Mickey Thompson MTZ vs ATZ 4 rib

Hi Robbo.

Tyres are a pretty personal piece of kit, and you'll find many and varied opinions about just about every tyre on the market.

I've used ATZ 4-Ribs for the past 60k klms and have been pretty happy with them. They are the only tyre I'd probably buy again, and believe you me I've tried a few.

They are a pretty aggressive AT, compared with the Cooper ATR (my previous tyres), for example. They are (IMHO) very robust.

I can't really offer an opinion about MTZs v ATZs - have you had a look at Pradopoint.com? There are a number of threads running at the moments concerning exactly this issue.

Pradopoint.com

George_M

G'day Robbo - George is spot on with his comment about tyres being a personal thing, somebody can do the Canning, Simmo and the Gulf on one particular tyre with no punctures and no getting bogged or whatever and say they are the best - but someone else using the same tyre will get a flatty coming out of woolworths and get bogged going to the local tip and say they are crap ! So here's my point of view/opinion. Not much difference between the ATZ or MTZ - the MTZ's are a bit noisier on the black stuff and don't quite grip as well on bitumen and will get about 10,000 k's less than the ATZ's but they are marginally better in the mud ! MUD ? 50 different types of mud in this country so very difficult for me to comment because the mud where I go and the mud where you go will be very different. I'm on my 3rd set of Mickey Thompsons and at this stage will keep buying them until they really let me down - I've been very impressed with them and have probably tried more brands than George as I run a 4WD tour company specialising in Central Australia. Ran B F Goodies for quite some time on my vehicles and still rate them very highly but just ended up buying the Mickey Thompsons because of a supply problem with the B F's. So the way I see it is - if you do more k's of dirt / mud than bitumen get the MTZ's but if you do more k's of bitumen than dirt / mud get the ATZ's ! I am just one person giving my honest thoughts - hope this helps !

Happy Travelling

( and I love seeing people bogged - especially the one's behind me ! )

All the best

Gazz

Ive had my MTZ's through most of the High Country (Butcher Country etc etc) from severe rocky/shaley areas to mud and clay base...Done about 30k and to about 50%...I am surprised how the lugs have survived,there is not many that hav come off considering the driving theyve done...25k has been on tracks as i dont drive it around town much.

I thought also that they were'nt as good on Bitumen until i let a little more air out to say 36psi and what a diff from 38-40psi...

I would buy them again

Hi, I use the ATZ 4-rb and find them a good all round tyre in all conditions.

Robbo,
I have previously had the MTZs in a 33 inch size on my 100 series and am currently running the 4 rib ATZs in a 32 inch size. For me I have been dissapointed with the ATZs when off road and wanting traction. In hindsight I should have tried the other option that I was considering at the time and that was to try out some BFG all terrains. The ATZs seem fine on the bitumen and gravel though.
Rusty

I run ATZ 4 ribs after using Coopers ATR's and have found them to be great...so much so i will be buying them again.

They are more aggressive than an AT imo, whilst not being a full on MT, they do shed mud rather well hence my purchase. They seem to have more room to shed mud compared to AT's and the 5 rib version.

I haven't used MTs as i cannot justify the extra capability combined with highway driving.

Hope that helps,

Andrew

Robbo,
Yes I was happy with the MTZs, but at the time had decided to go down to the 32 inch size and all terrain pattern for a number of reasons, being to perhaps gain slightly better fuel economy, slightly better mileage and to match the size on our then newly acquired Tvan camper trailer. I note that the ATZ in 4 rib and in 32 inch size had much narrower spaces between the blocks, even compared to the same tyre in 33 inch size. What I have found to date is no better fuel economy, good grip on bitumen, far less grip off-road, poorer self-cleaning in anything muddy and yet to be decided mileage. I have done approximately 30,000km on these tyres to date. Personally I think the BFG all terrain would have higher grip levels, but I can not speak from experience.

I would have got approximately 60,000km out of the MTZs, they did become a little noisier with age/mileage, had good grip on the bitumen and in the wet (much better then some previous Cooper STTs). For me I will in the future go back to mud terrains and the 33 inch size, as I from next winter we will be doing a lot more outback driving and for that matter 4WDing. I guess in the end it is what you intend doing with your 4WD and is at least for me not all about saving the most dollars or attaining the greatest mileage. For outback touring I will now stay with the stronger and grippier mud terrain pattern.

Rusty