If you own a sports utility vehicle or a car with four-wheel drive, then the chances are that you will want to take it off-road now and again. Although it is perfectly feasible to drive your SUV or 4×4 on conventional road tyres, owners of such vehicles should put a bit more effort in, especially if they want a good off-road driving experience to go with their on-road one.

Of course, if you live in a big city, like London, then you will probably need to head outside of the metropolis for a suitable off-road site. It is in such locations where you will often find better tyres for off-roading, too. For example, you can browse the extensive selection of 4×4 tyres in Buckinghamshire from Broadway Autocentres to enjoy great value and free fitting. That said, you will still need to consider exactly which tyres to choose. Here’s what you should be bearing in mind.

Key Considerations for SUV and 4×4 Tyres

Temporary Switches for Optimised Performance

If you plan on taking your SUV or 4×4 onto very muddy terrain rather than tracks or gravel, then a temporary switch from your usual road tyres may be advisable. This is because mud-terrain tyres, the sort of tyres that are usually fitted to off-road vehicles that spend the majority of their time off the road, are not so good when eating up miles on the motorway. If you are driving on the A41 from North London to Aylesbury, for instance, then a set of mud-terrain tyres will wear down quicker than normal road tyres.

Therefore, if you plan on off-roading for just a few days or even just for an afternoon once in a while, then it is usually best to fit mud-terrain tyres for your off-roading sessions and refit your road tyres afterwards. Of course, mud-terrain tyres are perfectly legal to drive on the road. Indeed, they are sometimes better performing than conventional tyres on roads with large potholes and fissures. What they are not so good at is offering stopping and cornering control at higher speeds, such as you will need when driving on trunk roads like the A4010 or the A421, to name just two. In short, remove them when you do not need them and store them to be fitted again the next time you are heading off-road.

A Balanced Approach with All-Terrain Tyres

Unlike road tyres, all-terrain tyres are designed for SUVs and 4x4s that will be taken off the main highways of the UK. Where all-terrain tyres differ from mud-terrain tyres, however, is that they are designed to offer enhanced performance whether you are on the road or off it. Of course, with these sorts of hybrid tyres that attempt to balance on- and off-road needs, there is something of a compromise to take into account. Nevertheless, the main benefit of these sorts of tyres for owners of both 4×4 cars and SUVs is that they will not have to change them every time they change between road and off-road use.

All-terrain tyres are distinguishable from most road tyres because they have a taller block structure. This is also backed up by a bigger space between the tread that makes up the outer ring of each tyre. Consequently, they tend to provide more traction in skiddy or muddy conditions than road tyres. However, they will not perform quite as well in the muddiest or softest off-road settings compared to mud-terrain tyres. All-terrain tyres also make more noise when used on the road but they are better than mud-terrain ones on most classes of British road in terms of performance.