Goodyear Wrangler MTR

November 19, 2000

Durability, traction and ride quality -- the three most important features in a tire, budgetary concerns aside. In the highly competitive market of light truck tires, there are a plethora of combinations of those features available to choose from, all striking a balance of compromise between the three. These factors are further mitigated by the environment where they will be used the most -- on-road or off-road. Since my off-road vehicle also doubles as my daily driver, I had to find a balance of all these features to maintain a high level of performance off-road, but also provide decent street manners where my vehicle spends more than 90% of its time.

Since I bought my Jeep, I have experimented with tires ranging from the factory-issue tires which were great for the pavement but terrible off-road, to extreme performance off-road tires which were great in the dirt but rough and deafening on the highway. Between my pavement and off-pavement concerns, I also wanted something that would perform well in snow. The factory tires were great in packed snow while the overly aggressive off-road tires were terrible. Conversely, the factory tires were horrible in deep snow while the extreme tires were much better.

The Fountain Tire / Goodyear Service Centre on Kingsway in Vancouver.

Fountain Tire's new shop was fully-equipped.

Their tire balancer showed that the MTRs came very well balanced from the factory.

When I heard about Goodyear's new MTR tire, I visited Fountain Tire to check them out. Shortly after that, my Jeep had a new set of 35x12.50 Wrangler MT/R tires. Evolved from the previous generation Wrangler MTs, the new MT/R (Maximum Traction / Reinforced) promised a high-level of both on- and off-road performance. Do they deliver? Well, I've evaluated them for almost four months, and here are my results.

Construction

The Goodyear Wrangler MT/R is a steel belted radial tire made from an advanced silica compound, featuring two hi-tensile steel belts in the tread and 3 cross hi-modulus polyester plies in the sidewalls. This "cross" construction is the basis of Goodyear's Durawall sidewalls. Older generation radial tires have several layers of cords aligned in the same direction, whereas the cords in the Durawall sidewall are laid in a cross pattern to maximize resistance against objects trying to penetrate the sidewall. This is especially effective against sidewall cuts.

Aired down to around 10 psi, the sidewalls were flexible enough to allow the tread to spread out and dramatically increase the contact patch.

The sidewalls proved to be very resistant to damage, even though they had excellent flexibility.

The addition of a silica matrix to the rubber compound is a recent advancement in tire development, strengthening the rubber and providing both better traction and wear characteristics. Goodyear is at the forefront of this technology and their own testing reveals significant improvements in both tread wear and puncture resistance compared to the older Wrangler MT.

Design

In terms of tread design, the MT/R strikes a much better balance for both street and off-road use. The improved pattern maximizes the amount of tread in contact with the ground as well as the number of biting edges for better traction on pavement -- wet, dry, or icy. An increased amount of void in the pattern improves off-road (especially mud) performance. Similar to other aggressive off-road tires, the tread pattern extends out and down the sidewalls, providing better sidewall protection as well as a larger tread footprint when the tire is aired down. This is further aided by an improved tire profile which is more square than rounded at the outer edges, providing a larger contact patch -- more noticeable on the street when the tire is at normal (high) pressure.

Practical Evaluation

The first thing I noticed about the MT/Rs when I went to get them installed at Fountain Tire was the very well laid-out tread design. Compared to off-road-specific tires, they had no big, widely-spaced sidewall lugs. The MT/R has a much better transition of the tread pattern to the sidewall. This translates out into more tread in the contact patch when the tire is at low pressure.

As the Goodyear technician mounted and balanced the tires, I was amazed at how little weight was required - 8 oz was the largest weight, and one tire required no weight at all! The initial drive home on the MT/Rs struck me as somewhat eerie -- they were *so* quiet! I had become so accustomed to the low speed churn and high speed, mind-numbing howl of my old tires that these new tires seemed noiseless. Having driven them for awhile now, I still consider them to be very quiet -- slightly noisier than an AT, but significantly quieter than any of the MTs I've owned.

On-pavement performance has been exemplary. Skidding the MT/Rs on dry pavement is difficult, even with 4 wheel disc brakes. Traction on wet and/or icy roads is also significantly improved, comparable to the ATs I once owned. After putting over 10,000 kilometres on the tires over the 4 months I've been running them, there is a negligible tread wear and more surprisingly, no nicks, cuts or missing chunks of rubber from the abuse I've thrown at them off-road.

Speaking of which, I've managed to run these MT/Rs over a couple hundred kilometres of local trails, covering the whole spectrum of varying terrain -- rutted logging roads, loose gravel roads, and every type of rocky ground I could find. The improved tread design is especially noticeable on loose dirt or climbing slippery bare rock -- the MT/R provides consistent traction, allowing smoother control of the vehicle. On my first off-road outing on the MT/Rs, I was amazed as I idled up steep, wet boulder faces that I'd normally have had to drive up with a bit of speed, or winch. Traction has definitely improved.

The MTRs provided excellent traction under a variety of Canadian trail conditions such as damp, steep dirt trails;

bare rock and ice;

and MUD.

One final impression struck me on my last outing while driving through some big ice-covered mud puddles -- these tires self-clean incredibly well. On previous experiences, after driving through thick, goopy mud, my tires would be flinging mud everywhere for the next hundred meters. Just several meters from the last mud-pit, the MT/R treads would have already cleared themselves! I don't normally play in the mud, but that difference was readily apparent even to me.

The tread pattern was very effective at shedding mud.

Even without excessively spinning the tires, the mud never got packed in between the lugs.

Overall

The Goodyear Wrangler MT/R bodes very well for the next generation of light truck tires for mixed on and off-road use. It has proven to be an excellent off-road tire that has near-AT performance on the street. Truly, it is the best of both worlds.

- Jonathan Yim