Duratrac comes last in tyre test

Pompey

Tremor Addict
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2018 Subaru Outback
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1999 Subaru WRX Club Spec Evo 3
Take of this test what you will. To me, it left out 2 key issues I have with all terrain tyres -puncture resistance and noise.

I know some will ask why some brands weren’t included. Some US brands aren’t sold here. Others, like Coopers are, so your guess is as good as mine.

I‘ve never been a fan of Goodyear tyres so it’s no surprise to me that they came last.

The driver isn’t just a bus owner. He has raced cars in circuit racing for many years. Not at the very top but still at national level.

 
Take of this test what you will. To me, it left out 2 key issues I have with all terrain tyres -puncture resistance and noise.

I know some will ask why some brands weren’t included. Some US brands aren’t sold here. Others, like Coopers are, so your guess is as good as mine.

I‘ve never been a fan of Goodyear tyres so it’s no surprise to me that they came last.

The driver isn’t just a bus owner. He has raced cars in circuit racing for many years. Not at the very top but still at national level.

It's hard to believe the results of a tire test if they can't even spell tire correctly. 😁

I'll see myself out.
 
To me it’s a no brainer that Falken Wildpeak AT3W and Yokohama Geolandar A/T GO15 came out on top.
I’ve had disastrous results with Geolanders before. I haven‘t tried the 15’s but the other types I’ve had punctured very easily and very often.
 
You so funny 😂

Durajunks stink no they are horrible in snow/icy roads

I don't live in an area that sees snow and ice so my experience is purely from a recreational (tourist) perspective of snow and ice driving. I first tried the Duratracs on a Tacoma and I was impressed. I could run around in 2wd in winter conditions that would usually require 4wd. I found them to be very good in ice and snow.

As for the tyre review, there are so many of these "best all terrain tire" articles, with a different favorite in almost every one of them.
 
As for the tyre review, there are so many of these "best all terrain tire" articles, with a different favorite in almost every one of them.
True about many articles, but almost certainly either toyo ATIIIs or Falken Wildpeaks at3w always coming out on top.
 
I don't live in an area that sees snow and ice so my experience is purely from a recreational (tourist) perspective of snow and ice driving. I first tried the Duratracs on a Tacoma and I was impressed. I could run around in 2wd in winter conditions that would usually require 4wd. I found them to be very good in ice and snow.

As for the tyre review, there are so many of these "best all terrain tire" articles, with a different favorite in almost every one of them.

The only Duratrac I’ve owned is on the Tremor and it’s not 3PMS rated. But Ford changed that as previous years they were

Today on icy interstate they almost threw me into the ditch and cars & other trucks were flying past as I slipped and skidded

True about many articles, but almost certainly either toyo ATIIIs or Falken Wildpeaks at3w always coming out on top.

I asked at several different tire shops about the 2 you named and all but 1 said wildpeaks are not worth the money but Toyo III are excellent

I asked about longevity, traction in winter and durability off road only the small tire shop said wildpeaks are good & he was focusing on availability and price

I know it means absolutely nothing, just like paid magazine reviews mean nothing
 
The only Duratrac I’ve owned is on the Tremor and it’s not 3PMS rated. But Ford changed that as previous years they were

Today on icy interstate they almost threw me into the ditch and cars & other trucks were flying past as I slipped and skidded



I asked at several different tire shops about the 2 you named and all but 1 said wildpeaks are not worth the money but Toyo III are excellent

I asked about longevity, traction in winter and durability off road only the small tire shop said wildpeaks are good & he was focusing on availability and price

I know it means absolutely nothing, just like paid magazine reviews mean nothing
The 3 shops i asked also had doubts about falkens, said they dont balance as well as toyos and are not in the same class. One of those same shops put those falkens on my wheels and then complemented how little weights they took to balance:) so far they have been quiet as a whisper and amazing on wet. And most importantly, compared to ridge grapplers, they feel soft on bumps at 50psi whereas ridge grapplers felt like a rock on everything even at 38psi.

But if i was to do it over, i’d go for toyo atiiis for one simple reason, they are 8lbs lighter per tire than wildpeaks at same size on 37s. 8lbs is huge!
 
The 3 shops i asked also had doubts about falkens, said they dont balance as well as toyos and are not in the same class. One of those same shops put those falkens on my wheels and then complemented how little weights they took to balance:) so far they have been quiet as a whisper and amazing on wet. And most importantly, compared to ridge grapplers, they feel soft on bumps at 50psi whereas ridge grapplers felt like a rock on everything even at 38psi.

But if i was to do it over, i’d go for toyo atiiis for one simple reason, they are 8lbs lighter per tire than wildpeaks at same size on 37s. 8lbs is huge!

Performance in the winter is my primary concern we get icy roads with thin layers of snow, the snow is ran over & melts and freezes and that worse than black ice

I’m not going to run summer and winter tires, to expensive and to cumbersome but if I was I’d run the premier Canadian studded winter tire as studs are legal

I’m tempted to run out and get Toyo ATIII’s after today but the weather guessers say it’s going to melt off and be gone by the time I can source the tires

Might try throwing 500lbs in the bed and see if that helps or have the Duratrac’s sipped as I’m sure that will help
 
I have the older versions with the 3 peaks on the side, they did awesome in the snow. My son and I went to Idaho last winter during a huge snow storm, drove for a day without ever seeing the pavement (under packed snow and ice) and they never skipped a beat. I even did a few unwise swerves and stabbed the brakes a few times and they were solid.

When these wear out I would absolutely get the same ones again, but they have to be the 3 peaks version. I have seen multiple people here say the newer versions are a totally different tire in the snow.
 
Performance in the winter is my primary concern we get icy roads with thin layers of snow, the snow is ran over & melts and freezes and that worse than black ice

I’m not going to run summer and winter tires, to expensive and to cumbersome but if I was I’d run the premier Canadian studded winter tire as studs are legal

I’m tempted to run out and get Toyo ATIII’s after today but the weather guessers say it’s going to melt off and be gone by the time I can source the tires

Might try throwing 500lbs in the bed and see if that helps or have the Duratrac’s sipped as I’m sure that will help
That’s the problem for tyre manufacturers. Trying to build a tyre for everyone . I haven’t driven in snowy conditions since 2005! Because of the remote and harsh conditions I go to, puncture resistance is extremely important. It’s why I have 2 spares. I also want a quiet tyre as I’ll be going long distances and I don’t want a roaring tyre for thousands of kilometres. I’m less fussed about outright grip off road as I I’ll be touring, not extreme off roading.
 
Performance in the winter is my primary concern we get icy roads with thin layers of snow, the snow is ran over & melts and freezes and that worse than black ice

I’m not going to run summer and winter tires, to expensive and to cumbersome but if I was I’d run the premier Canadian studded winter tire as studs are legal

I’m tempted to run out and get Toyo ATIII’s after today but the weather guessers say it’s going to melt off and be gone by the time I can source the tires

Might try throwing 500lbs in the bed and see if that helps or have the Duratrac’s sipped as I’m sure that will help
FWIW, based on my experience last year with the ATIII’s, they are fine in winter for an all terrain tire. Certainly better than the factory non-3PMS DuraTracs that came with my truck, but less impressive (to me) than the 3PMS DuraTracs I ran on my F-150, though the major caveat being that’s a different vehicle.

My intent is to try the Falken WildPeaks next go around. The ATIII’s are just meh to me in most regards. And surprisingly noisy.
 
...Didn't see any snow in the testing... And of the 9 tires tested, only a few are available in the stock Tremor size. And even fewer that have the 3PMSF for winter use. These tire test videos are like opinions and A-#oles,,, everyone has one. Just like the constant hate the Duratracs have had since day 1. "Ohh, they wore out fast", well you're using a soft rubber Duratrac with the 3PMSF to go climb rocks. "Ohh they suck in the snow" well you're using the non 3PMSF hard as a hockey puck rubber on the snowy roads. ..... etc etc. The other 50% love them...
The BIGGEST downfall to Goodyear with the Duratrac is that they discontinued the 285/75/18 with the 3PMSF and lost that market.
 
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I have not experienced snow but in rain I have never owned a tire that had worse traction. They spin like crazy. I can’t imagine they would be better in snow. Took mine off this week and put Toyos AT IIIs on.
 
Take of this test what you will. To me, it left out 2 key issues I have with all terrain tyres -puncture resistance and noise.

I know some will ask why some brands weren’t included. Some US brands aren’t sold here. Others, like Coopers are, so your guess is as good as mine.

I‘ve never been a fan of Goodyear tyres so it’s no surprise to me that they came last.

The driver isn’t just a bus owner. He has raced cars in circuit racing for many years. Not at the very top but still at national level.

This is interesting results. I had the Falken AT3W’s with the 3peak snow rating on a mid sided work truck (extended cab Colarado) similar in size to the test Utes and absolutely hated them. Wet road performance to call it abysmal would be kind. Any time it rained was like driving on glare ice without any weight in the rear. Had to run with 360 lbs ~162kg of weight in the back year round to get any traction in wet or icy conditions. Warm and dry conditions they preformed pretty well, they were OK with the extra weight but useless without it in any kind of adverse weather. I did notice that comparing them to the BFG or my 3peak snow rated Duratracs they felt like a much much harder rubber. I read a lot of good things about them so wonder if I wound up with a bad batch. The set I had were so bad won’t be trying them on the Tremor when it comes time to replace the Duratracs. Thinking possibly Yokohama or Toyo when my no longer made 3peak Duratracs need to be replaced.
 
I’m not a tire expert, so I usually follow the data available when comparing tires. This thread has me checking my tire store for available options. I see the toyos folks are happy with and some of the other recommendations. I also see this cooper tire that appears to compare favorably. It’s 6-8 lbs lighter than the rest with better wet stopping. What do you think?


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The coopers I linked do.
2D8323E6-9A29-4852-9F3E-BAB936C7D6D1.jpeg
 
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