Bridgestone has bolstered its off-road Dueler range with a more road-focused AT 002 all-terrain tyre model, which promises to offer improved on-road comfort without hindering off-road performance.
Replacing the passenger-car version of its AT 697, of which Bridgestone says it has sold almost four million units, the AT002 is a quieter, smoother, better-wearing option aimed at 80 percent on-road use with 20 percent off-road use. The AT 697, by contrast, is designed with a 70/30 split in mind – being slightly more off-road focused.
The Dueler AT 002 was developed to offer the best of both worlds as a competent off-road performer with high-way terrain comfort, targeting the segment of the market that isn’t willing to compromise on-road performance when fitting an all-terrain tyre to their ute or SUV. Let’s face it, most 4×4 owners use their vehicle off-road once a month at most so Bridgestone’s thinking makes a lot of sense.
The new tread face features a hexagonal block shape and architecture that has been optimised for traction and braking performance on a range of surfaces, including bitumen, gravel, sand and mud. The staggered shoulder tread design extends to the sidewall of the AT 002, offering tough aesthetics and better performance in soft sand, mud or snow.
Bridgestone has also opted to use its Nano Pro-Tech compound technology in the AT 002, with a high silica content for improved wet weather performance. This is technology typically found in performance tyres and aims to alleviate the main downside of running all-terrain tyres: wet weather braking performance.
With an initial range of 19 sizes, and with 11 more on the way for the Australian market, the AT 002 will fit most dual cab utes, 4×4 and SUV models.
Bridgestone Australia Sales Director, Claudio Sodano, believes the Dueler AT 002 offers the right mix of aesthetics and off-road capability while remaining comfortable and safe in urban settings.
“The addition of AT 002 to our line up means that we now have a solution and fitment for every 4×4 user,” Mr Sodano said.
“Our highway terrains will always be a staple of our range for on-road, with the AT 002 as the perfect product for those who want to explore more widely while still maintaining the comfort of a passenger construction tyre.
“We also know that aesthetic appeal play a role, and we are confident that the aggressive tread design and wrap-around blocks on the sidewalls will make Dueler AT 002 a popular tyre in this segment, without compromising on safety and comfort.”
How does it perform?
Bridgestone Australia fitted the Dueler AT 002 tyres to a range of Isuzu D-Max and MU-X models, with wheel sizes ranging from 17-inch to 20-inch, allowing us to test a range of sizes and profiles.
We spent the majority of our time in a D-Max with 18-inch wheels, which offered a realistic middle ground for the average dual-cab ute or SUV. The day was split into on-road low-speed, on-road high-speed and off-road driving components that gave us a first taste of the AT 002 in varied conditions.
Driving around Noosa in Queensland, the first thing we noticed was how quiet the AT 002 tyres are. Having driven to Noosa in a D-Max with Falken Wildpeak AT3W tyres fitted – a competitor option and sensational all-rounder – the AT 002 was undoubtedly quieter. The Wildpeaks are a quiet tyre, too, which speaks to just how silent the Duelers are at speed.
On-road comfort felt as good as any all-terrain tyre we’ve had on a D-Max, but being a beautiful, sunny day in Noosa the wet weather performance wasn’t something we could test. The high silica content of the AT 002 model is said to greatly improve wet weather performance, though, so we hope to test this soon.
At highway speeds the AT 002 tyres remain superbly quiet, comfortable and according to Mr Sodano they will wear 30 percent better than the model they replace. The AT 002 also offers a rolling resistance improvement of around five percent. We couldn’t feel it, of course, but had we clocked more than a couple hundred kilometres the fuel use figures would have provided greater insight.
The AT 002 performs better on sand than the highway-terrain tyres the D-Max wears when it leaves the factory floor, which was certainly noticeable as we entered the Noosa North Shore beach entry – doing so slower than we normally would, to test the grip.
We dropped the tyre pressures to 20psi, which allowed the wrap-around grip on the sidewalls to sink into the soft sand without the risk of de-beading. While the AT 002 is unlikely to match the soft sand performance of more aggressive off-road tyres like Maxxis RAZRs, it offers levels of grip that exceed the requirements of most weekend warriors.
Of course, a more superficial benefit to all-terrain tyres on a dual-cab ute is the ‘tougher’ visuals. The Dueler AT 002 looks a lot more aggressive than a factory highway-terrain tyre, so it ticks that box too.
There is no shortage of all-terrain tyre options, but few balance on-road comfort with off-road performance quite as well as the new Dueler AT 002 – especially if the wet weather performance is as good as Bridgestone claims. We’ll have to wait for a rainy day to conclude our on-road testing, though.
