Through Inside Time Attack I have had a close working relationship with Yokohama and have been using the Yokohama Geolander G015 for my daily driver. The test vehicle is a 2016 PXII Ford Ranger XLT, it is my daily work hack and has covered almost 376,000km.
So what does Yokohama claim about the new Geolander X-AT G016.
The Geolandar X-AT is designed for extreme traction wherever you go, with the strength of a Mud Terrain tyre in an All Terrain pattern. Suitable for 4WDs and Utes requiring durability, long tread life, off road & wet surface traction, on road handling, low noise and a comfortable ride.
Yokohama Geolander X-AT G016
Sidewall Construction:
Yokohama are positioning the tyre between your generic All-Terrain and Mud Terrain, a stronger sidewall construction, it is a traditional three-ply sidewall. The trick is in how far the ply is able to come up the sidewall resulting in a larger overlap area that results in essentially six layers of impact protection. On top of that the new construction process has enabled the use of a thicker sidewall while reducing weight compared to similar offerings.
Tread Life and Traction:
The X-AT has a very aggressive tread profile, designed for maximum traction in off road conditions, the aggressive shoulders assist with side bite and clearing small debris from the grooves, the tyre is reversible as well giving you a choice of sidewall designs. The aggressive tread pattern and finding grip in all conditions makes it a difficult task for the Yokohama engineers to make the tyre long lasting. Yokohama developed a special triple polymer compound to improve traction and durability.
My thoughts on the Yokohama Geolander X-AT G-016
Street Appeal
Let’s get the superficial out of the way, there are going to be more than a few out there that really care about how the tyre presents on their lifted 4WD.
Looks are of course a personal preference but the Yokohama has an aggressive look to it that is a hybrid of a Mud tyre and generic All-Terrain. It has an aggressive shoulder and large treaded grooves. If you want a more aggressive looking tyre to perform general duties then this certainly ticks the box.
When it comes to on-road performance there are a number of critical areas to consider when it comes to buying a set of tyres.
- Road Noise
- Comfort
- Dry Weather Performance
- Wet Weather Performance
- Longevity
The challenge for a manufacturer is to then find a balance between all of those facets, Yokohama then made that task more difficult by producing an aggressive tread pattern which will often negatively affect Road Noise and Wet Weather Performance.
We’ve traversed approximately 30,000km in the two and a half months since fitting the tyres with most of the driving being completed by me. It’s trundled along tarmac for the majority of the time mixed in with some beach, gravel, dirt and mud.
Yokohama’s claims that they have managed to produce an aggressive off-road style tyre that still provides impressive on-road manners isn’t just marketing hype.
We trekked from Brisbane to Mt Isa, Normanton, Cairns and back to Brisbane twice with numerous detours. Thousands of kilometres covered over asphalt and concrete which really highlight road noise you’d typically expect from a tyre of this style. The G016 was closer in NVH to the orignal tyres fitted to the vehicle than some of the competing All Terrain tyres we have run.
On more than the odd occasion we escaped from the well worn tracks of the trucks (honestly the roads out West are rougher than some of the gravel roads we found), airing down and attacking the mud and dirt highlighted the real advantage over a traditional All Terrain tyre.
Queensland has experienced it’s heaviest rain in rural locations for a long time. A number of tracks that would usually be smooth dirt roads were now gluggy, torn up tracks. The wide grooves and aggressive edges would quickly clear any mud out from between the blocks.
The warranty brings piece of mind when racking up kilometres over corrugated gravel roads, the sidewall construction is quite heavy duty so it perhaps transfers a little more of the ruts and corrugations back into the vehicle but is that a small price to pay for piece of mind?
Somewhere near McKinlay and Kynuna is an odd assortment of rocky mounds and outcrops. One particular pile of rubble has obviously had numerous vehicles attempt to climb it, it’s stone and loose gravel the whole way up. I’ve attempted it in the past on the original tyres that came with the Ranger with no success. This time I came back better prepared. Airing down, then cautiously attacking the challenge I came up a little short but much further past the previous best.
I backed down the hill with remarkable stability, the tyres easily maintaining traction on the way back down making use of the Rangers stability features. The second attempt was far more successful making it to the top. On the way up it scrabbled and clawed, clamouring for traction on the loose gravel and large stones and rocks.
Rejoining the tarmac any stones stuck in the tread blocks were quickly dislodged and we went back to silent motoring.
My one qualm and it really is a minor one, in wet weather on the road it does appear to have a little less traction than an equivalent quality All Terrain from some of the major brands. Equivalent maybe to a cheaper run of the mill All-Terrain. Dry weather grip is fantastic in both cornering and braking.
Pricing for the Geolander G-016 starts at $289RRP for 31/10R15 and rises to $689RRP for 37/13R22. Yokohama and their suppliers will regularly have deals. A favourite is 4 for the price of 3.
Click here to check out the range
- Appearance: 4/5
- On Road Capability: 4.25/5
- Off Road Capability: 4.5/5
- Road Noise: 5/5
- Value: 4/5