Yokohama G003 M/T Off-road Test
Never go into the woods alone, but if you do, drive the Yokohama G003 M/T
In the summer of 2017, we mounted a set of G003 Mud Terrains on 17” Deegan 38 rims and got ready to wheel our favourite trails. Then the flooding began, soon after that the fires started and the backcountry was closed. Tales of woe. It was October before the fire ban was lifted and I finally had an opportunity to test and review the tires that had so far only seen blacktop.
I’ve had Yoko’s before and the traction of those All-Terrains was fantastic. I swear the grip was so good my Isuzu Rodeo could climb trees. However I wasn’t looking for trees this trip, I was looking for mud. Actually, I was looking for anything but pavement. After several days of rain I went in search of the trails I knew collected water, creating large muddy pools. I was so confident in these tires I felt I had to handicap them by not airing down. Packing my rubber boots in case I was wrong, I started in the valley bottom on a sunny 18°C day, navigating gravel forest service roads up through the hills. The rain was so hard and heavy that parts of trail had washed away. Excellent.
Two massive windstorms that accompanied the rain days before had knocked down trees and power lines across the southern part of the province. The wind was picking up again, as weakened trees swayed dangerously in the forest, and I passed downed branches and trees on all sides.
Heading out to test tires by myself was starting to look like a bad idea. At one point I thought I had been foiled yet again as a large tree was down along the trail. Pine needles and small branches raining down around me, I grabbed the saw to try and cut enough branches away to get past. Turns out I could, but just barely.
The G003’s continued pulling me effortlessly up the steep mountainside as the trail turned from loose wet rocks to muddy pools of water. The air turned colder as the afternoon wore on and to my surprise the water on the trail turned to snow. Climbing higher, the snow thickened and the large mud pits of my dreams turned to slush. However there was still hope. The lake at the top of the trail is a managed body of water, which is drained at the end of the season leaving a muddy shore that swallows ATV’s and 4x4’s.
I finally reached the lake at the trailhead after a snowy detour and drove on to the shore to find it an expanse of snow covered, frozen mud. Foiled again. I pulled out the thermos and sandwiches, stared at the frozen lakebed, watching my breath exhale in cold clouds of vapour. Then it was time to head home. Actually past time to head home, judging by the lack of light.
Once again the G003’s provided plenty of traction, never losing grip on the hilly sections of the trail, across the rocks, and through slushy muddy holes. I reached the large downed tree I had to cut branches from to pass on the way up. Had it moved? The trail looked narrower than before. Yup, the tree had rolled slightly on its broken branches and was now blocking the trail even more.
‘God hates a coward’ the saying goes, so I crept forward, tires hanging ever so slightly over the edge as I navigated the narrowest portion of trail, trying to squeeze between a small tree at the edge and the blocking behemoth on the right. Which is when I discovered the edge was sand, and my front driver tire was going over. Forward was no longer an option. I backed up a few feet, got closer to the downed tree and eased forward. The tires
clawed at the sand as I started sliding over the edge, again. Turning further into the tree to squeeze through, it sounded like my fender was being torn away, the back end of the Jeep pushed hard left towards the edge as the G003’s clawed right to stay on the trail. An excruciating sound, but better than rolling down the mountainside.
I drove ten metres further to a safer, wider portion of the trail to survey the damage. To my surprise the rear fender was intact, the tree had torn at the tire itself, hard enough to push the whole vehicle. Not the durability test I had planned (nor wish to repeat) but there it was, and the tire was intact. No gouges or tears in the sidewall.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful as day turned into night. I wish I could tell you how great these mud terrains faired in actual mud, but I can’t confirm that, yet. But for pavement, hard rock, gravel, loose rocks, slushy mud and wet heavy snow; I can say they are fantastic.