Community - What Are Rugged Terrain Tires? Wildpeak Family Overview | Falken Tires

What Are Rugged Terrain Tires? Wildpeak Family Overview

I'm Bakari Howard and I'm here with the three stars from the Wildpeak family. Meet the All-Terrain, Mud Terrain and their bold new sibling, the Rugged Terrain. Let's take a look at these premium tires and find out why they raise the bar for performance on any terrain. This is Falken Tire Tech.

If you have a hankering for off-road fun, you likely already own a truck or an SUV. And that means you should get to know the Wildpeak family of Falken tires. These tires are engineered for adventure and designed for excellent performance in all weather conditions. Their robust tread design delivers aggressive off-road capabilities without sacrificing a smooth ride on the pavement. These Wildpeak tires have some of the deepest tread in the category, with long-lasting wear, hydroplane resistance and uncompromising performance. That's what makes them Wildpeaks. Now, let's take a look at what sets these Wildpeaks apart.

I've got these three tires lined up in a progression of aggression. The A/T3W can do it all for the weekend warrior, whether you're off-roading down a trail, four-wheeling in the backcountry or driving to your favorite resort in the winter. And because it has the least aggressive tread design of our non-highway tires, it's going to have street manners. It's going to give you a smoother, quieter ride on the highway.

If you want to do more, the R/T is for you. It's a tire of choice for those who spend as much time on the road as they do off the road. More aggressive, the Wildpeak R/T was built to deliver an ideal combination of traction, durability and longevity, which makes it an ideal tire for your towing needs.

And if you want to do even more, it's the M/T. It's the one you want to take mud bogging and rock crawling. This tire is trusted by the pros to take on the harshest conditions. It easily handles mud, snow, rocks and pavement with an unexpectedly quieter ride than its competition.

There's going to be a benefit and compromise with whichever tire you choose. You just need to ask yourself what features are most important to you and your vehicle?

Let's talk about driving in inclement weather. You're going to want to choose the A/T3W. It has a silica tread compound and 3D Canyon Sipes. These features allow the rubber to remain pliable at low temperatures, increasing traction in the wet, snow and icy conditions. The 3D Canyon Sipes interlock the shoulders to help resist wear from high torque with additional handling and stability. The A/T3W also has a Three Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol, which stands for Severe Snow Rating, and surefooted drivability in the most severe conditions.

Consistent across all these tires is the tread pattern rigidity in the contact patch. Look at these rugged tread blocks. The support ramps and step-down features give these tires enhanced vehicle stability and also prevent stones from being trapped in the grooves. Now let's talk about the general differences in the tread designs of these tires.

First off, I'd like to point out the difference in void ratios in each one of these tires. So, as you can see, the A/T3W is the least aggressive of these tires. With each level of the void ratio getting wider, that tire becomes more applicable for off-road use. So, as you see here with the A/T3W - not to say these are narrow ratios, they’re still very wide - but as we progress to the R/T, that ratio gets wider. And then as we get to the M/T, it’s even wider. So, you can really see here the definition of the progression of aggression based off these void ratios. Now, let's take a look at the tread design of the Wildpeak R/T. This tire sets a new standard for the rugged terrain category for lifted trucks, SUVs and high-powered diesel pickups. In developing this tread design, we took cues from both the A/T3W and the M/T to create a hybrid tread pattern. This tread pattern on the R/T, which is the widest of the three, makes it ideal for towing. Take a look at these Tectonic tread blocks. You can almost see these tread blocks look like puzzle pieces the way they're designed. They’re going to aid in step-down support features and also minimize block squirm, enhancing that stability when you are towing.

And when it comes to long-lasting tread, the Wildpeak R/T has a 50,000-mile limited tread life warranty and the Wildpeak A/T3W has a 55,000-mile limited tread life warranty, for some of the longest-lasting wear in the category.

Let's look at the similarities between R/T and M/T. Wide open shoulder blocks with rock and mud defense features on the tread grooves offer enhanced off-road traction and prevent rocks from puncturing the base of the tread. The Wildpeak R/T and M/T both have Falken’s proprietary Duraspec technology, a three-ply sidewall with two additional turnups. This was developed to endure the most punishing off-road conditions. You could see that the R/T has more sidewall armor for protection, but the M/T sidewall was developed for more grip so that you could run them at lower pressures.

Whew. That was a lot of information. To help summarize the progression of aggression, I made you this reference chart.

Here's what you get with our least aggressive non-highway tire, the Wildpeak A/T3W. Here's what you get with the next tire in the progression, the Wildpeak R/T. And our most aggressive tire, the Wildpeak M/T. Whichever Wildpeak tire you choose, you'll have the confidence to know that they will get you wherever your life takes you.

To find out more about the Wildpeak family of tires, click the button below. Thanks for joining us on this episode of Falken Tire Tech. I'm Bakari Howard, and I hope to see you soon. Until next time, enjoy the ride.

Wildpeak Family