here on this blog have attested to.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
March 05, 2011

Well, just did a 200 mile round trip to have Tire Rack install these...what a cool experience. If you ever have the chance to visit the South Bend location, be sure and take anyone interested in motorsports along for the trip. Great people, cool facility, and always excellent service! Kind of like going to a really “high tech” speed shop!



I haven’t purchased any new Goodyear rubber since the mid-80’s. I have had Goodyear’s come OEM on many new vehicles over the years however. I have never been impressed with their tread-life. Like the RS-A, GS-A, etc. turn to junk after 10,000 miles even though they “look” like they have another 30K plus left on them…they simply lose their “grip”…and they’re “noisy”!



After much tedious research this time around for my vintage ’99 Wrangler (still had the original GSA’s on it), the Silent Armor proved the perfect choice for my needs. Mostly highway…so I wanted quiet but I hunt, fish, play in the snow and occasionally do a little aggressive off-roading. Looks like this was the tire to get. I considered the BFG TA KO, General Grabber, the Michelin LTX and the Silent Armor as my top 4 OEM replacement choices.



Leaving, I pulled out of the Tire Rack at the beginning of a decent LES today and jumped on the Toll Road. 70-90MPH was quiet, impeccably smooth and confidence inspiring…guess I won’t need that new stereo after all. Also, by the time I was home, we had 3 wet inches of new snow and some icing. I never put it in 4 wheel and the Jeep held superbly through torrential rain as well (even when testing the traction via cruise control). Also stopping distance was much better than expected.



Quick verdict...I own Michelin LTX’s and BFG AT-KO’s on many heavier vehicles, but if you have a stock Jeep Wrangler that you want to take pretty much everywhere and that can do most everything…BUY THESE! As a bonus, they’re really good looking too! They just better hold up...and I'll let you know if they don't! Thx Tire Rack!

Initial Review, 15 Miles on Tires
October 19, 2012

I installed these tires on my 98 Civic hatchback and having put less than 20 miles on them this is just an initial review. Compared to the no-name off brand tires on the vehicle before, these are a night and day difference. Road noise is greatly reduced and the vehicle is noticeably smoother riding over harsh bumps. One thing that does stand out is how much the sidewall "squirms" under turning and lane changes. It is very noticeable once you turn the wheel and feel the weight of the vehicle transition.

I do not plan to do any sort of spirited driving or track day/auto crossing so this is not a huge disappointment for me. If you're looking for fast a responsive budget performance tire, this is DEFINITELY not the one to buy.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
November 04, 2012

I purchase this tire for my car after reading tons of reviews. I was looking for a tire to match my 5-Lug swap with 2006 Acura TL 17x8" wheels. As this car is custom, I had to run a slight stretch, and I decided to go with a 215-45-17. I also have a full coilovers, and everything was dialed in upon tire installation (toe, camber, 40 psi...).

From the word go, these tires were quiet, firmly planted, and grabbed the road with force. My first gear hard launches wouldn't spin, just grab and go. Sharp/hard lane changes with heavy brakiing were no match for these tires. Confidence all day/night with these things. Quiet? Absolutly. I can't speak on comfort level as my coilovers are pretty stiff. I also know that these tires give me great coonfidence in entering/exiting on/off ramps at rediculous speeds. The tires just hold. No sliding or breaking loose. Also, the same holds true for the rain. I took an on-ramp one night coming home from school in the rain with wet leaves on the ground at 45 mph, and this on-ramp has a caution 15 mph sign posted. It's a sharp jug handle, basically. The car entered at the start, and stayed firmly planted throughout the whole entrance. I was so impressed. That's when gained tons of confidence with this tire. Some may call this reckless, but I needed to know the limits of my car, and these tires. Needless to say, they are great. I haven't tried them in snow/ice conditions, but winter is approaching, so I'll write a follow up after winter.

Even with all of the hard driving and stopping (really hard), the tread is still amazingly like new. I may have shaved off a 1/2 mm in the last 9 rough months I've shown these tires. I've also rotated them twice as I went on a long trip. Like Tony would say, "They'rrrrr GRRRRREATTTT!"

Initial Review, 13,000 Miles on Tires
October 25, 2012

These tires are a good match for me.
1) My DWS are not as responsive as the OEM which dulls the Speed3 torque steer and reduces some of the steering corrections (?necessitated by surface bumps?).
2) The Speed3 has little sound isolation, and Tire Racks testing demonstrates that the DWS is the quietest tread on concrete highways which are increasingly prevalent. I found the tread so quiet that concrete road noise is less than engine+wind noise at all speeds!
3) My 2010 Speed3--(my neighbors 2012 feels a little more refined)--has next to no shock absorption; and the DWS is significantly smoother than OEM, but I still my $$$ German cars.
4) Efficiency (combined city highway) immediately improved from 28 to 31 (10%) upon switching
tires and wheels. Rolling resistance and weight are likely the factors (24+21 to 19.1+18). My car definitely feels quicker.
5) The DWS in 1.5 Rocky Mtn Winters have proven very sufficient for me. And they are performance rated for my high speed, high-g driving (when conditions permit) unlike dedicated Winter tires which are faster wearing and less efficient.

I drove the OEM (Dunlop SP Sport 2050) tires 20,000 miles. They had maybe 5,000 miles remaining

when I replaced them.

I would buy DWS for this car again, but in a size (225/45R17) closer to the original. I got 205/55R16 to maximize Winter, mpg, and sidewall. OEM sidewall is so short, a 1" steel plate cut into my and wheels and tires, and a 1" rise to my driveway felt like sledgehammer. I like avoid breaking on off-ramps. 205mm-wide DWS unfortunately have me sliding some at 30 mph on tight turns when the 225mm-wide OEM allowed me 40 mph without any sign of slip. I have slid the rear DWS in many turns, and have squealed the fronts during many starts, not trying to.

OEM tread noise was horrendous when new, and then worsened. Radio vol@ 45 to hear over concrete hwy. Other surfaces were quieter but even on smooth asphalt @75 mph when tires were new, I could barely hear cell phone ...