Thread: Tyre advise from Mickey Thompson

At the risk of flying into trouble (again) I have been asked about my experiences regarding Tyres

At a recent event in Coffs I had the opportunity to spend some time chatting with the NSW Mickey Thompson Rep. He had traveled from Canberra where he lives for the weekend.
When Go Kart racing one of the things our team did was to seek out the tyre reps, if they came to the bigger events, we found out lots of useful information by listening to a guy who makes tyres, they tend to know what they are on about.

Some of the things he had to say were surprising and some confirmed what I already believed.

The surprising bit was his recommendation to use the Baja MTZ instead of the Radial Claw.
I questioned him regarding the performance of the MTZ to clear mud.
He says that the MTZ is just as good as the Claw. He repeated this claim several times because I did not believe him.
He says that the Claw is an old design about 13 years old where the MTZ is a new/better design about 5 years old.
Further the MTZ handles side slopes better. (Claws known problem, shared by the Trepadore)
MTZ better on rock
MTZ better on road, both handling (especially wet) and noise
MTZ longer wearing
Just better all round was his closing comment.

Some time latter whilst out on the tracks, I gave a lift up a hill to a guy who’s car went up a difficult section without him.
I had noticed the MTZ’s on his car, so I took the opportunity to query the MTZ’s performance.
Not only was he completely happy with the MTZ, but he had previously run the Claws, and says the MTZ are better and he would not go back to the Claw.

The other recommendation from the Mickey Thompson Rep was in regards to wheel size. He noticed I was running 15 x 8 wheels.
His advise for 12.5 ” wide tyre was to run a 10” wide rim.
“Less side wall damage because the side wall of the tyre sits up straighter” was his reasoning.
“On an 8 the side wall is too bulged, you will get lots less staked tyres with the 10” he continued.

I questioned him regarding his opinion regarding 15” or 16” wheel.
Like all things at the pointy end, it’s a compromise. 15” bag better off road, but in his opinion not enough extra to offset the better road manners of the 16” wheel
He said “It doesn’t matter so much up to 33” but 35” or bigger on 15” rims have so much sidewall and therefore sidewall movement, this can lead to uncontrollable caster wobbles”
Again he points out the 10” wide rim will behave better, and he recommends 16” wheels as well if you are going to run 35’s or bigger.

The very next day after the reps warning regarding staking sidewalls, I managed to stake one.
I have since obtained some MTZ, quite worn ones, but worth trying.
He was correct about the on road manners, lots quieter and better in the wet.
I am yet to try them off road, so I will report further soon.

Hope this was helpful

Regards

Gaz

Looking at the Mickey Thompson catalog the claws come in as one step more “OffRoad” than the MTZ. (Best and second best)
That’s why the reps recommendation of the MTZ’s was so surprising to me.

And Darth is right it can do your head in, there is no perfect tire for every condition.
In mud the Centipede could be called king
On solid rock a all terrain will probably work better than a looser block mud tire.

Assuming that swapping tires is not for this little black duck, the most aggressive Radial tire is the Claw, that’s why I chose them.
Pulling up a wet clay hill, they are beyond belief,

Having said that I went off road with these ¾ flogged out MTZ last weekend.
2 MTZ’s on the front (33 x 11.5 on 10” wheels) and 2 Claws on the rear (33 x 12.5 on 8” rims)
I am not sure if it was the rims, but the MTZ’s felt much surer than the claws.
The front felt more planted than the rear.

Both tires have the great Mickey Thompson side biters, I have used these to latterly hold on to the side of a rut and run along, hanging on by its finger nails, without falling in.
I still have my reservations, the blocks are further apart on the claws, I fear that the MTZ might fill with mud, the claw is great at cleaning itself.
But I would be tempted to give a set of MTZ’s a go.

Gaz