The Gauntlet!
(The real world testing)
Since this is where the tires spend most of their time, how
they perform here is of great concern. Our first day of testing
began on the track, while we also tested the Superlift
Rock Runner suspension. The tires stuck amazingly well to
the road surface. We tried to push them to the point of sliding
on the dry surface with very little success. While the Dunlops
stick great, the soft sidewall does not allow them to react very
crisply when turning into a corner. But this is pretty typical
of a large tire, so this is more of an observation than a complaint.
The soft sidewall does help with overall ride comfort, though.
The tires
have been run at every tire pressure imaginable on the street.
We have tried everything from 32psi for highway running to 8psi
on the trail. Using a tire pyrometer we found that 27psi seems
to be the best pressure for our test Jeep. This gave us a nice,
even wear all the way across the tire.
You can do
your own testing just by feeling your tread surface with your
hand after a drive on the highway. If the tire is warmer on the
edges and cool in the middle you need to put more air in the tire.
If they are warm in the middle and cool on the edges you should
let some out. You can do this until the temperature is even across
the tire. If you get an inside or outside edge that is hotter
than the others then you may want to check your alignment.
The Mud Rovers performed wonderfully
in our slalom testing on the track. |
We heated up the tires a bit to check
whether they had proper inflation. |
Street
Living
in Colorado has given me plenty of testing opportunities in the
snow. I even had a chance to take it out on a closed course and
play. We ran the Jeep through a slalom and braking course to see
how it responded in the snow. The large lugs and soft rubber compound
seemed to make the tire grip very well in the snow. The large
channels let any water shed out quickly.
Snow can vary
greatly from area to area in its depth, consistency, and adhesion
factor. The tires have worked very well in the conditions that
we have encountered with it so far. They tracked nicely through
the deep snow on some early spring trails. The large gaps between
the tread lugs let the snow clean out of the tread very well,
helping to keep the tire in contact with the ground underneath
the snow.
The tire and wheel setup has worked
great for us both on the trails and as a daily driver. |
The
Mud Rovers have proven to work quite well in the Colorado
snow. |
Ice
I'm
not talking the occasional patch of ice here. We took the Jeep
up to Georgetown Lake in Georgetown, Colorado for some ice racing.
We ice race every year in the "Bare Rubber" class and
air the tires down to around 10psi for the best grip. The ice
changes from race to race, sometimes being so slick the wind blows
the Jeep across the lake. Other times you could swear that you
were driving on asphalt. These tires worked very well on the ice,
judging our position against our competitors.
While driver
skill has a lot to do with it, having tires that don't grip means
you are going nowhere fast. With the Dunlop's I was able to accelerate
much faster then some of the other competitors, and it seemed
to grip in the corners better, too. I was very happy with them
on the ice. At one point the tires gripped well enough on the
ice to cause a power steering failure on the track.
Mud
Well, here in Colorado it is more like "wet dirt." We
really don't get the thick slimy mud like some other parts of
the country get. But every time we spotted some wet dirt we dove
right in for a test. After a steep, muddy hill climb at the end
of Carnage Canyon we compared the tires on all Jeeps present.
The lugs on the Dunlops are spaced out more than many of the tires
we compared them to. The only tires that were cleaned completely
out and not packed with mud were the Dunlops and a set of Interco
Swampers. There were three other popular brands on hand, but all
of them were packed with mud and caused a loss of grip while climbing
the hill.
The
Mud Rover did well in the mud, as expected, in fact, better
than others out with us that day. |
The
lugs cleared themselves as well or better than most mud
terrains. |
Rocks
This
is what it is all about, right? The soft, sticky rubber compound
has been a joy on the rocks. The tires really stick well, although
the side walls seem a bit on the soft side. The tire gives lots
of squat at only 13-15psi. I normally run my tires at a lower
pressure, but have been concerned with ripping a hole in the side
wall. When the tire is aired down and on a rock, the side wall
comes dangerously close to the sharp rocks. This concerned me
but has not proven to be a problem. The side walls have proven
to be extremely durable thus far.
These tires
have been torture tested on everything from the sand stone in
Moab, Utah to the hardest trails in Colorado. To date I have run
over 30 trails with them and have not had a single problem (knocking
on wooden desk).
The
sidewalls proved to be plenty durable and had quite a bit
of squat when aired down. |
On
the trails, the Mud Rovers have proven to be a great addition
to the Cross Trainer. |
Buick,
Yes I said "Buick"
Less
than a month after mounting the Dunlop tires on the Jeep, a guy
in a Buick tried to drive through me at an intersection, attempting
to go straight in a right turn only lane. This took him right
into the front wheel on the TJ. The Jeep survived without a scratch.
The only noticeable sign was the paint from the Buick on our nice
shiny Ultra wheels and some scuffing on the Dunlops, which cleaned
right off. The Buick, however, looked like it had just finished
a NASCAR race when it was done fighting with the TJ.
Conclusion
Are
they worth the price of admission? The answer is YES! We called
our local Discount Tire shop and compared some tire prices. The
Dunlop Mud Rovers were $130 each and most of the popular brand
names of equal size hovered around that price. Some were much
more expensive.
In our testing,
the Dunlop Mud Rovers worked as well as, or better than all the
other tires on the trails. The noise on the highway is acceptable
for a mud terrain tire and the soft, unprotected side walls still
makes me bit nervous on the trail but have proven to be plenty
durable. 40,000 miles is a long way to go without damaging a tire
that gets to see the amount of trails these tires have. For straight
out "bang for the buck" the Dunlop Mud Rovers are a
great choice.
