Goodyear Duratracs!

[Rob]

I know it has been a very long time since I bought some tyres for my 80, in fact I have only every bought a couple of used spares for it way back in 2010, but I thought it is time to part with the BFG ATs when a Nissan Note gets into a muddy field with more grace than my 80. The for those of you that do not know me buying tyres is a bit of a running joke, as it has never happened but I always talk about it. My tyres have even been named "AT slicks". Although they had tread on them, 4-5mm mostly, they were very entertaining off road. They had so little grip off road that I have developed a unique driving style to be able to move in the Lincomb mud which mainly consisted of lots of throttle, diff lock switching, steering, gear changes, oversteer, understeer, sliding uncontrollably, noise and lastly smoke of the black/grey variety. Also when I really had to stop tobogganing downhill reverse and lots of throttle seemed to do the trick. The issue is that when driving in such a manner, when things go wrong they go very wrong:

Recently I have been getting lots of punctures as well, I can only assume this has something to do with the cracking. Years ago they were indestructible, in fact I still have one tyre with most of the Mongolian scars as they seemed to have worn down on the others. Also they proved to be a bit of a challenge on road, aquaplaning on motorways and straight bits of country road have become the norm and braking in the wet, well let me just say that I had to keep spare underwear for me and the passengers in the 80 at all times. Finally it was when I realised that I had 2 big cuts that went through the cords and therefore only 3 legal tyres left that I decided it was time to get some new tyres, you know because of safety and all... They have lasted me 50k miles and none of the tyres were new when I got hold of them, most of them were well used.

The cuts:







So why the Druatracs I hear you say, there are plenty of other decent tyres? Well I did not want a full mud tyre as they compromise road handling abilities too much. Most AT tyres are not that great in the mud, so all I was left with are the ST MAXXs and the Duratracs. There are probably more but that is what I could "easily" find in the EU. I say "easily" as Goodyear do "sell" then in the UK but do not keep any stock. They will only stock the tyres if they get orders but as there is no stock there are no orders. Well I told Goodyear what I thought about this and they suggested I should just buy them from the many online tyre stores based in Germany. Out of those 2 only the Duratrac tyres have the mountain snowflake symbol so will actually grip the snow and ice rather than paddle through it and therefore are the only true all rounder. Also I have read good reviews about then but not much has been said about them on UK forums so I decided to give them a go.

First impressions:



Crap! I have I just bought a mud tyre? Well on closer inspection the outer lugs are like a mud tyre and the inner lugs look like an AT so I guess not. Also they feel a lot lighter and the sidewalls feel thinner than the BFG ATs, I wonder if they will be as durable? Anyway so I put them on and they look awesome:









They are noisier on the road at speed than the near silent BFG ATs but that is to be expected, I also have a lot more grip in the dry and wet. So far I am happy with them, I can't wait to try them off road.

 

[Scott]

Congratulations Rob An excellent choice. I've read good things about them too, so will look forward to seeing how you get on with them. Just think of all trouble you'll be able to get yourself into at the next Lincomb with those bad boys!!!

Agreed, the 80 does look good with them on.

You definitely got your money's worth out of the BFG AT's, wonder how far these will go?

 

[Gav Peter]

They look great Rob, well done buddy. Are they available in 315/75/16

 

[Rob]

Looks like they are but I am not sure they are sold in the EU. http://m.tirerack.com/tires/TireDet...tireModel=Wrangler+DuraTrac&partnum=175QR6WDT

 

[Rob]

No idea how long these will last Scott, not expecting as many miles out of these and I will not wear them down as low at the BFG ATs.

 

[stumog]

looks good Rob i agree that they are a good all round tyre.
stu

 

[Chris]

Look the biz Rob. Looking forward to your ongoing reports on them. Shame though the ATs look like that had plenty of life left in them.

 

[clivehorridge]

Look the biz Rob. Shame though the ATs look like that had plenty of life left in them.

 

[sae70]

They look great m8 Bet you can't wait to get them off road for a play Those out going BFG's are shocking!!!

 

[Rob]

So inspected the other 3 tyres, and it turns out I had one more that was illegal as it was cut through the cords as well:





And this is the one which still has the Mongolian scars on it:



I can only sell one, as the one just above is just too far gone for me to confidently say it is safe due to a several deep cuts and cracking. So yes the BFG ATs do last for ages and are very tough which makes them a good choice for overlanding. Just replace them before they get into this condition and avoid sticky mud or just mud in general.

 

[Ben]

when a Nissan Note gets into a muddy field with more grace than my 80.

I think it was more down to driver skill!

Tyres look great Rob.

Looking forward to seeing and hearing how you find them when you get them in that Lincomb mud.

 

[Citizen Brown]

Rob

Excuse me for reviving this thread but could I trouble you for 5 month (ish) review of these tyres please.

Jed

 

[Chris]

Good call CB. Rob have you had any snow? I'd like to know how they are in the white stuff. I have Goodyear Wranglers on the green on and they were truly dreadful in snow. Pretty scary in fact. The ATS however were excellent

 

[Rob]

I have not had any snow in Bristol to test them out unfortunately, although knowing me I would probably take the BMW to work as it has winter tyres.

I have not done too much driving in them but here are my observations so far at 40psi on road. They are audible at fast lane motorway speeds, if you stick to the slower lanes they are dead silent. Grip in the dry is great, and I feel more confident in the corners than with the BFG ATs. In the wet they are safe, no way near as good as performance summer tyres I run the BMW however you get no surprises. They do pull a bit in the deeper puddles at 60mph so you can't just plow through them. Stopping distance in the wet is as expected for a non road biased tyre, but so much better than the BFGs. Most importantly they are predictable. I may sound a bit critical but I drive a car with great road handling most days in a very demanding manner and occasionally drive the LC, however overall I am very pleased with their road performance. My only comment would be that they could be quieter at high motorway speeds, but this should only be a concern if you are driving all day long across the continent without any concern for fuel economy.

Off road I have ran them at 20psi at Lincomb. As some of you may know last Lincomb was very, very slippy. Slippier than I have ever seen it. As a result most people avoided most of the moderate to big hill climbs in the woods. There was only one hill that I could not get up and it is the one just to the right as you look up Rubie Hill. It was the cross axle bit at the top that engaged my mechanical sympathy mode every time I tried it, which incidentally does not engage often. I lifted the throttle just a little bit off from the floor to save the CVs and lost most of my momentum. Jon witnessed at least a couple of attempts at that hill and I am sure he has some photos/videos. I got stuck where most people got stuck with mud tyres and I am not aware of not being able to go somewhere where a similar 80 only with mud tyres could go. I still tobogganed down the big hills, but even the Silver Phenix did with those ridiculous 37" Simex copies. You can certainly feel them grip when you spin them up a bit which was a new experience for me.

So far I am pleased with them. Just need to try them out in the snow now.

 

[bilal]