It’s a classic dilemma for truck and SUV owners: do you choose an all-terrain tire for its good on-road manners or a mud-terrain for its aggressive off-road grip? Mickey Thompson is aiming to solve that problem with its BAJA LEGEND EXP, a tire it describes as a hybrid all-terrain, designed to bridge the gap between the two categories.

A Closer Look at the Hybrid Design

Ben Anderson, the senior product manager for Mickey Thompson’s light-truck division, recently broke down the tire’s unique design. He explained that a hybrid all-terrain, for Mickey Thompson, means a tire that has “a tread to void ratio more similar to a traditional… all-terrain product but it’s going to have a tread element count more similar to a traditional… mud-terrain product.”

In simple terms, it has more rubber contacting the road for good handling, but the tread blocks themselves are large and aggressive, like a mud tire. As Anderson stated, this gives you “big massive tread elements which are really going to help with on-road handling” and a “wider void… which is going to help give you additional off-road capability.”

The tread pattern itself is designed with this dual purpose in mind. The voids between the tread blocks are larger on the outside for off-road grip but get smaller toward the inside of the tire to help reduce road noise. The tire also features Mickey Thompson’s signature Sidebiters, which are aggressive lugs on the sidewall that provide extra tread to bite into rocks and mud.

Built for Durability and Comfort

The tire is built with the company’s Silica-Reinforced T4 compound, which Anderson says helps with “wet handling, wet breaking, cut, and chip resistance as well as tread life.” On that note, all sizes of the BAJA LEGEND EXP come with a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

The underlying construction is what Mickey Thompson calls a “Next Generation High Tensile” design. This makes the tire lightweight and provides a comfortable ride that Anderson described as “a little more familiar to folks that are coming from a… OE type product,” without giving up durability or load-carrying capacity.

Is It Worth It?

For any off-road vehicle owner who needs a tire that is quiet and confident on the highway during the week but still wants aggressive traction for off-road adventures on the weekend, the Mickey Thompson BAJA LEGEND EXP is designed to offer the best of both worlds.