Video Review & Installation

The Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ will be the next generation of all-terrain tires from the legendary brand and will feature a tread and tire design, which is gonna balance off-road grip and performance, but with a quiet ride while on the highway and a lot longer tread life. The Mickey Thompson Baja ATZ are available in sizes that fit a 17 and 18-inch wheel and in diameters ranging from 33 to 35 inches. Pricing will obviously swing depending on your sizing here, but you're gonna be looking at roughly 200 bucks for some of the smaller stuff, all the way up to the mid-300s for some of the bigger or wider meats.So, Mickey Thompson is one of those names that pretty much everyone knows in the industry for their killer tires. Whether it's hardcore drag racing, off-roading, or everything in between, chances are they've got something to help you out. Now, when it comes to off-roading, Mickey keeps things pretty simple. You've got the ATZ, which we're talking about here. It's their extreme all-terrain option, in Mickey's words. And in addition to that, you're looking at the Baja MTZ, which is the company's mud-terrain tire, and that's pretty much it. Of course, we can't forget about the Deegan 38 line, which is the collaboration between off-roader and dirt biker Brian Deegan and Mickey Thompson as they also carry their own all-terrain and mud-terrain option as well.But getting back to the ATZ P3 here, which, again, is a hybrid all-terrain tire, according to the guys at Mickey, as they state, this thing will feature a mud-terrain carcass, but with an all-terrain tread design in cap. So, what does that mean? Well, in a nutshell, this thing is going to ride like an all-terrain while on the road, meaning it's gonna be a little bit more quiet, it's gonna wear a little bit better, but at the same time it's going to offer some of the strength and performance benefits of their mud-terrain option.Now, the compound here of the ATZ is really soft. So, you can expect it to grip well both on and off-road, but Mickey actually baked in a bunch of silica to this thing to help you, not only with your all-season traction in grip, but also some grip in the wet weather. Another thing to point out here is that even though this compound in this tire is very soft, you're still looking at a lifespan of roughly 40,000 to 45,000 miles, according to Mickey, which isn't the best in the category, but it's still pretty impressive overall.But let's get back to that whole hybrid tire thing. And if you guys remember, this tire is built on a mud-terrain carcass, which means you're giving that thick three-ply sidewall here. Not only is that good for protection, but also helping your handling as well, thanks to that thick, stiff sidewall, less body roll, things like that. Moving up the sidewall a little bit, you're gonna find this very aggressive shoulder and scallop design here, which will not only help protect the tire over obstacles, and that three-ply sidewall, chipping, cutting, things like that. But it's also gonna help you dig deep, get some added bite when going through some thick stuff, even more so when you air these things down a bit.Now, the tread itself does feature an asymmetrical four-lug pattern going across here, asymmetrical just simply meaning you can rotate this thing any way you see fit. Now, you're also gonna notice some slightly larger voids or gaps between the lugs themselves. And that's where you're gonna start seeing some of that mud tire inspiration kind of creeping back in. Those large voids are just gonna simply help the tire self-clean once you build some wheel speed, and you're in some deep mud or snow. That is actually gonna work with the little stone ejectors here, which are these little raised areas within the voids themselves, and altogether that's really gonna help with your bite off-road.If you look closely at some of the blocks themselves, you'll see these little tiny lines, those are called siping. And that's actually gonna help you with some of your loose gravel traction in addition to helping all-weather or wet weather traction as well. All together, guys, the ATZ really is an awesome tire both on and off-road, and I am speaking from experience here as I've had a set on my previous truck. And honestly, I really enjoyed the ride quality in addition to the low noise, which, by the way, is something I feel most owners will really appreciate if you're driving all the time, or if you use your truck for a family hauler like I did.Aside from that, the relatively long lifespan is gonna be another benefit truck owners will enjoy, especially when comparing this to more aggressive mud-terrain options out there. So, in closing, if you're looking for mud-terrain performance, but with all-terrain road manners, then be sure to check out a set of Baja ATZs from Mickey Thompson right here at americantrucks.com.