Both the Kanati Trail Hog and the Goodyear DuraTrac are although coming in all-terrain category, they are both hybrid tires. That’s why they offer superior off-road traction. Though the good thing is their on-road performance is also not compromised by too much, as well.
In my expert opinion as a tire engineer, the Kanati Trail Hog A/T comes out (better) with shorter braking distances on dry roads, provides good enough winter grip, and has slightly greater tread life. And off-road its offers superb traction on rocks and gravel. On the other hand, the Goodyear Duratrac is much better for wet grip, comfort (in terms of bumps cushioning), and offers on par winter grip. Moreover, off-road it stays unbeatable on mud and sand.
Table of Contents
Must-Know Things About Sizes
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac offers 15 to 22 inches rim diameters, having following specifications.
- Speed rating: Q, S, P, and T.
- Load rating goes up to F.
- Weight range: 35 to 68 lbs.
- Tread depth: 16 to 18/32″.
- 3PMSF and M+S winter ratings available on all sizes.
- 50k miles tread wear warranty availble on P metric sizes.
- 16 installable studable lugs available on LT sizes.
Kanati Trail Hog A/T, on the other side comes in 16 to 20 inches with following specs.
- Speed ratings: Q only.
- Load ratings: E only.
- Weight range: 45 to 75 lbs.
- Tread depth: 18/32″.
- Winter ratings: M+S and 3PMSF.
- Treadwear warranty: None
- All sizes have studable lugs.
Outer Construction
There are two main parts (of tread) to look for here, the middle, and the shoulders, and discussing that, let me start things off with Goodyear DuraTrac.
In the middle:
- The central section of the tire gets to have smaller lugs, comparatively.
- They carry full depth sipes, and saw-toothed edges.
- All of these lugs have reinforced foundations, so on-road stability is achieved with that.
- Moreover, as they create inter-connected grooves connecting the outer wider channels, they also provide decent off-road traction as well.
- The outer grooves have biters embedded within them, which provide additional efficacy off-road.
On shoulders:
- Here lugs are bigger and run in pairs.
- They get to offer slightly more aggressive siping pattern.
- Although the image here does not show the LT sizes, those sizes have stud-able shoulder lugs for winter traction.
- The outer margins of these lugs are staggered, and they form thick sidewall lugs of noticeable proportions.
Moving towards the other tire, the Kanati Trail Hog features a very similar design of closed up lugs in the middle are paired blocks on edges.
In the middle:
- Lugs are smaller and worm-like forming an interlocking pattern.
- They have sipes on them, they are not full depth (as you can see in the image above).
- These lugs make wider zigzag circumferential rings just like the Goodyear Duratrac.
On shoulders:
- The shoulder lugs are very similar to the other tire, they are joined up together and are stud-able.
- Though, unlike the Duratrac, they carry stone ejectors in between their wide shoulder gaps.
- They also make slightly sharper edges, and more aggressive outer sides, with bigger mud scoops and sidewall lugs.
All in all, it’s pretty clear, why this tire makes so much resemblance compared to Duratrac.
Internal Construction
Off-road puncturing terrains demand real toughness from off-road tires and that comes from internal construction and the rubber composition on top.
That’s why out of both tires, you see superior durability on Kanati Trail Hog AT as the tire comes with 3 ply polyester casing with 2 steel belts and 2 layers of nylon.
The relatively weaker Goodyear Duratrac only offer 2 ply sidewalls, on the other hand, and it’s rubber is also not that cut resistant, and comes with narrower tread voids, in comparison (on average).
Directional Grip
Both of these tires aren’t so great when it comes to dry traction on highways, as both features very bold tread structure, as I already explained above (in their appearance section).
Though still, out of them, the Kanati Trail Hog still gets to offer shorter braking distances (a measure of directional grip). It basically comes with a more closed up lugs in the middle which are also interlocked with each other.
And since directional grip depends on the tire’s footprint form the middle, you get better gripping and stability on this tire.
Moreover, Kanati also offers a stiffer rubber composition, so it keeps its ground-contact firm, even though it comes with larger tread depth.
On the other hand, the Goodyear Duratrac features a softer compound, and it’s tread blocks have more voids in them (in the middle). So grip gets to be limited here. Though the margin is very little, I’d like to add.
Lateral Traction
Cornering highlights the significance of the outer shoulder lug’s connection with the road. This is because when a tire corners, the whole weight it carries, gets shifted towards the outer edges (in the opposite direction).
And so looking at both tires, it not surprising to see why they both lack so much here.
The Goodyear Duratrac although features a better footprint from shoulders, the tire’s softer compound can’t resist bending of the lugs (as the tire turns), and this causes over and under steering which results in slower steering responsiveness.
And for Kanati Trail Hog, you don’t get ample rubber to road connection with such wild tread voids, so it’s lateral g forces are similar to those seen on Duratrac.
Wet Grip
Wet traction depends on water removal abilities of a tire, which is done by sipes and the tread voids.
The grooves clear off the water at a major scale through its channels, while the sipes work at a micro level, sucking left over water particles in their slits, and clearing the tire’s path.
That’s why even though both tires show up similar hydroplaning resistance (which has to do with expelling of water through grooves), the Goodyear Duratrac renders better wet grip, with it’s great number of sipes, which are also much more efficient as well.
They have an interlocking geometry, and with already softer tread compound of it’s rubber, they don’t get stiffen up and render efficient suction with flexing, so water gets slurped in with more ease.
Fuel Consumption
Fuel usage is impacted by rolling resistance, and tread flexibility, and considering both, it can be seen why Goodyear Duratrac is a more efficient tire here.
This tire is lighter in weight, and it’s lugs have reinforced foundations underneath, so even with it’s relatively softer tread compound, it still doesn’t allow its lugs to bend too much, which basically causes the wastage of the energy.
This is because energy from fuel is consumed in to the flexing of the tread, instead of moving the tire as a whole.
That’s why Kanati Trail Hog, on the other side lacks with it’s unsupported lugs, which also get to bear more weight pressure on them.
Tread Life
As already discussed above, out of both tires, the Kanati Trail Hog generates greater rolling resistance. Though that does not mean it’s tread wear rate is faster as well.
Even though its lugs have more weight on them, and they rub off the surface with greater force, the tire’s tread life is still saved by it’s deeper (on average) tread voids, and harder composition.
That’s why it gets to show up with similar tread wear compared to Duratrac, if not better.
Noise and Comfort
The balder the tire, the louder it gets, especially on smooth roads. This is because with voided structure, air particles freely move around, and hit the tread walls with full force, generating noise.
Though in case of these boys here, having a similar footprint, Duratrac still gets to be more comfortable, and this can be explained with the help of groove resonance and pitch sequencing.
Groove resonance is just the echoing of the sound waves, and since its seen more on Kanati Trail Hog the tire becomes louder.
Moreover, it also surfers further with it’s less effective pitch alteration. This simply put, is a technology which forms slight variations in the blocks arrangement and geometry.
So air particles hitting the walls generate slightly different tones at different parts.
And those tones/noise frequencies cancel out each other.
Also Read –
Are A/T tires good with dampening vibrations: https://tiredriver.com/do-all-terrain-tires-cause-vibrations/
Rugged Terrain Traction
Self-cleaning abilities and durability are key factors for off-road tires to perform well on various terrains. Let’s investigate each of these elements.
On Muddy Trails
To handle mud effectively, all-terrain tires require a tread pattern that allows for effective and quicker evacuation and the ability to paddle.
And although both tires may seem pretty bald, out of them, you’d still see better results on Goodyear Duratrac. The tire offers smaller lugs in its central part of the tread. These blocks with off-set edges break down the mud particles, which are further digested with the help of in-groove biters (seen on the base of tread voids).
So the broken down mud particles then leave out the tread with more ease, while the tire’s softer shoulder lugs paddle its way out.
Kanati Trail Hog on the other side has a more interlocking pattern in the middle, so mud gets packed up there with more ease. And of course the tire does not offer, features, that could cut down the mud particles like seen on Duratrac.
On Rocks
Rocky terrain just like roads, ask for contact patch. Though apart form that you also need biters and durability. And so both of these tires show up with similar results.
Let me discuss their good and bad.
Kanati Trail Hog on one side offers amazing biting abilities with its inter-mingling central lugs rendering off-set edges, and sharp shoulder blocks connected with sidewall lugs with deeper biters. Moreover, it also offers greater puncture resistance with it’s 3 ply polyester casing (already covered it in the durability section).
Though this casing also makes things rigid for this tire, and it’s lugs aren’t too flexible to properly bite in to the rocky surface.
Goodyear DuraTrac on the other side grabs the rocky surface in a better way (with its groove mouth), as its tread is more pliable. But then again it really lacks in the durability department. So with this tire, you don’t get that confidence you know. It’s sidewalls really scare me to be honest.
Sandy Dunes
Sand can get pretty challenging, especially when it comes to deeper terrains, where tires can sink in pretty quickly.
So you have to avoid that as much as possible. That’s why its always wise to air down your tires there. Though some tire features like the weight and tread structure also play a significant role.
And considering them it can be seen why the Kanati Trail Hog is not so great here.
The tire offers a harder compound, as already discussed, and it’s sides are way sharper in comparison, so they tend to dig in, more.
Whereas the smoother edges and the lighter overall structure on Goodyear DuraTrac allows it to float better, supplying superior sand grip.
Winter Traction
Although both tires can be considered twins, and have sever winter grading of 3 peak mountain snowflake rating, the Goodyear Duratrac still gets an upper hand.
This is mainly because of it’s mini biters placed on the base of the grooves. If you scroll up to the appearance section, you’d see these make another, secondary tread pattern within those wide tread voids.
They help in to holding on to the trapped snow which then connects with the snow on the ground, rendering better friction values.
Kanati Trail Hog on the other side is missing with this key feature. And, it’s biters also don’t stay malleable with freezing temperatures, so with this tire the overall snow bite is lacking, comparatively.
Conclusion
Although both tires look very similar to one another, there are still a lot of difference between them. Let me summarize them for you.
The Kanati Trail Hog is although pretty lacking on roads, its a good enough tire in comparison when it comes to dry grip, and winter traction. And off-road it shines on rocky and gravely terrains.
On the other side, the Goodyear Duratrac is pretty impressive on pavements when things are wet. And it’s winter performance is on par.
Off-road its does better with softer terrains, such as sand and mud, providing more resistance to digging.
