Kumho, BFGoodrich Joint Winners of 4×4 Magazine Ultimate Tyre Test

The Kumho Road Venture MT KL71 and BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A have been named joint winners of 4×4 Magazine’s ‘ultimate tyre test’. In conducting the test, in which 4×4 Magazine aimed to discover the UK’s best mud terrain tyre, the tyres were reportedly subjected to the key obstacles and conditions encountered throughout the country. Size 235/85 R16 tyres from eight manufacturers were in turn fitted to a 2007 Land Rover Defender 110 and subjected to six challenging real world tests – mud climb, bog run, side slope, rock crawl, gravel and tarmac braking – at a venue in South Wales.

The Kumho and BFGoodrich products finished the test eight points ahead of their nearest rivals, the Goodyear Wrangler M/T and Maxxis Mudder Buckshot. The magazine found the Kumho KL71 radically different in appearance from all its competitors and, in fact, to be the best looking as well as the joint best performer. The Kumho was awarded top marks on the rock crawl and gravel braking tests and performed with credit on the mud climb and bog run. The BFGoodrich tyre, said 4×4 Magazine, is an item considered by some to be the original and best mud terrain tyre. “Slippery mud and dangerous grass were its key strengths, with both obstacles proving no problem for the traditional American,” reported the magazine.

In summary, the magazine said the Kumho and BFG tyres were deserving all-round winners. “The Kumho MT KL71 is a great tyre and a deserving all‑round winner. Give it a try.” Of the BFGoodrich tyre, the conclusion was, “I hate side slopes and I hate grass, so when they’re combined, a BFG would be the tyre I’d want on my rims.”

Kumho managing director Steve Tidmarsh commented “We are naturally delighted with the result. 4×4 Magazine’s test is very much in line with our own research and reinforces the confidence we have had in the KL71 from the outset. I can also reveal that the new 18-inch rally raid tyre we have developed for the Bowler Nemesis is based on the KL71 and that is surely the ultimate test for an MT tyre.”