Given
78%
while driving a
Dacia Duster 4x4
(215/65 R16 S) on
a combination of roads
for 20,000
spirited miles
Got these tires on my 2016 1.5dci 110hp Dacia Duster 4x4 6MT - fully bash plated from front to rear and off road suspension fitted to it, on OEM off road steel rims (not bed locked but with the sunken valve so it is protected from ripping).
On road:
Let's start from this: They are definitely off road tires! They are noisy and they are heavy so mall crawler owners will be very displeased with the comfort levels. If you know that before buying them, they will surprise you on road as they have a spectacular wear rate and plenty of grip in the dry. Comparable to touring non premium on road tires, both wear and dry grip wise.
In the wet, they have an exceptional resistance to aquaplaning but are nowhere near "on road" tires when referring to grip levels. That being said, they don't snap at you either. You know the limit is closer BUT they are progressive and give lots and lots of feedback. If you are familiar to the general concepts of driving, they will never startle you and are actually quite pleasant to play with when there's no traffic around. If, on the other hand, you just yank the steering wheel like a monkey, they will kill you. The same may apply for roads with compacted snow and/or ice on them.
Efficiency wise, the car uses about 15% more fuel compared to normal road tires.
Now, let's talk off road:
First things first, lower pressure from 2.2 bar to at least 1.8 bar but can go as low as 0.8 bar (extreme cases) without unseating the bed (the Duster is quite a light vehicle). Normally i use between 1.3 and 1.8 bar when off road, depending on the conditions.
In the dry, may it be rocks, roots, stones, sand, dirt, whatever you throw at them they will handle with ease from crawling speeds to bashing at what feels like at least one million miles per hour... They will survive anything, they are built really tough! I couldn't believe the pointy rocks i've made contact with (to be read "hit") crawling in river beds or on forest roads driven like rally stages and never had a puncture or tear. Actually there's not even a scratch on any of the side walls.
In the wet (rocks, roots, sand, stones) they are still great and grip well. On saturated dirt/deep mud they pack up quite easily and just like any other AT tire, they won't do much in those conditions (compared to MTs, not to road tires which are hopeless).
In the snow they pack quite an unexpected punch even though they don't even have that many small sipes, like dedicated snow tires. They are both "M+S" and "3MPSF" rated and they truly deserve it. In puffy, dry snow they go like you're on dry dirt (tested from 10 to 50 cm deep). In wet heavy snow they need a bit of momentum which can be tricky to gain from a standstill on a 20% gradient, but once you got that, they keep on going like a train (tested in snow 20 to 35 cm deep), provided that you keep your foot planted on the loud pedal.
Long story short, will definitely buy again because the ease of mind given by the toughness and off road prowess surpasses the inconvenient that you have to drive a bit slower and stay a bit further behind the vehicle in front of you when it rains.