Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme review

Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme is an all-terrain tire that can handle a lot of challenges thrown its way. The tire features above average traction off-road with their deep biters, while keeping things vibrations free on smooth tracks thanks to their new gen tread compound.

Available Sizes

Hankook AT2 Xtreme provides you with 15 to 22 inches rim diameters with following specs:

• 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

Hankook AT2 Xtreme is basically an “extreme” version of Dynapro AT2, if you don’t know already.

This tire basically gives you slightly a superior capabilities off-road.

Though the only difference between the two is seen on sides/sidewalls.

So let me start form the shoulders.

These lugs serve dual functionality, as they are designed to be capable on both on and off-road terrains. Let me explain.

Towards the inner edges of these lugs, you can see they are pretty squared off, and carry plain siping pattern.

Moreover, with the ridges placed in between these lugs get all the support from underneath (especially while cornering).

Both of these features help on pavements.

Whereas the outer edges of these lugs, presenting with thick mud scoops, siping pattern that extends down on every other lug, and thick sidewall pattern, all supply the needed traction on mud, rocks and sand.

(These biters work at their full potential with lowered air pressure).

From the middle the tire has a similar design compared to Dynapro AT2, it features 3 ribs with biters in the form of in-groove notches, stepped edges, and full depth interlocking sipes.

All other tires vs Dynapro AT2 Xtreme.

Dry Performance

The (dry) highway performance of an all-terrain tire is primarily determined by its dry grip, steering, and cornering capabilities.

I’ve talked about all of these below in detail.

Dry Grip

A tire’s overall grip relies on the extent to which its tread maintains contact with the ground.

The Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme excels in this regard, exhibiting shorter braking distances, compared to its competitors, thanks to its consistently engaged central section.

It features consistent running central most rib, with interlocking surrounding lugs, all working in harmony to ensure, grip stays in tact at all times.

Moreover, besides featuring ample rubber contact area with the road, the tire also benefits from longitudinally aligned lugs, enabling smooth (straight) rolling on highways without obstacles.

Dry Handling

During cornering, the tire’s weight is predominantly distributed towards its shoulders, which then establishes the most connectivity with the ground. As a result, the shoulder structure and tread flexibility become critical components for handling.

In dry conditions, the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme again, ranks among the top performers in this category as well, (when compared to other similar all-terrain tires).

So why is that? Well, with a closer examination of its tread, it can be revealed how its densely packed outer ribs provide such enhancing tire’s connection with the ground during turns.

Besides having connectors in between, the shoulder lugs are very closed up together, and have reinforced internal bead support. All of these supply very stable cornering capabilities.

Additionally, the tire employs a stiffer rubber composition, preventing excessive flex as the shoulder lugs bear the turning inertia pressure on them, consequently, resulting in a faster steering response and improved handling times.

Wet Traction

For a tire to maintain adequate grip on wet surfaces, it is essential to efficiently clear water from the tread. This task is primarily accomplished through the tire’s grooves and sipes.

Grooves are responsible for displacing the majority of water and providing hydroplaning resistance. You can say in this case, water is removed out of the tread at a major level, and Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme is equipped with an ample amount of grooves for this purpose, just like its competitors.

However, the real challenge is removing water at a micro level, and that’s where most all-terrain tires struggle the most, including our boy here.

The Dynapro Xtreme although features numerous sipes, it’s overall wet traction is still compromised due to its missing flexibility.

You see sipes work by drawing water particles into their slits, which requires a certain degree of flexibility, and the Dynapro Xtreme’s stiffer rubber compound is lacking that, hindering sipe’s ability to perform this task effectively.

So where this tire is one of the best ones out there for dry grip, it lacks the most when things get wet.

Fuel Consumption

It is a simple principle that a heavier tire requires more energy to propel, as they need more fuel to maneuver their weight.

Consequently, it is not surprising that the relatively heavier design of Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, where it’s weight reaches up to 80 lbs, falls short in this aspect.

It’s thick 2 ply polyester carcass, belts and nylon cap plies a long with bead reinforcements and thick rubber layer on top all add to that, as they push the tread blocks to rub against the road with a greater force, increasing overall rolling resistance and as a result fuel usage.

Tread Life

The life of a tire’s tread although also depends on rolling resistance, there are other factors at play here as well. That’s why the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, even with relatively greater rolling resistance, still gets to offer decent tread life, (when compared to other A/T competitors).

The tire’s harder compound wears slower, and it’s deep enough tread voids on average, (tread depth going up to 15.5/32″), takes a good amount of time to come down to 2/32″ (legal limit).

Moreover to improve things further Hankook added Kevlar, and aramid nanofiber reinforced polymers in its rubber, allowing for greater cut resistance, and durability.

Durability Considerations

In order to withstand the rigorous demands of off-road driving, it is crucial for off-road tires to be made with a primary focus on durability. This ensures that they can effectively navigate and endure the challenging terrains, (encountered during off-road excursions).

While majority of off-road/all-terrain tires are engineered using cut-resistant rubber compounds and incorporate deep tread voids, the overall strength and resilience are still predominantly determined by tire’s internal structure.

Having said that the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, supplies an above-average and reliable construction, featuring twin steel belts layered over a sturdy 2-ply polyester carcass. Additionally, those belts are further reinforced with two more layers of nylon coverings to further enhance its robustness.

Moreover, unlike the ordinary version of Dynapro AT2, the Xtreme also features a secondary bead apex, which provides stable off-road maneuverability, ensuring optimal performance during demanding off-road conditions.

Ride Quality

The comfort level of a ride is dependent on two crucial elements.

• The tread noise.
• And the tire’s capability to mitigate road imperfections through its tread composition and structure.

I’ll examine each of these aspects in more detail.

Tread Noise

All tread features, like the sipes, grooves, are basically tread voids, and have air in them at all times. As the tire rolls, and rubber meets the road, that air is pressured out of these voids, and then it gets back in, creating different types of sound waves.

These air particles basically strike around and create what is called in-groove resonance, and Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme does a great job at dampening it.

Its compacted up shoulder blocks kills noise at the source, and its central lugs employs advanced pitch sequencing technology (read all about it here).

Furthermore, its harder compound also limits the bouncing of sound waves, lowering overall in-groove resonance values, in that sense as well.

Ride Smoothness

A tire’s ride smoothness is influenced by its capacity to dampen road roughness, with the tire’s composition playing a most important role.

In contrast, the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, although offers a very stable handling efficiency, its harder compound still produces a somewhat jittery ride.

Basically as mentioned in the wet traction section, it’s rubber is very rigid and isn’t able to effectively suck up the bumps of the road like other (comparable) A/T tires do.

Winter Perfromance

In the context of winter traction, the Hankook Dynapro Xtreme performs exceptionally well.

Like explained in its tread section, the tire is equipped with an abundance of biting edges, including in-groove notches, offset edges, and full-depth siping. And all of these features render excellent snow gripping capabilities, enabling superior contact with the ground with lodged/trapped snow particles.

If you don’t already know, this configuration proves to be more effective than a rubber’s contact, with the snow, as snowflakes really like to stick on one another.

Additionally, although the tire’s tread compound is relatively stiffer, it still possesses sufficient thermal adaptability within its rubber composition, so where usually tires with harder compositions are susceptible to becoming rigid with freezing temperatures, the Dynapro Xtreme holds on its own great.

Navigating Off-Road

Navigating rugged paths demands some skills, and tire features, so its best if we analyze this section by dividing it into following terrain types.

Mud Tracks

The performance of a tire in muddy conditions largely depends on its tread design, where particularly the size of the grooves matter a lot.

You see on mud, its its crucial that the lugs have expelling abilities, otherwise the thick clay would accumulate up and clog up the tread, leading to a loss of traction.

And to nobody’s surprise, this is where the Dynapro AT2 Xtreme tires fall short in terms of optimal performance, (I mean, they can’t take on deep mud).

However, in less demanding terrains, the tires exhibit satisfactory performance. Their interconnected network of channels offer sufficient evacuation capabilities, while the staggered outer shoulder lugs and robust sidewalls contribute to good enough and effective mud scooping.

To put things simply, it’s overall mud traction is a significant improvement over its simpler version the Dynapro AT2.

On Rocks

Let me start here by saying this, the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme, featuring thick enough sidewall lugs and more aggressive shoulders (compared to its simpler version), offers superior gripping power.

Now its design allows you to have a decent contact patch with the ground, when the air pressure is lowered, as the lugs expand outward, significantly enhancing the tire’s climbing effectiveness.

Due to these additions on the outer lugs, now the overall biting efficacy of the central lugs is also further improved.

Though durability wise, the tire is lacking a bit now. Where Dynapro AT2 featured 3 ply sides, the Dynapro Xtreme only gives you 2.

But to be honest its a good call by Hankook, as its sidewall lugs protect that area without any major complaints and its now lighter weight (as its missing with extra layers), allows it to have a good enough climbing abilities, (better than before).

Sandy Dunes

Digging is the main obstacle to achieving effective traction on sand, which is why it is often advised to reduce a tire’s air pressure, which basically lowers the tire’s density.

However, there are several additional factors that contribute to a tire’s ability to stay afloat too, and these include having high silica compound, thicker sidewall lugs, and a lighter construction.

And I have to say, all of these above mentioned features are expertly incorporated into the design of the Hankook Xtreme.

Its substantial sidewall lugs expand and facilitate an adequate rubber-to-sand contact, increasing the overall section width and enhancing the tire’s flotation capabilities.

And it’s bead reinforcements ensure, you lower the air pressure with confidence.

Overall, I am really impressed by how reliable these tires are in almost all types of sandy surfaces.

Verdict?

So to sum things up, the Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme is a decent overall option, that performs well in various conditions, (with some areas needing improvement).

Off-road, it supplies you with a reliable traction on sand and rocky terrains, though struggles in muddy conditions due to its densely packed central lug area.

In terms of winter traction, there are no complaints, thanks to its ample biting edges and 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rating.

And on pavements, it gives you a very comfortable ride (in terms of noise), though it’s overall impact comfort could be slightly improved.

What else? Yes, its fuel economy is not that appreciable, but its tread life remains above average. And when it comes to on-road traction, the tire really meets your expectations but only when things are dry (wet grip can be improved).