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Youtube video of tyre review and driving footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HbQnWRCbfw&t=95s
Hello everybody Andrew from Xpedition Tagalong Tours here, today I want to talk to you about the Goodyear MTR Kevlar Mud Terrain. Firstly, I need to let you know that we are not sponsored by Goodyear, the results and experiences that I have with these tyres is my own opinion.
Over the last few years I have used several brands of off-road mud terrains and all terrains with varying levels of success, also to note that I have also changed sizes as well. Previously for many years I have run 315/75r16’s various brands. As I am based in Queensland Australia, I recently went to the trouble of obtaining full engineering certification for our Patrol GU this meant returning to 33” or 285/75r16’s. So, a change to a new tyre dealer, Beaurepaires Burleigh, and they suggested I try this Goodyear MT/R. Having run other brands for a while a quick google search failed to bring much results in Australia for the performance of these tyres, the reason for my review J
So, a few facts to start us off so we have a base line for how I have collected my data.
Vehicle is a 2001 Nissan Patrol GU TD42T running a 3” lift, Arb BP51 dampers, Arb locker front and rear long-range tanks etc……. The vehicle currently weighs 3300kg on the road in touring trim with our Tvan hooked on. This is important to understand tyre wear as the vehicle carries a bit of weight all the time. Due to our business we also complete a lot of kilometres both on sealed and unsealed roads and at varying speeds and temperatures. All of these factors effect tyre wear and longevity.
Our home base is Gold Coast, Australia.
Current set fitted 22nd March 2019
April 2019, a short holiday to Moreton island towing our portable house, sand driving on a new mud tyre (good test), tyre pressures set to 16psi front, 15psi rear HOT temperatures. Sand conditions were damp sand most of the week trip, results and feeling about the tyres very positive, good floatation on the sand, tracking and steering at low pressures very responsive, this of course was only a short trip and not a good test so far.
1500km completed so far
May 2019 - depart for a Tag-a-long across the top of Australia, mixed surface mostly black top.
Pressures for highway 40psi front, 42psi rear COLD pressures
At this stage the tyres are basically still new with the little dimple things still showing on the tread blocks
Most of our highway running will be done at up to 110kph including towing, fuel consumption is between 17 and 18 l/100 at this stage
June 2019 - 9500km completed total
Tyre wear recordings as follows; new tread depth 15mm
Front depth 13+mm (at 38psi cold)
Rear Depth 12.5+mm (at 42psi cold)
Wear of the tyre is very even, no signs of scalloping or chopping on the front tire (remember it’s a live axle patrol) tyre feel is excellent so far a big tick from me, over the distance 5% of this section was mixed surface the most part secondary sealed roads
July 2019 - 13750kms completed total
Tyre wear recordings as follows; new tread depth 15mm
Front depth 13mm (at 40psi cold)
Rear Depth 10.5+mm (at 42psi cold) this is a reflection on the load on the rear axle approx. 1900kgs
As previous wear of the tyre is good, very minor signs of scalloping or chopping on the left front tyre (remember it’s a live axle patrol), not noticeable unless you look closely. Feel is excellent, so far a big tick from me, over the distance 20% of this section was mixed surface the most part secondary sealed roads. We did traverse the western end of the Gibb River road, during this section the pressures 26psi front, 28psi rear HOT this end of the Gibb can be fairly average in road condition and it certainly was this time again, being corrugated and stony a big impact on tyres. Stones are the big killer on tyres on a touring vehicle in outback Australia. Although we only completed about 450km on this section, but we had no signs of chipping to the tread blocks, no signs of sidewall damage, I was travelling at 90kph plus over these roads too, also not towing this section.
July 2019 Northam WA - 14255kms
Our tag-a-long tours has finished so we booked in for a tyre rotation through Beaurepaires in WA to make sure we get maximum life from the tyres, rotation completed we head east for a meetup in the middle of Australia for the real test of the tyres……..
July 2019 Broken Hill NSW - 17850kms
High speed run back across the Nullarbor plain, all black top including 12 hours of heavy rain at night, my confidence in the tyres only grows, this was the first real wet weather run and the grip and surefootedness of the tyres was very good, again so far I am very happy.
July 2019 - Dalhousie Springs, west side of the Simpson Desert Australia
19,285kms
So now we get into the real stuff, having passed through the northern section of the Flinders Ranges, up through Lyndhurst north to Maree and onto the Oodnadatta Track heading north through to Oodnadatta, taking in Halligans Bay out from William Creek a notoriously rough road, and up through Dalhousie ruins.
Tyre wear recordings as follows; new tread depth 15mm
Front depth 9.5+mm (at 24psi cold)
Rear Depth 10.5+mm (at 28psi cold) remember we completed a tyre rotation
Road conditions for the Oodnadatta track were fair quite rocky and corrugated, I was adjusting tyre pressures to find the right setting cold up to hot, my target was to be running just under 30psi hot so most of the time we were getting a 5psi increase as the tire warmed up. At this stage the wear on the tyres is very good no side wall marks or damage, very minimal chipping to the tread blocks, I was travelling at up to 90 km/h or more on the gravel depending on traffic and actual road conditions so I am not babying these tyres at all.
July 2019 Gold Coast - 21500kms
Tyre wear recordings as follows; new tread depth 15mm
Front depth XXX+mm (at 40psi cold)
Rear Depth XXX+mm (at 42psi cold)
From Dalhousie we proceed eastward across the Simpson Desert traversing the French line making our way into Birdsville, then down through Walkers crossing to Innamincka and then home to the Gold Coast. Crossing the French Line in the Simpson Desert, mud tyres in the sand no problem. I was very impressed with how they responded to pressure drop and tyre shape to keep flotation on the sand. Of the many sandhills in the desert we only needed 3 reattempts and this was with pressures around 13psi cold, as the hill started getting bigger I repressured down to 10psi cold ( rear) and with the rear locker in was able to just walk over all the sand dunes no problem, remember I am towing a Tvan 1250kgs as well, at the very low pressures the tyres still give me confidence to run up to 40 to 50 kp/h for very short distances with confidence, although I don’t recommend those speeds unless you are a very experienced driver. We also traversed a section on the Eyre Creek bypass that is very rocky. It’s only short and, due to my laziness, I run through here at the very low pressures. By this time we are finally showing a few signs of abuse on the tread surface area, as I would expect, the sidewalls look as new even considering the low pressures I ran and treated them badly. During the sandy sections they performed above my expectations.
We head off again south for a dirt road tour exploring the Darling and Murray River areas throughout western NSW, over the next couple of months I expect to clock up a few more kilometres and will update you before Christmas this year for a 40,000km update, thinking at this stage will be able to achieve very good kilometres from these tyres with the right care and rotations.
SO, in summary,
In the 20,000 kms I have done so far 3+ months
Good even Tyre wear
Good km’s for a mud tyre
Kept balance at all times
Excellent grip in both dry and wet conditions both off road and on
Noise levels very low, (last 2000km just being able to hear a little rumble with window down **just**
No Punctures
So I would have no hesitation to recommend these tyres for off road / on road use. We all drive our 4wd’s around on the black top more so than off road, I like to have the more aggressive tyre as in wet weather I find they perform much better than all-terrain, especially when its heavy rain.
Stay tuned J
Edit: follow up note, now completed 42,000kms, 8mm tread depth left even wear, little bit of noise but very impressed, so much I have ordered another set, no punctures or any issue only did one rotation at 17,000kms and the fronts are still looking pretty good J
Andrew
Posted in: Tagalong Adventures Australia at 20 January 20