Toyo R/T Trail Tire Review: Aggressive Looks, Everyday Performance

The Open Country tire lineup now has a fourth member of the family, the Toyo R/T Trail. This new tire slots in between the R/T and the A/T III.

R/T stands for “rugged terrain,” and in the off-road world, it represents a tire that slots between a mud-terrain (M/T) tire and an all-terrain (A/T) tire. The new Toyo Open Country R/T Trail is a tire that looks like an aggressive M/T but provides more of the driving performance found in an A/T.

The Open Country lineup of light-truck and SUV tires is Toyo’s bestselling product line, and this new tire just makes that lineup even stronger. This Toyo tire will no doubt be a hot seller in a wide range of markets, especially those in mild climates.

Toyo Open Country tires — Toyo Open Country A/T III, R/T Trail, R/T, and M/T tires; (photo/Bryon Dorr)

Let’s dive into what the new Toyo R/T Trail is all about.

Toyo Open Country R/T Trail Review

Toyo Open Country R/T Trail tire review — (Photo/Bryon Dorr)

Pros:

Aggressive looks
Balanced on- and off-road performance
Durable construction
Much quieter than a mud-terrain tire

Cons:

Not ideal for snowy and icy roads
A bit louder than an all-terrain tire

Specs:

47 sizes (LT, P, Euro-metric, and flotation sizes)
Up to 38” diameter
For 16- 24” wheels
C, D, E, F load ranges
LT, P, Euro-metric, and flotation sizes
45,000-mile treadwear warranty
No regrets 45-day/500-mile trial offer

R/T Trail Testing

Toyo R/T Trail tire — (Photo/Bryon Dorr)

Toyo traveled the country to off-road and overland events getting feedback from enthusiasts. Even before any journalist, like myself, got to experience the new tire. The brand also enlisted its deep quiver of ambassadors to put some big miles on these tires, beyond the many in-lab and controlled testing center validations.

For my testing, I flew into Los Angles and spent a long day on and off road in the mountains around Big Bear Lake. This media experience included curvy mountain roads and secondary highways. I drove a wide range of off-road terrain, including some black diamond-rated Jeep trails and obstacles.

I experienced the tires on two different vehicles, both highly modified: a 2014 Nissan Frontier and a Chevy Colorado ZR2 Bison. Street pressures on both rigs was about 30 psi, and off road they were both aired down to about 15 psi.

Rugged Terrain Tires

One of the first rugged-terrain tires to hit the market was the Toyo Open Country R/T, back in 2014. It filled the gap between M/T and A/T and spawned a whole new category of light truck and SUV tire. One of the biggest keys to the R/T’s success is the desire to have aggressive off-road looks while still being mild-mannered, and specifically quieter, on everyday drives.

The Toyo R/T is much more like the M/T in style and construction than the A/T III. The new Toyo R/T Trail, on the other hand, is built and performs much more like the A/T III while looking more like the M/T.

Toyo R/T Trail Driving Impressions

Toyo Open Country R/T Trail tires — (Photo/Bryon Dorr)

On road is where most vehicles spend their time, so it’s important that the tires on your vehicle perform well on pavement. Most of us also drive long distances on pavement to get to the dirt tracks we love to explore.

I can report that the R/T Trail is nearly as quiet as an A/T on road and seems to have great grip and predictability. The tires inspired confidence on road — much more so than you’d expect from an aggressive off-road tire.

Many of us enjoy playing off road with our vehicles. We use them to get to amazing remote places for big adventures. The Toyo R/T Trail is, of course, a great off-road tire. It has a stiff, aggressive sidewall that easily finds traction in dry dirt, wet dirt, and on both smooth and sharp rocks.

While I didn’t get to experience this in my initial testing, Toyo ensures me that the R/T Trail is also well-suited for wet roads as well as muddy and sandy conditions.

Even aired down to as low as 12 psi on some of the vehicles on our test day, with tires ranging from 33 to 37 inches, the R/T Trail worked in all conditions we experienced. The sidewalls are pretty stiff, however. This may provide less deformation over obstacles than you might want in hardcore off-road scenarios for optimal traction. But it should offer impressive sidewall tear/puncture resistance.

Snow Performance

I did not get an opportunity to try the R/T Trail in the snow, but here’s what I know.

The R/T Trail is not three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMS) rated. That means it won’t offer the same winter traction levels on road as a traditional 3PMS A/T tire, but it should perform better than a M/T tire on snowy and icy roads. The R/T Trail should also be considerably better than an A/T in deep, soft snow, as it has deep grooves and big lugs.

More R/T Trail Details

Another great feature of the R/T Trail is that it is symmetric from side to side. This means you’ll never have installed tires looking weird when one gets turned around.

Toyo’s “jointless bead wire” construction is also supposed to make the tires super easy to balance. In testing, Toyo said for many installations it didn’t need to add balance weights.

The weight of the new tire is not known/published just yet. Toyo says the R/T Trail will be very similar to the R/T and heavier than the A/T III. Much depends on the specific R/T Trail tire you choose.

Toyo also says the R/T Trail “will feature staggered scalloped shoulder blocks and extra-thick sidewall lugs that dig into soft terrain and uneven surfaces. Additional features contributing to its durability and off-road capabilities include wide circumferential grooves, lateral zig-zag grooves and stone ejectors, four-way tapered notches, and a rim protector. A heavy gauge side wall will also help protect from cuts, impacts, and punctures.”

All that should add up to a tire that sheds water well, has a long life, doesn’t chip or chunk easily, rejects sidewall punctures, and has good lateral grip in soft terrain.

Availability & Pricing

Development for the Toyo Open Country R/T Trail was done in White, Ga., for the U.S. market. It is the second Open Country tire developed in the U.S., after the A/T III. Most of the R/T Trail tires will also be produced in Georgia. Some sizes will be made in Toyo’s new Serbia plant.

Production has already started, and popular sizes of the R/T Trail will hit U.S. retailers in November 2022.

You can log into ToyoTires.com and use its Tire Finder to find the perfect match for your vehicle and locate your nearest dealer for installation.

Official pricing will be announced in November when the tires go on sale. Top brass at Toyo told us the price will fall between those of the A/T III and R/T tires.

Toyo R/T Trail Review: Summary

The Toyo Open Country R/T Trail tire provides slightly more off-road capability than an A/T without sacrificing much in the way of noise and ride harshness. It does sacrifice winter weather on-road driving performance, however.

While the R/T Trail offers aggressive good looks, 90% of consumers will still be better served by buying an A/T tire, like the Toyo A/T III. On-road and winter performance will be key for many drivers. But the R/T Trail does give you most of the A/T’s performance with most of the M/T’s good looks.