Toyo launches Open Country UT SUV tyre

Toyo’s latest all-purpose Open Country UT tyre is aimed squarely at pickup and SUV owners. The explosion in the popularity of off-road, all terrain vehicles has meant a corresponding increase in the call for specialist, 4×4 focused tyres. Enter Open Country UT, a tyre designed to “brush off the challenges associated with urban environments, and perfect for fitment to mainstream pickups, 4x4s and light trucks”.

One of the traditional drawbacks of on-road tyres designed for four-wheel drive vehicles has long been the need to major on performance, life or road noise, with the characteristics needed to excel in one area all too often necessitating compromise in the others. According to Toyo, the Open Country UT is different, its functional tread design, special silica compound and multi-wave sipes all having been carefully developed to offer exceptional handling and braking performance, reduced road noise and fuel consumption, and long life in equal measure.

Open Country UT size range

The new Toyo Open Country UT SUV tyre is available in 20 16 to 18-inch tyre sizes. Complete details of the initial size offering are as follows:

16 inch

• 215/70 R16 100H
• 245/70 R16 111H XL
• 255/70 R16 111H
• 265/70 R16 112H
• 215/65 R16 98H

17 inch

• 265/70 R17 115H
• 225/65 R17 102H
• 235/65 R17 104H
• 245/65 R17 111H XL
• 255/65 R17 110H
• 265/65 R17 112H
• 275/65 R17 115H
• 285/65 R17 116H
• 235/60 R17 102

18 inch

• 265/70 R18 116H
• 275/65 R18 116H
• 225/60 R18 100H
• 265/60 R18 110H
• 285/60 R18 116H
• 235/55 R18 104V XL

The Open Country UT’s tread pattern is designed to offer a tyre that’s “balanced and dependable”, but it’s also worth taking the time to delve into the science and the thinking behind some of specific design features. Toyo’s “silent wall” minimises the pipe resonance noise that characterises tyres with dense tread patterns, a by-product of the groove forming an unbroken ‘pipe’ of rubber when it makes contact with the road surface. Silent groove reduces this noise by disturbing the flow of air along the channel of tread, hence the criss-cross cuts that bisect the Open Country UT’s tread pattern.

At the same time multi-wave sipes work to decrease block movement when cornering and braking, allowing more tread to remain in contact with the road surface for longer, thus giving exceptional handling and stopping ability in the wet and dry. The rigid nature of the blocks themselves also decreases the likelihood of irregular wear over time, and this promotes a quiet, long lasting tyre.

Compound wise the Open Country UT features a silica tread compound for improved wet weather performance, reduced wear and rolling resistance. At the same time, the spiral wound cap ply, high-tensile steel belts and double carcass ply result in enhanced high speed handling. There’s more, with the hardened bead filler and toughened side-walls that form part of the tyre’s construction contributing towards improved steering response, turn in and ‘feel.’

According to the company, the Open Country UT has been extensively real-world tested against comparable products from Toyo’s own range, with the popular Open Country HT having been selected as the most useful benchmark. The results suggest the UT can stop in a shorter distance in both wet and dry conditions (5% and 2% respectively), has a rolling resistance of 89 (an 11% reduction), and has better road holding and handling traits than its Toyo stablemate.