Brayden Cresswell’s no-nonsense, hands-on approach to exploring Western Australia brought the 4x4 Camping and Adventures YouTube channel and Instagram to our attention, so after following his exploits over the life of a set of Open Country M/Ts, we reached out to hear his final thoughts.
"When I’m considering new gear, I do what every car nerd does, checking out reviews, watching videos on the internet and seeing what the majority of people’s thoughts are. After speaking to multiple people in the business while searching for new tyres, I kept being told the same thing; “once you go Toyo, you won’t switch to another tyre.”
I’ve covered 50,000 kilometres on my Open Country M/Ts, driving across most of Western Australia. After testing Toyo’s M/Ts on every kind of terrain that you can think of, including mud, sand, rocks and the highway, I can give you my honest, unbiased opinion in this article and the 50,000km review video above.
First, let’s talk about the tyres I decided to put on my 4WD. I went with a 285/75/16 Open Country M/T for my Mitsubishi Triton and being my first experience with mud tyres, I was apprehensive. The Triton is my daily driver, with 90% of my kilometres clocked up on the highway, and people will tell you that muddies are meant to be noisy and uncomfortable considering they’re designed more for off-road use than on.
Let me put that myth to rest as Toyo’s Open Country M/T is great on the black top, handling well and giving a comfortable ride for such a serious off-road tyre. I was aware of some tyre noise on the highway but never found it to be too intrusive. This is a testament to the quality of Toyos as even with such aggressive M/T lugs, I found these to be quieter than my previous set of all-terrains from a different brand.
I wasn’t only surprised by the comfort though, the Toyo mud-terrains are tough as nails! I have never had a puncture, even when I forgot to drop the pressures on some really intense tracks, the Toyos always came through. I do a lot of remote touring, so I needed a tyre that would be reliable and something I could count on, and the Open Country M/T has never let me down.
This just goes to shows the amount of research, development and testing that goes into these tyres that can be aggressive off-road but behave themselves on-road. I’d also heard a lot of talk about Toyos balancing up really well and after reading about the A.T.O.M. process that makes them so uniform, I wasn’t surprised that they were a breeze to balance when fitted. Anyway, let’s get to the good stuff, off-roading, that’s why you buy M/Ts in the first place, right?
There is a common misconception that mud-terrain tyres don’t work in the sand. It’s a comment I hear time and time again, so this is another myth that I’m more than happy to put to rest and one that I talk about in my reviews above and below. Drop your pressures and Open Country M/Ts glide through soft sand like a hot knife through butter, and I’ve tested them in every condition you could think of.
Scorching 40-degree summer days driving up Callcup Hill, one of the most challenging sand dunes in Western Australia. Down in Yeagerup or on the beautiful beaches down in Esperance, where the sand is as fine as baby powder. The Open Country M/T covered all the bases and I never got stuck, they have nothing but grip.
Now, let’s talk about mud and clay as this is where the Open Country M/T really shines. If you’ve driven on any kind of clay, you’ll know that grip is limited. The big lugs and open shoulder blocks always got me up the slippery tracks in the Harvey Hills and through those challenging clay-based tracks out in Brunswick.
So, what are my final thoughts, and should you buy Toyo’s Open Country M/T for your 4WD? These tyres have lived up to their reputation and then some, handling everything I’ve thrown at them. They offer the best of both worlds, comfortable on the black top and ready for the weekend warrior to hit up some tough tracks at the first chance they get, although I will be interested to compare them to the Open Country R/T as my next set.
This muddy obviously works well in mud and clay, but it’s been great on rocks and sand too, and they’ll always come out the other end asking for more. So yes, if you’re looking for a mud-terrain tyre that actually works and that’s surprisingly comfortable between adventures, try the Open Country M/T."
