Both Falken Wildpeak RT and the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail lie in rugged terrain category.
In this comprehensive review we’ll examine and compare their performance in dry, wet, and winter conditions, as well as off-road capabilities.
Falken Wildpeak RT excels in off-road and wet performance, while the Toyo RT Trail stands out in dry grip, handling, and fuel economy.
Additionally, we’ll evaluate their fuel economy, tread life, and overall noise comfort.
Let’s start things off with dry performance.
Table of Contents
Dry Performance
Hybrid terrain tires often trade off on-road traction for off-road capabilities. However, with these two tires, the compromise is minimal as both of them feature expertly designed tread patterns.
Now dry road conditions challenge two key areas, dry grip and handling.
Dry grip or tire’s braking capability is influenced by its weight, tread composition, rolling resistance, and central tread design.
And here the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail is the one excelling, as its design ensures a more consistent rubber-to-road contact, enhancing grip.
In contrast, the Falken Wildpeak RT, with its greater tread voids, offers slightly less rubber connectivity with the road.
Plus the tire also lacks in terms of handling too compared to Toyo RT Trail. This is because the Wildpeak RT comes with greater weight, and tread depth, which causes its lugs to flex more during cornering, leading to limited steering response and compromised handling.
Wet Performance
Truth be told, both tires here need to improve their siping designs, which is a very crucial factor for reliable wet traction. But yes overall, the Wildpeak RT still provides relatively better structure here and with it slightly better wet braking and handling.
By structure I mean the Falken’s tire offers better mix of grooves and sipes.
Grooves are large channels that help prevent hydroplaning, and both tires perform well here by moving most of the water out of the way.
And sipes are small slits that open up when the tire rolls over the wet road, absorbing the remaining moisture.
Now the Toyo RT Trail although has good enough number of sipes, their straighter layout makes them stiff, especially during sharp turns, reducing their ability to absorb water as effectively.
Plus, its relatively hard composition and low silica content make those sipes more rigid to begin with.
Whereas the Wildpeak RT on the other side, uses more pliable rubber with better interlocking siping, allowing for superior water absorption.
And yes its deeper treads also move more water through the grooves, leaving less burden on sipes in the first place.
Tread Noise
Tire noise primarily arises from air particles colliding with the tread walls, which mostly enter through the shoulder voids.
And here the Falken Wildpeak RT, with its relatively more pronounced lateral gaps, emits more noise.
On the other side, the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail not only allows less air particles to hit around but also delivers you with superior pitch sequencing, resulting in quieter performance.
Its rigid tread and varying block geometry reduce in-groove resonance and diminish sound waves, creating varying tones that cancel out each other’s frequencies in a better way compared to Falken’s tire.
Winter Performance
Rugged-terrain tires aren’t typically the go-to for snowy conditions because they’re designed for heavier vehicles and tough terrains, not winter’s slippery challenges. That’s why almost none, including these two, have the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) rating.
Though out of both, the Falken RT still performs better due to its combination of thick and narrow siping slits, which enhance snow-holding properties.
This design promotes superior snow-to-snow contact, as snow particles stick to each other better than to rubber.
Additionally, the Wildpeak RT’s softer compound offers better thermal adaptability, preventing the lugs from stiffening too much in freezing temperatures, unlike the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail.
Tread Life and Fuel Economy
When talking about fuel efficiency and how long a tire lasts, it’s all about rolling resistance and heat generation and dissipation. And here, the tire’s weight, tread design, and rubber composition are the main factors to consider.
Now, Falken R/T, with its softer rubber and heavier build, generates greater rolling resistance, consuming more fuel. This increased resistance bends the tread lugs more, wasting energy as heat and negatively impacting gas mileage.
But yes in terms of tread life both tires offer similar performance.
I mean sure the Wildpeak R/T has higher rolling resistance, its greater tread depth works to its advantage, here allowing it to wear down to the replacement limit (2/32” in the USA) just as slowly as the Toyo’s tire.
Off-Road Performance
Off-road involves 3 main terrain types, mud, sand and rocks. Let’s start with the toughest of them all, yes I’m talking about muddy terrains.
Mud traction
In mud, fast evacuation and paddling abilities of a tire are very important for overall performance.
And here although both rugged terrain hybrid tires do great we believe that the Falken Wildpeak R/T stands out with a slightly more refined performance.
Its more spaced-out tread voids and greater depth allow for quicker mud evacuation compared to the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail.
But yes the overall difference between the two is very low as Toyo’s thick sidewall lugs and staggered shoulders offer equal mud-scooping abilities, or in other words, mud acceleration.
Sand Traction
Moving towards sandy terrains, which naturally favors lightweight tires as they are less prone to sinking, its not a surprise that the Toyo is the one leading here.
Plus the Toyo R/T Trail also provides a relatively larger footprint too particularly through its sidewalls with reduced air pressure enhancing that floating ability further and improving overall sand traction.
Traction on Rocks
When it comes to rocky terrains, the Falken Wildpeak R/T takes the upper hand as the tire provides greater grip with its more biting lugs and softer tread compound, providing greater friction and adherence to rocky surfaces.
Plus its deeper tread and biting edges also contribute to overall longitudinal plus lateral traction both of which are greater compared to the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail.
To Sum Things Up
In conclusion, the Falken Wildpeak R/T excels in wet performance, winter adaptability, and rocky terrain traction, making it a solid choice for diverse off-road conditions.
On the other hand, the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail stands out with superior dry grip, quieter performance, and better sand traction.
Both tires offer comparable tread life, but the Falken RT slightly outperforms in muddy terrains.
