1 of 6
Bryan Irons
Standing up on two wheels attacking the cliff.
2 of 6
Perry Mack
Solid performance on wet roads with the promise of off-road adventure.
3 of 6
Perry Mack
The shoulders and sidewalls are heavily reinforced and have tread for traction.
4 of 6
Perry Mack
The tires grab and drive effortlessly through the goo.
5 of 6
Bryan Irons
The tread design keeps the voids clear of mud photo.
6 of 6
Colin Wilson
Tenacious traction in loose dirt.
Words by Perry Mack
Bryan’s final words to me before I drove off into an acre of mud were, “I’m not pulling line!” Inspiring.
They say our sense of smell is the most powerful sense to recall memories. The scent in the air after a thunderstorm, freshly ground rich, dark coffee, and of course the aroma of brand new vulcanized rubber.
It is the smell of adventure. When Yokohama’s new Geolander X-MT G005 arrived at my door, I knew at first glance they were special. My friends at OK Tire in Kelowna thought I was ‘special’ too when they arrived at work at 7 am to find me asleep in my Jeep in their parking lot, sunlight twinkling off the morning dew.
I know they like to get the crazy’s out of the way before sane customers start showing up and my strategy worked.
The X-MT’s have an aggressive design with uniquely siped large tread blocks that step down to widely spaced voids. The engineer’s goal was to create a tread that would quickly clear mud, persistently grab rock off-road, and yet evacuate water on wet roads. They succeeded.
In a way the tire is miss-named, as it isn’t just a terrific mud terrain tire but also an aggressive rock crawler.
The engineer’s also knew that creating a tire named using the word X-treme, meant it wouldn’t be purchased for half-hearted grocery getters. The sidewalls and shoulders have visibly reinforced blocks to provide superior protection and even they have a tread design so every part of the tire can provide traction.
A new triple polymer, high density compound resists cuts and chips and has an added bonus of making a tire last longer. Since my wife occasionally parks using the braille method around concrete pillars (the tire sticks out past my fenders just enough), I had ample opportunity to see (and feel) the tire wear. There wasn’t any.
This is due to Yokohama’s new GEO-SHIELD™ construction, which features a full nylon cover, three-ply construction and extra-thick sidewall protection. If you read our review of the Geolandar M/T G003 you may recall how that sidewall with the same construction withstood a severe altercation with a tree (https://youtu.be/K3oCXeNhDVk).
On the road, the tire is quiet for a mud-terrain tire. Given the size of the voids I expected it to be much noisier. That’s not to say it is quiet, just that it is much more comfortable than expected. Handling and braking on wet and dry pavement are the best I’ve ever experienced on a tire this aggressively designed for off-road use. If you don’t mind the extra noise over an all terrain tire (and it does quickly become forgotten), you could use this tire for your daily driver, and with the M+S rating, you can use it all year long.
Off-road, the tire was nothing short of astounding. Aired down to 15 psi we got a good bulge for an improved footprint and dare I say ‘comfortable’ ride over the washboard. The tires had tenacious traction even in the loose dirt, moss and wood covered forest floor. If not for the limiting break-over angle of our Wrangler Unlimited, we could have climbed up and over a rock cliff.
We explored the wet muddy trails effortlessly and saw first hand how easily the tread clears mud. Even through the slick-as-eel-snot rocker deep mud we kept on moving. What a great day.
The cons are more noise than an A/T tire, and no mountain snowflake for top performance in ice, slush, and freezing temperature road driving. But if driving off-road pushes your passion button, and you want to drive more and winch less - buy this tire.
Check out the full video.
Yokohama Geolandar X-MT Review
Specs as tested
Tire: Yokohama Geolandar X-MT G005
Size: 35x12.50R17LT
Type: Radial extreme mud terrainMax load (lb): 3,195
Sidewall construction: 3-ply polyester
Tread construction: 3-ply polyester, 2-ply steel, 1-ply nylon
Approved rim width (in): 8.5-11.0Tread depth (in): 21/32