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Last updated 7/16/2024 - Originally published 7/16/2024
Written by SimpleTire
For drivers who like to get off the pavement and take their 4WD trucks way, WAY off-road and into muddy, sloppy terrain, most all-terrain tires are just simply not going to be capable of really getting the job done. The truth is, mud is the Great Equalizer in these situations. If your tire can’t eject the mud out of its treads and get some bite in for some real traction, it doesn’t matter how much ground clearance, torque, or horsepower your truck has – you’re going to find yourself going nowhere fast with a thick, slick coat of mud on your tires spinning in place and your truck hopelessly mired down and in need of a winch. Over the years, mud-terrain tires have gained quite a bit of a reputation for being noisy, a little erratic, and squirrelly on the pavement, difficult to balance because of their size and weight, and cumbersome when it comes to handling. Fortunately, the latest generation of mud-terrain tires has been able to successfully move past many of those shortcomings.
That brings us to our comparison of the Kumho Road Venture MT71 and Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003. These are both very capable premium mud-terrain tires, and they both come with their pluses and minuses that we’ll zoom in on in this head-to-head comparison test. In the course of this review, you’ll see us refer often to SimpleScore numbers; if you’re not familiar with SimpleScore, it’s a resource that the team at SimpleTire has developed to give you an at-a-glance idea of what a tire is all about.
SimpleScore takes a look at a tire's specs, data points, and reviews and then processes that information down into a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, durability, and longevity as well as an overall average SimpleScore. For the Kumho Road Venture MT71 and Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003, the SimpleScore rating breakdown is as follows:
Kumho Road Venture MT71
- Traction: 8.5
- Durability: 8.8
- Longevity: 8.6
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.6
Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003
- Traction: 9.7
- Durability: 9.4
- Longevity: 7.9
- Overall average SimpleScore: 9.0
As you can see, the Kumho Road Venture MT71 and Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 are both pretty closely matched when it comes to SimpleScore rankings. As useful as SimpleScore is, though, it’s still the 30,000 foot overview that doesn’t give you the in-depth close-up look at a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. Let’s break that information down a little more with a head-to-head comparison of these two premium mud-terrain tires.
Kumho Road Venture MT71 tires
Mud, rocks, sand, gravel, dirt, and snow aren’t going to stop the Kumho Road Venture MT71. The Road Venture MT71 is built be tough, with Kumho’s chewy, damage-resistant Tri-Blend tread formulation, three plies of high-strength polyester, two high-tensile steel belts (derived from Kumho’s commercial tire applications) and two high-denier nylon reinforcement plies for extra integrity in the cap and bead areas. The proprietary polymer-blend tread compound stays flexible for traction in subfreezing weather, earning the Road Venture MT71 the M+S rating for mud/snow traction. Speaking of mud, the aggressive mud-terrain tread of the Road Venture MT71 features a wide void ratio and large, deep grooves that easily eject mud, gravel and debris so there’s always a clear section of tire to dig in as the wheel turns. Its shoulder and sidewall design includes wraparound lugs and robust biting edges for lateral, off-axis traction that makes it easy to claw out of ruts. Its stiffened tread elements give the Road Venture MT71 an advantage in aired-down performance over rocks, logs, stumps and other obstacles along with maintaining a consistent contact patch for predictable braking and handling on pavement.
Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tires
Where the road ends is where the fun begins, and there’s no other solution that can get the job done better than a set of quality mud-terrain tires like the Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003. The Geolandar M/T G003 is a tire that’s designed to dominate some of the toughest and roughest kinds of mud and terrain, with Yokohama’s GEO-SHIELD construction (triple-polymer tread compound and robust internal design) making it a tire that’s truly durable and damage-resistant. Even though the Geolandar M/T G003 isn’t covered by the factory by a limited manufacturer’s tread life mileage warranty (many mud-terrain tires aren’t), we give it a SimpleScore of 8.1 for longevity. On the pavement, cornering and steering performance are surprisingly composed, and the reinforced sidewall and aggressive tread pattern deliver excellent control off-road, so we give the Geolandar M/T G003 a SimpleScore of 9.4 for handling. Of course, it should surprise nobody that grip and off-road performance are where a tire like this really stands out. We give the Geolandar M/T G003 a very strong SimpleScore of 9.7 for traction, with its heavy-duty, tough tread compound and mud-terrain tread design with lugs that wrap onto the shoulder for lateral traction.
Kumho Road Venture MT71 vs Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tires on traction
So how do the Yokohama and the Kumho come out when it comes to traction? In the SimpleScore rankings, it’s not even close, as the Yokohama pulls in a 9.7 vs 8.5 for the Kumho. The Yokohama’s aggressive lug tread features angled tread blocks and wraparound lugs at the shoulder, extending down onto the sidewall for tenacious grip in some of the most difficult situations. A dense network of sipes enhances traction on wet pavement or in wintry conditions, and mud and stone ejectors do a superb job of self-cleaning tread grooves. The enhanced, optimized footprint of the Yokohama keeps more rubber in contact with the road, with a wide, flat, long contact patch. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003
Kumho Road Venture MT71 vs Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tires on durability
Again, there’s a pretty big spread between the SimpleScore numbers for durability, with the Yokohama weighing in with a SimpleScore of 9.4 vs 8.8 for the Kumho. Yokohama has put extensive research into their GEOSHIELD technology package that includes multiple sidewall plies, a high-turnup carcass, and a full nylon cap layer, along with a super-tough and damage-resistant tread formulation. Both tires can absorb a lot of rough use and punishment off the pavement, but the Yokohama definitely comes out ahead in durability. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003
Kumho Road Venture MT71 vs Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 tires on longevity
This one’s something of a conundrum, really. Usually, a tire’s durability is tied in directly to how long you can expect it to last, and this is one where the judgment call comes down to customer reviews. With the Yokohama showing a SimpleScore of 7.9 for longevity vs 8.6 for the Kumho, customers leaving reviews have indicated that the Kumho has a better track record for the long haul and that they saw a longer service life with it. Of course, considering the type of use (or misuse sometimes) that mud-terrain tires are subjected to, that can all be pretty relative. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Kumho Road Venture MT71
When to use each
It all depends on your needs and your expectations from a tire and your truck. If you live far back in a rural area with farm roads, logging trails and ranch roads, or if you love taking your truck far into the remote backwoods and getting in some good times in deep, sticky mud, then mud-terrain tires like the Kumho or the Yokohama could either one be great choices. If, on the other hand, you want mud-terrain tires because you think they’d make your truck look tough and macho (even if you spend most of your time on city streets), then you should probably think pretty hard about whether mud-terrain tires are really what you need.
Yes, mud-terrain tires have evolved a lot and tire manufacturers have addressed many of those complaints about noise, ride quality, vibration, harshness, handling, and wheel balance. Still, for daily driver duties, you really should consider if you’d be better off with all-terrain tires or mud-terrain on your vehicle – unless you have a real need that added off-road traction.
Which one should you choose?
The Kumho Road Venture MT71 and Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 are both great tires, don’t get us wrong. They’re both durable and both provide great traction in rough conditions (although, notably, neither the Kumho Road Venture MT71 or the Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003 have the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service). Both tires are manufactured to exacting specs, but after looking at all the SimpleScore ratings and customer reviews, it’s clear that the Yokohama comes out on top. Traction, durability, longevity and the non-SimpleScore details like road manners, noise level and handling all show that the Yokohama is a clear choice out of the two, even though the Kumho registers a better SimpleScore in the longevity category. If it were us here at the SimpleTire team and we were shopping for a set of mud-terrain tires for an F150 or Ram or Silverado, we’d be compelled to go with the Yokohama Geolandar M/T G003.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.