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Rahimdad
Rahimdad

Nitto tires: Dura Grapplers owner's review

  • Set of 4 used:                   Twice
  • Vehicle used:                    Land Discovery and Nissan Pathfinder
  • Number of years used:    5+ Years
  • Value for money:              5 / 5
  • On-road comfort:              5 / 5
  • Off-road performance:      4 / 5
  • Overall Performance:        4 / 5


Tires are one of the most important and integral part of your car. I have used Michelin Latitudes tires on my Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi and Pirelli Scorpions tire on my Land Rover Discovery. I love both these tires equally with an inch extra respect for Michelin due to their softer side wall for extra road comfort and better sand flotation.

While I was in market for tires for my Discovery, there were offer on Nitto I came across for our off-road club and to be honest Nitto tires were very competitively priced. After fair evaluation and considering my tight budget, I thought it was a good compromise to consider Nitto Dura Grappler for my Land Rover Discovery. This first set of Nitto Dura Grappler tires lasted me for 4 years for roughly 60,000 kms that includes on road and regular off-road driving every week. So in end I was very happy with this forcible compromise I have to make 4 years back due to budgetary constraints. 

The Nitto tires are made in Japan so it gives you that added peace of mind for your investment. I drove them for 4 years in all sorts of terrain: sand, wadi, rocks and road and here is what I think about the Nitto Dura Grapplers. On road they are really quiet and offer a very comfortable ride although their side walls are not as soft as Michellin, plus with the technology they call "Revolutionary Dura-Belt™ 3 Steel Belted Technology" that gives them good grip on the road in all weather conditions and avoids inconsistent ware of these tires. They lasted me 4 years with total abuse off-road, they always remained very smooth and quiet on-road and I felt confident having them on. My main concern however came how it does perform off-road being a highway terrain tire? The answer is simple, it was amazing as the straight threads of a highway terrain help them float better in the sands, although they seem a bit heavy (which is a bit negative mark from off-road side for stock cars). They served me very well for over 60,000 kms and I was very pleased with their overall performance. 

Recently I have changed my off-road vehicle from the Land Rover Discovery to a Nissan Pathfinder. And without a doubt I have got a second set of the Nitto Dura Grapplers again. I recently went to Liwa with my new set of tires, to test if they are still the same or not? The answer is mostly yes, they are still smooth, quiet and comfortable on-road even at 140 kmph and gives you good control with different maneuvers. This time however I found something different in off-road, that I have to deflate more in the sands. Instead of the 15 PSI that I used to drive it on, I had to go down to about 12 PSI. It did well for some time, but in the really soft patches the car sunk, what amazed me was that they have done something with the tire thread that pushes the car upward and takes you out of the soft stuff if you have your technique right. Even though the car would be lifted from its spot and move a bit then again bog down in the soft sand. The trip leader advised me to deflate it down to 10 PSI a couple of times, but I was hesitant to not to have a pop-out. Having to be pulled out on 2 occasions I decided to listen to my trip leader and deflated further down to 10 PSI. The result was amazing, I never got stuck again for the rest of my liwa trip, even in soft sand where it seem the car would just get stuck, I continued to push and felt the tire just found the smallest bit of traction that would keep the car moving and a lift upwards which just did the trick and did not allow the car to bog down.

In conclusion I would only like to say, these are my second set of Nitto Dura Grapplers on 2 different rides, and if I was not impressed the first time around, this time it has surprised me with a change for the better. I am very happy to own the current set and feeling relieved that I have made a great investment for the next 4 years to come.





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