One Jeep, Four Guys, Four Days Of Wheelin'
We test the new Nexen Roadian MTX mud-terrain tire in all four corners of Oregon
This report is coming to you straight out of four days of four-wheeling with four guys in the Oregon wilderness during a test of the new Nexen Roadian MTX tire. It was the perfect setting for a tire test. Rain, fog, overcast, 20 minutes of sun a day, more overcast, fog, and rain—it was Oregon. Picture mixing mud, water, dirt, sand, gravel, wind, snow, the collected crumbs of various road snacks, and four guys inside a 2018 Jeep JL for four days. After those four days, I would have bug-bombed that Jeep.
Our first day of four-wheeling began in the Tillamook State Forest grinding our way up a muddy trail called Fire Break 5. The terrain changed here and there from granular dirt to gooey mud and slick goo-covered rocks. The Nexen Roadian MTX is in fact a mud-traction tire, thus the MTX designation, so we expected it to perform well in muddy terrain. The tire’s Z-shaped center lugs lean a bit more toward an all-terrain design yet still bite well in mud, and aggressive lateral lugs on the sides of the tread area are angled and staggered to create a biting edge. Large voids between the angled lateral lugs allowed for lots of bite and quick release, preventing mud buildup.
We were impressed with the tire’s mud performance, but as we said, that was to be expected. What we did not expect was that the tire would work so well on slick, muddy rocks. We set the inflation pressure at 15 psi and even though these were F load range tires, the sidewall flex was amazingly compliant, wrapping around and taking a firm grip on the slippery stones.
For this tire test, we were driving a 2018 Jeep JL Wrangler Sport. Why a Sport? The Jeep JL is one of the most capable off-road vehicles ever made, but the Rubicon model with its lockers in both axles would not have provided as thorough a test of the tires as the Sport model with no lockers. We chose the simpler Sport model because it would have to rely more on the traction qualities and capabilities of the tire to get it through tough trails and difficult terrain. It did have a 2-inch lift and 35x12.50R17 Nexen Roadian MTX tires on it, which certainly helped. There may have been some driver skill in the equation too, since between the four of us in the Jeep during those four days, there’s likely 75 years of off-roading experience.
We then drove from Tillamook to Newport, Oregon. The next test day was to be a romp in the Oregon Dunes farther down the coast near Florence, so that night we strategized at Rogue Ales Bayfront Public House over fried cheese curds and good brews. As we have already noted, we expected the tire would perform well in mud. What we did not expect was the Nexen Roadian MTX tire’s performance in the sand.
We ran dozens of lines up and down the dunes; across the faces of dunes; crabbing up, across, and down the dunes; in the bowls in between dunes; and just about everywhere we wanted go on the wave-like mountains of Oregon sand. Not one stuck. Of course, we were again running the Nexen Roadian MTX tires at 15 psi (no beadlocks so we didn’t go lower), and that certainly helped the fairly aggressive tire to act more as a flotation tire than a digger on the sand. We were also keeping our momentum and wheel speed up, which helps on sand, and we were pleased that not a single tire got rolled off the wheel during a day of dune romping.
At that point we had two more days of testing in the wilds of Oregon, so we headed for our night’s stop, which was Eugene. The next morning was an early call, as the drive to our next location—the Fort Rock area—would take us over the Cascades. The drive from Eugene to Fort Rock was not intended to be a part of the testing procedure, and we were told we would not see snow on the pass. But it was Oregon. That morning we drove through a relatively heavy snowstorm for more than an hour, with some sections of the highway covered with 4 to 6 inches of snow, and only once did we feel any break in traction as we climbed and then descended the Cascades. Who says we don’t test tires in snow?
