tyre use percentage.

[muppet_man67]

What does is mean when tyre use is rated to percentage eg 60% mud 40% road and sand? obviously intended more for mud use. just wondering how this is calculated? eg is this the ideal tyre if you do 60 percent mud driving and 40% road and sand?

[mike]

muppet_man67 (if that is your real name!)
These ratings IMHO are meant to make tyre choices easy for those who can't make their own judgement.
ie if XX% of your driving is YY surface then that particular tyre will be suited to your needs.

However consider this:
Being the owner of a road registered vehicle and not a trailer queen (well most of the time anyway) most of my driving is on the black stuff. So it's stands to reason that I should get a tyre designed for highway use right? WRONG!!! my highway performance is of little import to me, but my off road performance is bloody important to me. So I run tyres more suited to off road use even though I spend more time on the black stuff.

So your first thing to consider is:
To me the surface that I wish the greatest performance on is???

And secondly:
Am I prepared to accept the compromised performance on other surfaces?

Having said that there are tyres that suit multiple surfaces. Many highway tyres are quite OK in sand. Some aggresive tyres are good on mud and rock.

*Think about your needs.
*Research available choices
Then forget all that and buy are tyre that you're gonna have the most fun with!!!

[CHILLI]

All tyre manufacturers grade there tyres according to the type of use they will get.
ie:90/10 is classed as a h/t highway terrain 90%highway & 10%sand/dirt
80/20 is usually an all terrain 80% road & 20%sand/dirt
60/40 is still an all terrain but is more aggressive for someone who wants the best of both worlds.
And then you have mud tyres of different grades such as Cooper stt,Mickey Thompson Baja claw,Swampers and so on which will all do different jobs.
As the other guy said just because the tyre is classed as 90/10 or what ever doesn't mean you can't use it on or off road more.

[muppet_man67]

thanks for that. answered my question I should have asked but it seems that there is no standard tyre grading system its up to the individual tyre manufacturer to what the intended purpose for the tyre was.

[greg]

thanks for that. answered my question I should have asked but it seems that there is no standard tyre grading system its up to the individual tyre manufacturer to what the intended purpose for the tyre was.

Sam,

Bring your little zook out for a few trips and see what can be driven and what can't be with certain tyres - you will quickly see what tyres you want for offroad duties. Then it's just a matter of deciding how much sacrifice for on-road duties you are willing to accept.

Note: considering your driving a sierra though - it's not like the car is going to handle like a ferarri once you put some nice road tyres on it anyways.

[muppet_man67]

yea I got a set of worn mtrs that i swap over, seem to go ok in the bush, much better then the roadies I have would anyhow. and I dont really notice a difference on road either, exept in fuel and road noise.