Quick Geolander G003 Review

I replaced my ST Maxx in 255/85r16 with the same size Yokohama Geolander MT G003. I liked the ST Maxx, but the price has gone up to $309 from around $220 that I had paid originally and I was absolutely unwilling to pay that (possibly related to the GY buyout). There are not a lot of choices in this size and all or most are E rated. Anyway, I put these on to give them a try. I got them installed for just over 1k on sale at Discount. The first thing I noticed is that they look VERY narrow. I had to verify the size to believe that they were 255s. I believe that Yokohama measures from the sidewall bars, which are large on these tires. They are at least an inch narrower than my ST Maxx. I was close to moving to a different tire because of the width, but thought I would give them a try anyway. They look like bike tires next to my Bronco with 315s. They claim to be 55lbs where the Maxx were 58 lbs. I wanted something with some sipes for snow and ice, which ruled out my next choice, the KM3.

Mileage:
Mileage went down upon change a little, but the Maxx were bald, so I am sure they were lighter and smaller right before changed out. Even with variables like winter gas, I do think these are a little worse on gas then the Maxx, but I don't know exactly why. They are run at the same psi and are actually a little lighter.

Sound:
For being a very aggressive tread, they are very quiet, at least for now. They are at least as quiet at the Maxx were new, and MUCH more quiet than the Maxx were when removed.

Tread:
The tread depth is huge. They look very aggressive, although thin as mentioned. They are definitely a bit larger in diameter than the ST Maxx were.

Traction:
I have now had them in light mud, gravel, dirt, sand, snow, and rain. They felt like the wandered a lot when first installed, but that has gone down a bit in the last 2500 miles. Dirt and gravel was fine. They ran as expected. They do not pick up gravel nearly as bad as the ST Maxx. I have not had them in deep mud yet, but they pulled through shallow mud in a few water crossings without any issue. Very confident feeling in mud. On pavement, I can spin them when wet if I try, but they are absolutely better than the Maxx were when taken off. Probably about a draw on wet pavement. They don't feel unstable or dangerous and stop fine. Snow was the real surprise. They have been much better in snow than expected. They are better than the Maxx were in snow, even new. I have not had them in rocks yet. Probably will be spring before I get a chance. The Maxx were fairly eaten up from CO rocks. They had a fair amount of chunking from about 30-40 days of heavy trail driving over their life. The Maxx never popped a bead and I never had a flat. Hopefully these are as good on durability.


So far I am pretty happy. I think they would look better in a 285 series, but that is my only complaint so far.