any experience of Kumho MT52 or Hankook MT2 tyres?

[Alsace_rangie]

Hi all,

looking for a new set of tyres.  Currently running on Insa Turbo Traction Track.  Great tyres for grip etc, but noisy and put a dent in fuel consumption.  Plus they still run at about €100 a tyre and as remoulds, their life is shorter!

Looking for an "aggressive" AT (like the Traction track and the long gone BFG Trac Edge).  Cooper ST Maxx look great, but at the moment getting them in the size I need is very hard (confirmed by Cooper France).  So looking at what is available, came up with the Kumho MT52 and the Hankook MT2.  Not so much independent info about them around, other than Australian sites and there the conditions are a bit different to Europe 🙂 . But generally seem good in terms of off-road mud and dry earth etc.

So has anyone any experience with either of these around road noise, grip in shallow snow, wet road etc.?

[Alsace_rangie]

oops, got my numbers wrong, should be Kumho MT51.  Hankook MT2 sometimes called the RT01

[Arjan]

Maxxis MT's is what I have for the somewhat more serious work.

Speedrating is a concern though..

 

[Ozzy50]

Probably been said a thousand times but I’ll say it anyway 

BFG AT’s. 

[Alsace_rangie]

As said in the original post, I want a more aggressive AT (Hybrid is a term used in some places).  I had a set of BFG ATs, and while good for road, stone tracks and dry(ish) grass/mud, they are totally useless on the sticky clay mud that I have round here. One turn of the wheel and the interlocking tread fills with what is effectively a thick layer of grease, and even a 6-wheel drive would be no use.  Same for most normal AT tyres.

ATs are also not so hot on deeper snow, or at least not as good as MT-like tyres.  But full MTs leave a lot to be desired on wet tarmac and thin/shallow snow.  This is why so many lament the passing of the old BFG Trac Edge, and why quite a few manufacturers are heading this Hybrid route.  Goodyear Duratrac (not really available outside of the US), Cooper Discoverer ST MAXX (but as I said, I'll have to wait quite a few months till they are available again in the size range I need), Maxxis, but size issues for me. The nearest I can get are the two I mentioned, unless any other suggestions?    225 up to 245,  77 or 70  R16.

Please go on saying BFG ATs, great tyres for a lot of people, a poor compromise for others.  

[elbekko]

I don't think you'll find many tyres that are good at self-clearing yet are good for fuel economy... Something in a Baja Claw-like pattern is probably your best bet.

[RRC200Tdi]

Since you are considering the Kumho MT51 tires I thought I might suggest looking into the Kumho MT71 tires. They are rather new and seem like an improvement over the MT51s from what I have read. The MT71s actually replace both the MT51 and KL71. Although I don't have experience with the MT71s yet, we did have some KL71 tires on our Land Cruiser some years ago and were very pleased with their offroad and mud performance in the rainy seasons of Uganda. I currently have BFG KM2 mud terrains and find them to be the best all around tires I have used for the conditions I typically drive in (mountain snow, mud, gravel, and yet reasonable on the highway). I also had BFG ATs and liked them a great deal for more moderate offroad and regular onroad use, but I did not do well in the mud with them. They just didn't clean out well for me in the really thick stuff and I don't think they would have done as well as the Kumho KL71s did in the slick Ugandan clay mud. I need to mention that I had the KO generation of the BFG ATs and not the KO2s, which offer much more aggressive side-biter tread, which might improve mud traction to some extent.

We once had some Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs on our Lexus GX470 (Toyota LC Prado) and found them to be unbearable on the tarmac after they had worn a bit. We have since replaced them with Kumho AT51s. They are great on the road, but I have not yet used them offroad at all, but from the looks of them they won't clean out well either.

[Alsace_rangie]

Can only find the Kumho MT71 on the US site (along with MT51, KL71 is gone), seems to not be available in Europe.  And on the US site, the sizes are no good for me, so I think this may be a non-starter unless I wait a while.

I am aware that there are always some penalties for using more MT style tyres.  The open lateral path is what makes them good at clearing, but also generates noise and rolling resistance.  That is why these hybrid styles have become more popular, with an open outer tread and an interlocking central pattern.  My old BFG Trac Edges were perfect.  Some more noise than my ATs, just that "is my wheel bearing on its way out" noise level.  Not the airplane-landing-howl that the Insa Turbos have, even with an identical pattern.  And the Trac Edge gave me enough grip in mud without giving too much away on the road.

[Chicken Drumstick]

I have Kumho MT51's on my p38 Range Rover. No real complaints if honest. Pretty decent on the road, although the RR has lots of sound proofing. Worked well in the small bit of snow we had this winter. They look more aggressive in person than the factory photos. Not used in real heavy mud, but I suspect about as good as you can reasonably get with going for a more aggressive mud terrain. Not sure I'd really call it an AT too, maybe somewhat too aggressive. MPG has taken a hit with them.

 

On my Jimny I'm running Maxxis Wormdrive tyres. I have to say they have surpassed expectations off road, even in wet mud. The Jimny does have traction control which helps, but the tyres have been very good for an AT. They have really quite deep tread blocks.

[JohnnoK]

I had Hankook Dynapro ATMs on my Disco2 when I got it, they had been fitted at around 161 000km and I just took them off now at 364 000km, so if the ones you are talking about are anything like the ones I had, I'd say go for it.

[Nonimouse]

I've used Hankook RTO1's and then RT03's for years - brilliant tyres. Although the RT03's are flippin noisy at half wear.

I now use Falken Wildpeake MT01's . Very, very impressed - like an AT on tarmac; yet oodles of grip off tarmac. And cheap - especially from Paddocks

[RRC200Tdi]

9 hours ago, Alsace_rangie said:

Can only find the Kumho MT71 on the US site (along with MT51, KL71 is gone), seems to not be available in Europe.  And on the US site, the sizes are no good for me, so I think this may be a non-starter unless I wait a while.

I am aware that there are always some penalties for using more MT style tyres.  The open lateral path is what makes them good at clearing, but also generates noise and rolling resistance.  That is why these hybrid styles have become more popular, with an open outer tread and an interlocking central pattern.  My old BFG Trac Edges were perfect.  Some more noise than my ATs, just that "is my wheel bearing on its way out" noise level.  Not the airplane-landing-howl that the Insa Turbos have, even with an identical pattern.  And the Trac Edge gave me enough grip in mud without giving too much away on the road.

Ahhh, sorry, I didn't even think about the MT71 not being available in the European market. FWIW, I can say that my BFG MT km2s are reasonably quiet, not a terribly louder than the previous BFG ATs that were on the same vehicle--I mean I didn't notice any change between the tires, but at the time I had a straight-cut geared LT230 driving the four wheels. The BFG MTs are more costly and do have a couple kg weight penalty over the ATs. 

[nickwilliams]

It's a shame the KL71 are NLA, I really liked them. One of their advantages is they will run at really low pressures (I've had mine down to 12PSi) which definitely improves grip in mud. I also found them to be reasonably well behaved on the road. I can't say much about how noisy they were because I have no soundproofing of any sort in my 90. All I can say is they were not loud enough to drown out the 300TDi!. I replaced them when they were about 75% worn, which took around 20k miles. Not much by BFG standards but perfectly acceptable on vehicle which only does about 4k miles per year. 

I had to replace them because I had one written off in an accident. The KL71's were not available so I bought a set of MT51's. They seem to be slightly better behaved on wet roads, I've not had occasion to need to use them in deep mud but I suspect they won't be quite as good as the KL71's, although they are also apparently good for running at low pressure.

[Alsace_rangie]

20 hours ago, nickwilliams said:

They seem to be slightly better behaved on wet roads, 

Any comparison with other tyres? I have no idea how KL71's performed, were they OK for an MT?  If the MT51's are only slightly better than a normal MT on wet roads, then that is not too good in overall terms!  Any experience in light snow? I assume you get some in the Peak District 😀

[nickwilliams]

I can't claim to have vast experience of different tyres (on the LandRover at least) and I've never run a set of BFG's which seem to be the benchmark most people would use. In terms of on road grip, both type of Kumho were/are way better than the dodgy Kingpin re-moulds the vehicle had on it when I first got it, and they were better than the 750-16 Michelin X's I had after that. However, I don't think they were as good as the set of Michelin XPC's I run mainly on the Lightweight and in terms of snow performance they all work but are way, way behind the Pirelli Cinturato's I run on my Panda 4x4.

The wear rate would tend to indicate that the Kumhos are softer than BFGs which is likely to make a considerable difference to their performance on snow and ice. 

Sorry, not sure that helps a lot!

[BogMonster]

On 4/22/2021 at 1:09 PM, Alsace_rangie said:

Any comparison with other tyres? I have no idea how KL71's performed, were they OK for an MT?  If the MT51's are only slightly better than a normal MT on wet roads, then that is not too good in overall terms!  Any experience in light snow? I assume you get some in the Peak District 😀

Have used KL71s off road and on gravel roads and I was never impressed. They were OK when brand new but rapidly deteriorated and were in no way comparable in performance to the BFG MTs in deep mud or slippery conditions. My wife (who does off road tours, or did when there used to be a tourist industry) commented how much different the vehicle was when we put BFGs on all the 110s - the KL71s would spin and spray mud everywhere where the BFGs just plough through.

[Alsace_rangie]

Outside of Australian forums, seems to be no wide experience of these tyres.  However....

Cooper France and their distributor were very quick to respond and helpful, but said that supplies would remain poor until end of summer.  So decided that the Hankooks looked a good bet and went looking for the best price.  Then out-of-the-blue while I was looking at a site I have searched before, I found some St Maxx 245/70R16 at a good price.  No idea where they turned up from.  So ordered them quickly, and waiting for delivery.

Let's see what they are like!

[Alsace_rangie]

Just to complete some information...

ST Maxx are not at all noisy on the road.  Only hear anything on tighter bends when leaning on the outer block tread.  Grip on tarmac is good in all conditons.  We had some heavy rain and flooding with deep mud washed accros the road.  Had to head out to rescue some of my family stranded behind a fallen tree and the mud caused no issues, nor the deep water.  Pulled the tree out of the way and all ok.

In fact very boring tyres, just gripped and did the job!

[Nonimouse]

Both the Hankook RTO2 and RTO3 are very good