Given
86%
while driving a
Ford Expedition
(285/75 R16)
on
mostly country roads
for 17,000
spirited miles
I have been running 285/75/R16 Hankook Dynapro MT tires on my 2.7 ton 1997 Ford Expedition for 5 years now. Almost immediately after buying them, I had the tires siped i.e. cuts about 5-7mm deep made with about 5mm step onto the tire (the edges of the tread were not cut to maintain good directional habits for the tire). In summer, the grip was awesome compared to street or All Terrain, in some situation where the former tires warranted 4wd, the Dynapro Mud Terrain was still good in 2wd, especially on grass or gravel. In shallow mud, the 4wd made the vehicle unstoppable.
On streets I essentially got the stability of a train. Not kidding, my record for the vehicle keeping a lane without me touching the wheel at 40mph is about 2.8km. No problems on tram lines, no issues when tracks have been worn into the asphalt. I have never managed to get these tires to aquaplane, no matter the speed or rainfall. I can also ignore all speed bumps and humps. I can still tell what each of my wheels are doing and can still feel the paint on the pavement through the tires and suspension
Traction on snow and ice was markedly improved after getting the tires siped. I did, and now I've been running siped tires for 5 winters in Eastern Europe. Works perfectly well in loose on in packed snow, even on ice, albeit better in 4wd. It have even used the car to pull trees from the forest in deep snow. In the same snow a Subaru XV on regular Nordic winter tires had real trouble. One year in snowy conditions I briefly had one of the tires on the rear axle siped while the other was not siped, The result was that I was only able to move in 2wd thanks to the limited slip in the rear, so great was the difference in traction between siped and unsiped. Siping is absolutely necessary to run these tires in snow, on ice and generally in winter.
The main downsides are fuel economy and noise. I went from 17.5L/100km to 20L/100km in city by switching from 265/70R17 street tires to these. The tires are most economical at or below 50 mph. At 75-80 the fuel economy rises to 20L/100km on highway. As for noise, similar numbers apply. For newer tires with more tread, about 50mph is the maximum you want to do. With more wear 55-60mph can be tolerated. Beyond 65mph the noise becomes deafening.
Overall, I think for general purpose and off road, this tire size and this tire in particular is perfect for this vehicle, or a vehicle in similar size or weight. I now have about 25k kilometers on the tires and I can see them lasting at least 15k more before they lose their good traction in snow and muddy off road.
