Most of us who drive trucks and SUVs roll on some form of all-terrain tire. We demand good traction for our off-road excursions, but still want something that has good manners on the pavement. Toyo is one of the top brands in tires, especially for our lifestyle. Their Open Country A/T series has been a great performing tire for off and on road driving. The latest version, the Toyo Open Country A/T III, has been engineered to boost both off-road traction, and on-pavement performance.
Off-Road
On the off-road side of the tire’s life, the Toyo Open Country A/T III has a more aggressive tread pattern than its predecessor. The lugs have more space between them for cleaning, and the side tread is staggered and blockier for better bite. This gives the tire better grip in softer conditions, like mud and loose dirt. It is more aggressive than the A/T II, while not as aggressive as the Open Country M/T tire. For those looking for a tire that grips well, but isn’t as serious as a mud-type tire, this is it.
The tread has more void area for self cleaning, and the tread pattern ejects stones. It also boosts block rigidity, making this a very stable tire.
On-Road
One of the tricks to creating a tire that gives the off-road enthusiast what he/she wants in a tire, while still having some manners on the pavement is balance. Toyo achieved this by starting with an all-new compound. The Toyo Open Country A/T III has excellent grip off road, and on pavement, it has a smooth, quiet ride that delivers with up 50,000 miles of warranty (65,000 miles for metric sizes). The compound gives this tire better resistance to cuts and chipping, resulting in better wear and fewer flats.
One of the major tasks the engineers took on with the development of the A/T III is wet traction. One of the main areas aggressive off-road tires fail is traction on wet and slippery pavement. To aid in this area, the tire has liberal use of 3D multi-wave siping that reduces uneven wear, but more importantly, gives this tire better grip in those slick conditions like wet or icy pavement. The traction is further enhanced with the addition of more lateral grooves over previous tire designs. This really helps traction, especially in snow. This makes this one of the highest rated all-terrain-type truck tires for winter driving.
Sizing
The Toyo Open Country A/T III currently comes in 70 different SKUs ranging from a 215/75R15 up to a 35×13.5R20 including metric, LT and Floatation tire styles. Another 57 SKUs will be released by summer including sizes to fit 22-inch rim diameters. This means that there is an A/T III to fit whatever you drive. Right now, you can try out a pair for 500 miles or 45 days and if you don’t like them, Toyo will take them back.
We’re testing a set of these tires right now and will keep you posted as to how well they do. We’ll be running them on and off road, dry and wet, mud, snow and ice – We’re going to sneak in as many conditions as we can find. It’s a rough job. Look for more reports from us as we go. For now, head over to the official site for more information.
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