Hi everyone,
Just wondering how well a mud tire, like BF Goodrich Mud Terrains, would hold up in the snow and on the ice, would I be better off using an all terrain tire, or would a mud terrain hold its own in the snow?

Jason

 

Mud terrain tires are great in the snow, especially deep snow and slushy snow, but they are like pucks on ice. Either get them siped, drive very cautiously w/them on ice or buy ATs in my opinion.

 

Cool, thanks for the quick reply.

 

Dunlop offers a Radial Rover R/T with a mud-terrain style tread, but it's studdable (Is that a word? Is now.) Pretty popular among Land Rover folks. The Radial Rover A/T's are a great all-around tire and are much cheaper than others like Bridgestone Duellers or BFG All-Terrains.

 

the only tires that are good on ice are the ones with the studs in them. If they dont have studs then it doesnt matter what kind of tires they are you wont get traction on ice.

 

I disagree. Siped tires, and Blizzak tires are excellent on ice.

 

I wont sipe my BFG Mud terrains... so Ill steer clear of ice... unless in a WIIIIIDDDDDEEE open area... lol...

 

Actually a mud tire will be bad in snow. Good in SLUSH, but bad in snow thats packable (snow ball snow). It gets in your tread and packs nice and tight and stays in there. All Terains would be a little better just because less snow can pack in there and will be easier to fling out at a decent speed.

Personally...just be a good driver in teh snow. As long as you arent on slicks, you will have enough traction to get through a normal snowing...just be a good driver and learn how to drive in the snow. Ive had MTs for 5 years and was in Michigan for every winter. You cant stop on ice no matter what kind of tire you have. But the Mts will help you get through those slushy roads a bit easier. But on a fresh snow...they are just as bad as the rest if not worse.

Go to a fresh snow parking lot and play around. FInd out what your tires can do...

 

Never had Mud terrains, but my buddy did. He didn't like them at all in snow. He went with AT's.

I agree with PoBoy, slush good, but any kind of snow, just be cautious. I have AT's, and love them. With the blizzard of '03 here in Colorado, had no problem plowing through the snow!

If you are doing alot of street driving, then from what I heard they wear down faster - since they are a more soft tire. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

With all the snow we had in the mid atlantic this winter, i was quite impressed with how my MTR's did. They are a great snow tire in my opinion.

 

I hated MT/Rs in snow. They slid everywhere and performed far worse than my stock tires.

 

I've been repeatedly impressed at how well MT/R's do in snow. Since I still have the stock tires available on stock rims, I've been able to compare them in the same snow storms and same conditions a few times. The MT/R's definitely out performed the stock all-season tires in powder and hard-packed snow. I had originally planned to only use MT/R's in the summer, but after some testing, now I'm confident to use them year-round. I've used MT/R's continuously since July, 2000.

MT/R's are a softer rubber compound than many other mud terrains, especially BFG's. So the same can't be said for all mud terrains.

I won the season ice racing points trophy 2 years ago when I only had unsiped MT/R's and racing mostly against all-terrains and lots of people with BFG AT's. This is on rough ice and some snow. The MT/R's are awesome as long as you air way down when on snow and ice. But on smooth glare ice, most all-terrain tires did better than MT/R's due to the larger number of lugs and edges in the tire pattern. I only prefer my stock all-season tires when it's icy without snow and there's very smooth glare ice.

If you live somewhere with regular ice storms, I wouldn't recommend any mud terrains. If you live somewhere with snow and occasional ice, MT/R's are great.

 

I'll add my two cents on the subject of snow. Driving in Minnesota for more than 10 years, and then a few years in the Cascades and some time in Colorado, and now living in Maine, I for some reason have seen a lot of winter driving. For icy roads, nothing beats studs or chains, but those can be on many different tires. Second best is a siped tire, the extra edges gives a better grip, but nothing like studs, you will still slide with enough momentum. An unsiped mud tire actually has a lot less edge and will probably slide a bit easier than a street tire or all-terrain, but a little finesse and a bit less throttle goes a long way on ice. For snow, an aggressive tread will help, similar to thick mud, and until it gets deep enough to start dragging the skid plates, the skinnier the better. You will build up a little wall of snow in front of fat tires that will slow you down. Unfortunately once the snow gets deeper than the bumper, the wider the tire the better. Very low tire pressure and gentle on the throttle will let you "float" over deeper snow. It's an art form to drive well in the deep stuff. Sorry this got long, but hope it helps.

 

I dont know about excellent but yes you are right, i forgot to mention siped and chains. (dont know what Blizzaks are) In reality if you drive on pure ice, like glass smooth, then not much would help you other than the three mentioned above IMO.

I also read that all-terrains are better in snow because they DO pack up. When the tire packs up with snow the tread basically becomes snow. Snow sticks to snow better than snow sticks to rubber (if the tires cleaned itself well i.e. Mud terrain). I read this in one of the popular 4 wheeling magazines but i cant remember which one.

 

My MT/R's have been quite satisfactory in both snow and ice, we have a decent amount here in Wisconsin.

On the roads in slushy stuff, I just take it easy. They are better than my old BFG AT's.

Wheeling in snow, they are decent at 10 or 12 as well.

I drove three bours to get home from school at 15 miles an hour in an ice rink like interestate with no issues at all.