Green laning expert impressed with first Falken Wildpeak experience

Adam Hearne, an off-road driving instructor with over 20 years of qualified experience, tells Tyres & Accessories that he has been hugely impressed with the Falken Wildpeak M/T tyre since trialling the Japanese brand on an off-road vehicle for the first time this year.

Hearne is the founder of both 4×4 Wales and Off Road Adventure Travel, firms specialising in guided and self-guided off-road driving tours in Wales, England and parts of mainland Europe. Since 2017 he has run many tours through Wales, Wiltshire, The Pyrenees, Galicia and Albania, improving the skills and techniques of off-road beginners all the way to experienced overlanders.

“The demand for my multi-day guided tours has been massive in recent years, as people have a real need for adventure, especially after the lockdowns,” Hearne says. “I run tours on a variety of routes with different levels of technicality, including an introduction to green laning, suitable for novice and less experienced drivers. What I have found is that people really like having insight into what their 4x4s are capable of, even the more experienced drivers.”

Good all round

This year, on a recommendation from his local tyre fitter, he opted to switch brands and use Falken’s Wildpeak M/Ts for the first time on his Toyota Land Cruiser, which he uses as his everyday vehicle and for more advanced routes. The Wildpeak M/T is a tyre for keen adventurers, with offset shoulder blocks for additional traction, outstanding grip on rocks and mud defence, aggressive upper sidewall design for protection against sharp rocks and low noise levels on road. Hearne has been hugely impressed by the tyre and its versatility since fitting.

“I chose the M/Ts because my Land Cruiser is a more heavy-duty vehicle and it has done some serious green laning, in places I may not visit on tours with deep muddy ruts. The tyres have performed really well. They are reasonably quiet on the road, they are one of the quieter sets of M/Ts I have used and have been consistent over the 3,000 miles I have put on them so far on routes in Wales, Hampshire and Wiltshire. They also grip well in both dry and wet conditions. Overall, the Wildpeak M/T is a really good all-round tyre that is rugged and wears evenly even after a battering from rocks and mud.”

Strong in challenging conditions

Wildpeak M/T (Image: Falken)

“I’ve delivered quite a bit of professional 4×4 training work in the Land Cruiser on private sites for the nationwide training company I work for and the Falken tyres have proven to be strong even in deep mud and challenging conditions,” Hearne continues. “In boggy sections, they perform well and do the job. Our training sites have a variety of driving challenges. The tyres have been tested thoroughly and they definitely do the job really well.

“I won’t run on cheap tyres. From my experience of what I’ve seen so far, the Falkens are really good quality and are very competitively priced.”

Quality tyres, Hearne explains, are an extremely important part of off-road and on road driving, as they can make a huge difference to the way a vehicle handles, sounds and copes with changes in weather conditions and terrain.

“For my groups, I insist that they have a decent quality off-road tyre before coming on a tour, as a bare minimum. It’s vital, as you need to avoid punctures and tyre damage and stay safe.”

Hearne says he is looking forward to seeing how the Wildpeaks perform over a longer period of time, on more challenging routes in his Land Cruiser.

“I am interested to see how durable they are with more use in the future, but from what I have seen so far, it’s been promising. It’s a big commitment to change to a tyre that I hadn’t looked at or tested previously, and to move away from a brand that I am familiar with,” he concludes.