Hankook Dynapro AT2 vs Xtreme vs ATM

The Hankook Dynapro AT2, Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, and Dynapro ATM each have their respective strengths and trade-offs. Their innovative tread compounds although sets them apart, from the competition, delivering outstanding performance on a variety of terrains, there are a few key differences to note about them. Let’s find them out!

Tire Sizes

The Hankook Dynapro ATM provides you with 15 to 20 inches rim diameters with following specs:

• Speed ratings: R, S and T.
• Load ratings: SL, XL, C, D and E.
• Weight range: 32 to 78 lbs.
• Tread depth: 12.5 to 16.5/32″.
• Ratings: 3PMSF and M+S rated.
• Warranty: 50K miles (for non LT sizes).

Hankook Dynapro AT2 (review) has following specs.

• Sizes: 15 to 22 inches
• Speed rating: S and T.
• Load Rating: SL, XL, C, D, E, and F.
• Weight: 29 to 80 lbs
• Tread depth: 12 to 16.4/32″
• Warranty: 60k miles for all

And the Hankook AT2 Xtreme (review) provides you with 15 to 22 inches rim diameters with following.

• Speed ratings: S and T.
• Load ratings: SL, XL, C, D and E.
• Weight range: 28 to 76 lbs.
• Tread depth: 12.5 to 15.5/32″.
• Ratings: 3PMSF and M+S.
• Warranty: 60k for all sizes

Tread Structure

Let’s start here with Hankook Dynapro ATM.

This tire gives you a 5-rib design, complemented with notable features.

Its tread’s central area displays a compact lug arrangement. The Z-shaped blocks form minute lateral tread voids, interlinked with connectors, to provide the tire with optimal directional grip.

However, the lugs on the sides are smaller and carry more offset edges, functioning as biting edges.

Their relatively more open pattern facilitates the improved expulsion of off-road dirt particles by connecting the two outer circumferential channels.

Nevertheless, due to the densely-packed shoulder lugs with ridges interspersed in the gaps, the expulsion of water, dirt, or mud might still be challenging.

And yes worth reminding, these lugs are not staggered.

Next in line is the Hankook Dynapro AT2, which offers an increased number of biting edges.

This tire also features three central ribs teeming with biting edges in the blocks.

The central-most rib possesses lugs with dual functionalities: they feature biting edges facing both directions, full-depth sipes for flexibility, and stepped edges, enhancing off-road traction.

And their wider design and reinforced foundations also ensure on-road stability.

Though, most of the traction is derived from the surrounding ribs due to their more open design compared to others.

However, the tire’s shoulder lugs are not aggressive enough, lacking staggered outer edges and sidewall lugs.

And this leads us to the next tire: the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme.

So this newer update to Dynapro AT2, is only different on the sidewalls and shoulders.

I mean, both tires have similar central ribs having similar blocks geometry, and tread features and even shoulder lugs.

But with extreme biters on the edges of these shoulder lugs, the Hankook Xtreme is much more capable of producing off-road bite.

The tire features staggered shoulder lugs, with thick mud scoops, and extending sipes.

Moreover, these lugs also extend down to the sidewalls further, making thicker lugs over there.

Basically its sidewall lugs are chunkier an pasted on a larger surface area.

With this the tread has the capability to enhance its overall footprint by lowering the pressure. So these lugs flex and provide additional bite especially on rocky terrains, and an increased contact path on sandy terrains, enhancing tires floating abilities (which is exactly what you need on that terrain type).

Durability

Since off-road there are a lot of puncturing terrains, AT tires need a lot of durability. And that mostly comes from the internal construction, particularly on the sidewalls.

And so having said that, leading the pack is the Hankook Dynapro AT2, engineered with robust 3-ply polyester carcass, designed to withstand the rigors of off-roading.

Following closely is the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, which, although is equipped with 2-ply sidewalls, compensates for this, with its thick, protective lugs on top.

On the other hand, the Dynapro ATM lands at the end of the spectrum, with its mere 2-ply polyester casing and single spirally wound nylon cap ply.

And of course, the tire also lacks sidewall lugs, and this is coupled with its softer, (though still chip-resistant rubber compound), puts it with the label of least durable one here.

On Road Comfort

The road comfort of a tire is largely dictated by with how well it mitigates the imperfections of the road, and dampens down the overall noise levels, lets start with later.

On-Road Noise

Now all tires do pretty great here, no doubt, but overall, you can’t help it, but putting the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme to the top, still.

This is because the tire’s greater new gen tread compound is very dampening of the in-groove resonance (which is the noise generated by the bouncing sound waves within the tire tread).

Moreover, as most of the air comes in through shoulder voids, and then hit the walls to generate noise, the tire with ridges between the lugs there restrict quite some flow of these air particles.

And the little of those which still manage to come in, is handled by it’s variable pitch technology. I explained it all here.

In contrast, while the Dynapro AT2 also assures a decently quiet ride, it falls short due to its larger tread depth, which inadvertently offers a more generous surface area for air particles to strike, generating more noise.

Whereas the Dynapro ATM lacks mostly due to it’s tread generating a lot more in-groove resonance. Though the opposite happens in the second part of overall comfort.

Bumps Absorption

In case of bumps dampening efficacy, the Hankook Dynapro ATM emerges on top. It utilizes a relatively more supple tread compound, coupled with a highly absorbing spirally wound cap ply, to effectively smooth out road imperfections.

In this scenario, the Hankook Dynapro AT2 lacks out the most, with it’s 3 ply polyester carcass, and a much stiffer rubber layer on top. And so you get a very jittery ride in this tires case.

Though the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme is a good compromise is made, meaning where its tread is very quieter of the other two, it also is efficient enough to soak up quite some good amount of road imperfections, with its new gen rubber.

Tread Mileage

Tread mileage, a crucial attribute for any tire, is influenced by factors such as rolling resistance, tread depth, and composition, basically overall structure.

And while all three of our boys look very similar structure wise, the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, still stands out in terms of tread mileage.

Its tread compound strikes an optimal balance between hardness and softness, and being the lightest among the three, its rolling friction is kept at bay.

The Dynapro AT2, although a competent performer, falls behind due to its heavier 3-ply sidewall construction, that increase rolling resistance (as its lugs are pressed harder against the road, as they burn down).

Meanwhile, the Dynapro ATM is at a disadvantage too here, owing to its overall softer tread compound, which wears more rapidly. This is evidenced by the 50k mile warranty it offers for non-LT sizes, compared to the 60k miles offered by the other two.

Directional Grip

The directional, or longitudinal, grip of a tire is often gauged using braking distances.

So this means, a shorter distance would signify a higher degree of friction generated by the tire, when moving straight (like on highways).

And this friction is primarily determined by the amount of central tread area in contact with the surface.

In this context, the Hankook ATM, with its wider middle-most rib featuring Z-shaped lugs, delivers superior braking performance by offering the shortest braking distance of the three.

In contrast, the Dynapro AT2 and the Xtreme, despite their similarly designed footprints, lag slightly behind due to their less efficient braking efficacy.

Although these tires incorporate designs tailored for on-road use, their notches and wider tread voids are the main culprit here. Simply put, they take away the rubber that could have contacted the road.

 

Handling

Handling is the tire’s lateral traction and it depends on two factors, steering responsiveness and the stability of the shoulder’s footprint on the road.

With these criteria in mind, it’s easy to comprehend why the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme emerges as the star performer in handling tests, completing laps with greater speed and assurance than its counterparts.

Owing to its sturdier overall tread composition, the outer shoulder lugs maintain an unwavering and firm contact with the ground, contributing to a ride characterized by crisp, sharp responses.

Furthermore, the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme’s rigid tread compound bestows the lugs with a desirable stiffness, ensuring they maintain their integrity even when the tire is subjected to sharp turns or abrupt braking. This characteristic helps strike an optimum balance between oversteering and understeering, crucial for safe and predictable handling.

In contrast, the Hankook Dynapro AT2, although posses a similar tread compound, they still get to lack in steering, mainly because of the tire’s greater weight, which still causes the lugs to get bend under pressure.

That’s why its overall handling efficacy is similar to Dynapro ATM, which features a pliable compound showing up with equal amount of under and over steer.

Wet Traction

In the face of wet conditions, a tire’s tread composition plays a vital role in dictating overall performance.

That’s why it makes sense why the stiffer tread compounds of both the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme and the AT2 limit their overall grip and handling efficacy here.

With harder compositions, their sipes aren’t able to breath water particles properly, as they can’t flex effectively, whereas on Dynapro ATM, sipes get to expand and contract with much more ease.

Moreover, this tire also features better siping structure too which carry superior suction capabilities, ensuring superior wiping of water particles coming underneath, compared to other two tires.

Rock Performance

For navigating rocky terrains, the tread compound and voids significantly affect performance. And here although the Dynapro ATM’s softer compound provides good (enough) grip, its fewer tread voids still limit lug biting efficiency.

Thus, the real competition lies here between the Dynapro AT2 and the Xtreme.

And comparing these two, while the Hankook Dynapro AT2 offers a better middle grip owing to its multi-directional notches, it lacks aggressive sidewall lugs.

Whereas the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, with thicker sidewall lugs and more aggressive shoulders, exhibits superior gripping power, improving the contact patch with the ground at lowered air pressure.

This contributes significantly to the tire’s overall climbing effectiveness.

Snow Traction

Despite all of these Dynapro tires featuring a 3-peak mountain snowflake and M+S ratings, the Hankook Dynapro AT2 consistently outperforms the rest.

Although this tire shares a similar number of biting edges to the AT2 Xtreme, it yields more profound sipes and notches thanks to its greater tread depth. This basically enhances its snow retention capabilities, facilitating better snow-to-snow contact.

Moreover, the Dynapro AT2 exhibits a narrower section width, than the other two models, irrespective of size.

And the tire’s considerable weight is also a contributing factor here, which exerts additional pressure on the ground, that leads to improved snow trapping, allowing for snow to snow contact (which generates greater friction compared to rubber’s contact).

Here I’d like to add one more thing, that the Dynapro ATM although falls short here due to its smaller number of biters, it still does better at one thing, its rubber is thermal adaptive, so composition is not so more prone to stiffening in freezing temperatures.

Traction on Mud

A tire’s performance in muddy conditions is primarily dictated by its tread design, where the size of the grooves is crucial.

This is because the size of the tread voids are directly proportional to the mud expulsion rate. And with closed up voids, mud would easily accumulate, causing the tire to lose all traction.

And here although none of Dynapros can handle deep muddy terrains, at-least you’d be still better off with Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, with it’s combination of interlocking central grooves and staggered shoulders.

The rest of the variants are missing with mud scoops, so they can’t offer similar paddling abilities in comparison, which basically throws back the mud to create forward momentum like seen on Dynapro Xtreme.

Sand Traction

In sandy conditions, digging is the arch-nemesis of traction, hence you always get recommendation to reduce the tire’s air pressure on this soft terrain.

Though besides lowering of pressure, there are few additional elements help tires maintain surface contact, including a softer high silica compound, robust sidewall lugs, and lightweight construction. All these features basically make a tire float better and are notably embodied by the Hankook Xtreme.

The Dynapro AT2 on the other hand, falls short mainly due to its sharper outer edges and heavier weight, not to mention the absence of sidewall lugs.

And the Dynapro ATM although is light, and has pliable lugs, its also missing with sidewall lugs, which can’t offer the tire with contact expanding abilities.

Summing Up

So overall it all comes down to this.

The Hankook Dynapro AT2 is the most durable out of all, with 3 ply sidewalls, and excels in snow traction due to its deeper sipes and notches, and heftier weight providing better ground contact.

On the other hand, the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme shines in handling and sand, mud and rocky terrain traction thanks to its new gen tread compound and robust sidewall lugs.

The Hankook Dynapro ATM, while offering excellent ride comfort, and fuel economy, though lacks to other two when it comes to treadwear, with its softer compound and lacking durability.