This asymmetrical tire provides an optimized performance all year long. Its broadened contact patch enables you to comfortably take long drives on the road. Moreover, deep channels and efficient grooves design help it throw off the water layer covering the wet tracks.
Unique curved grooves in the central portion let it bite on the snow; thus, you can use it on paths covered with light snow.
However, its ability to deal with deep snow is relatively minimized.
This tire has a good durability score and comes with a long treadwear mileage warranty.
OHTSU FP0612 AS is an all season tire that offers good on-road grip, controlled steering responses on paved paths, reliable hydroplaning resistivity, and moderate performance on light snow and ice. But its traction abilities in off road terrains are relatively limited. Nonetheless, it comes with a long mileage warranty and costs a small amount to buy.
Table of Contents
Looking at the table of tire’s specifications:
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Tire type | All season touring tire |
| Usage | Primarily on-road |
| Three-peak mountain snowflake rated (3PMSF) | No |
| Mud and snow (M+S) rated | No |
| Tested size | 235/55 R17 |
| Tread depth | 10/32-inch |
| Section width | 235 inches |
| Max. inflation pressure | 50 psi |
| Load index | 99 |
| speed rating | W (up to 168 mph) |
| Rim diameter | 17 inches |
| Overall diameter | 27.13 inches |
| Tire weight | 28 lbs |
What does the design of the tire tell us?
Ohtsu FP0612 is an asymmetric tire whose tread specifies three ribs in the central portion.
The central rib is continuous along the circumference and has curved lateral curves on one edge.
The other two ribs are formed by small square-shaped blocks that are arranged compactly.
These side ribs have slanted lateral voids between blocks and small traction notches at the block edges.
Four straight circumferential grooves are present among these ribs.
This tire has large shoulders formed by long and wide shoulder blocks having a small lateral spacing between them.
Both shoulders are siped; however, their siping pattern differs from each other.
The outer shoulder has linear sipes in the middle of each block, while the inner one has diagonal sipes.
How’s the traction for on-road?
FP0612 provides enhanced dry grip due to its high contact patch.
As large blocks of central ribs result in greater tread surface contact with the road, it strongly holds on to the paved surface, consequently leading to excellent grip.
Semi-continuous mid rib especially contributes to the optimization of the contact patch, maximizing the rolling stability.
Moreover, traction notches on side rib edges enhance the biting ability of the tire.
Likewise, this tire also shows a good performance on wet pavements as its deep voids are designed to evacuate water efficiently.
With 10/32-inch tread depth, it offers a good water holding capacity, and its curved-grooves design proficiently channels out the water suspended on the road.
Slanted voids add the benefit of efficient wiping action.
Thus, the standing water layer is removed, and treads hold on the surface quite reliably.
However, its tread composition does not have silica particles to enhance wet traction, so its wet grip score is good but not the best.
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Dry Grip | Moderate |
| Wet Grip | Low- Moderate |
What about on-road handling?
Like proficient dry grip, the handling efficiency of Fp0612 on dry roads is also high.
The credit for this ability goes to its large shoulders.
Hefty shoulder blocks firmly hold on to the pavement while taking a turn to provide a controlled and precise steering response along a corner.
Due to increased slip resistance, its steering performance is also appreciable on a wet road.
Deep lateral voids smoothly channel water away from the tread to allow a controlled response.
Plus, its inner shoulder specifies diagonal sipes, which help it wipe off water proficiently.
As a result, shoulder blocks can maintain a firm connection with the road and present better handling performance.
However, it gets a mid-line score when you compare it with other high-end all season tires.
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Dry Handling | Moderate |
| Wet handling | Low- Moderate |
| Hydroplaning resistance | Moderate- High |
Tire’s performance on water:
Due to a deep tread and optimized siping pattern, Ohtsu shows good hydroplaning resistivity.
Its curved and slanted lateral grooves and continuous circumferential grooves perform a good job of channeling water outward from the tread.
Moreover, several linear and slanted sipes enhance the wiping ability, preventing the formation of a thin water layer beneath the tread.
Hence, the risk of skidding and slipping off on a wet or frozen path is effectively reduced.
Off-Road Traction of the tire:
FP0612 is a good all season tire; however, its off road abilities are limited.
Due to its high contact patch and lesser tread depth, it shows only a moderate level of traction in mud and snow as its grooves are not as deep as required to roll through heavy mud or snow.
Circular lateral voids improve the biting ability to some extent, but its overall mud and snow performance ranks below all terrain tires.
Moreover, it does not have an M+S (Mud and Snow) or 3PMSF (3-peak mountain snowflake) rating.
However, its ice traction is relatively better than snow traction owing to the benefit of a large contact patch that lets the tread grip on a hard, plain surface,and circular voids wipe off water from the frozen surface.
Coming to rock terrain, it offers a satisfactory experience as its hard surface grip is reliable, and large shoulders provide an enhanced steering ability.
However, it is not the best option if you are traveling to a place with uneven paths and a lot of gravel, as it does not have stone ejectors to repel hard gravel particles and pebbles.
Moreover, its texture-less sidewalls specify fewer qualities for trail hiking.
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Mud traction | Low- Moderate |
| Snow traction | Low- Moderate |
| Ice traction | Moderate |
| Rock traction | Low- Moderate |
How comfortable is the OHTSU FP0612?
This tire gets a moderate score on the comfort scale.
With respect to driving comfort, its ability is good as it specifies high contact patch and shows good on-road traction.
However, it is relatively louder than other all season tires due to its deeper tread.
Noisy air particles can easily move across its deep voids, and their free circulation leads to high tire noise.
This effect is especially prominent when driving at high speeds because fast wind currents passing through its straight circumferential grooves make it a noisy tire.
Is the tire durable and long lasting?
This Ohtsu tire is fairly durable, especially when you keep its price in view.
It offers gradual wear and is resistant to deformation due to its strong internal carcass.
Its temperature endurance is also high as it has an “A” rating for UTQG temperature grading.
However, its puncture resistance is moderate due to the absence of stone ejectors and sidewall texturing. Moreover, it faces high rolling friction due to increased contact patch.
Thus, frictional damage is also responsible for limiting the durability of the tire.
Due to these facts, its UTQG rating for wear resistance is moderate (360).
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Durability | Moderate |
| UTQG treadwear rating | 360 |
| UTQG temperature rating | A |
| UTQG traction rating | A |
Warranty and Price
As for price, this tire is one of the lowest priced tires offering reliable performance.
This size (225/75 R16) costs about$85 to $100.
Hence, you can grab a full set of tires for the price of a single high-performance tire, though you have to compromise on some qualities.
Surprisingly, this low-priced tire comes with the advantage of a limited mileage warranty for treadwear performance.
Hence, you can claim a discounted replacement if your tire tread wears down more than 2/32-inch before you had 40,000 miles on it.
| OHTSU FP0612 AS | |
| Durability | Moderate |
| Treadwear mileage warranty | 40,000 miles |
| Treadwear coverage | 2/32-inch |
In the End:
OHTSU FP0612 AS
- It is an all-season tire.
- Shows good dry traction taking advantage of its high contact patch and compact, large shoulders.
- Wet traction is reliable due to deep voids, but the overall score is moderate.
- It resists hydroplaning effectively.
- Its off-road abilities are satisfactory but not excellent.
- It carries a limited treadwear mileage warranty of up to 40,000 miles.
- Price-wise it ranks among low-priced tires.
