Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT is an all terrain tire which is a popular choice on Cadillac Escalade and Jeep Wrangler. The tire offers exceptional rock crawling and also does great on snow with it’s 3 peak mountain snowflake rating.
Being a tire engineerin my opinionthe Goodyear Workhorse AT with the placement of large tread blocks which runs in pairsoffers a very decent rubber to road contact which provides decent grip in drywhile the tire’s full depth sipes ensures its frictions stays in tact in wet conditions. The horse shoe shaped blocks with notches provides necessary biting off road as well and they are design ed in a way to trap in the snow to enhance traction there.
Tire classification
Goodyear Workhorse AT provides you with average number of sizesgoing from 16 to 22″.
All sizes have UTQG ratings of 580 B B (which is slightly below average but understandable as the tire is quite aggressive).
There is no compromise on the speed rating howeverwhere you get up to Hwhere other sizes are also seen with RS and T.
Learn more about speed ratings: https://tiredriver.com/speed-rating-on-tires/
Speaking of load ratingsthey are seen in SLXLD or E (that’s it there aren’t others available).
The weight of the tire ranges from 29 to 53 lbswhich tells us that the tire is very light in weight.
Speaking of tread depthhalf of the sizes are seen with 12/32″ and half with 15/32″ where one is also seen with 16/32″ (LT 215/85R16)
and all of them are 3PMSF and M+S rated.
Tread Features
Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse ATalthough makes an aggressive overall designit’s a little a closed up. Let’s start things with the middle.
All of its blocks here make 4 longitudinal channelswhere the the outer two are widerbut the inner two have a lot of curves and sharp edges to them.
With the irregular placement of the central blocks the tire also interconnect these grooves laterally.
All it’s tread blocks (on all 3 ribs) provide a similar design (which look like a horse shoe)they have notches in them along with 3D sipes (which go all the way deep).
The tire also carry alot of features from Goodyear Duratraclike it offers mini tread blocks inside the grooves (which GY calls Tractive groove technology).
All ribs also have reinforced foundations underneath as well.
If we move towards the shouldersthe blocks are although not staggered they still make sharp outer edges (scroll to the top of the page to see the image).
These shoulder blocks have connectors in between and other than thatthey carry notches (like seen on other blocks) and sipeswith a slightly different design.
Compare Goodyear Workhorse A/T With Others
Durability
The tire’s light weight is explained by it’s durabilitywhich depends on the tire’s inner construction.
The tire offers a 2 ply polyester casing with has 2 wide steel belts on top.
Mostly AT tires also have nylon caps on top of those steel beltsbut this tire does not offer with any.
Soalthough with that the durability is compromisedthe tire also reduces a lot of it’s weight which improves it’s steering response on roads.
Mileage
The Goodyear Workhorse AT provides you with a very good overall mileage. The tire’s computer optimized tread pattern ensures it wears off evenly from all sides.
And without any cap pliesthe tire becomes one of the lightest AT rugged tire that you can get.
So with less weight very smaller values of rolling resistance is generated.
Moreoverthe tire also offers up to 15/32″ of tread depth on top of it allwhich takes longer to burn off.
Personally I am really impressed by the tire resistance to tread wear.
With this tire Goodyear offers a warranty of 50k miles for all it’s sizes.
Highway Traction
When it comes to AT tiressome get to be more aligned towards on road comfort and tractionwhile others focus on performing on tougher terrains.
On highwaysthe tire’s responsivenessgrip and handling capabilities are the most crucial which gives you an idea of where the tire lies. Let’s talk them all.
Communication Response
Overallthe Goodyear Workhorse AT offers a responsive design overall. Although the tire lacks slightly in the directional gripit’s lateral traction on dry roads is ample.
In other wordsthe tire is vocal enough to produces fast feedbackas it’s joined up shoulder blocks provide a good balance between the tread rigidity and sponginess.
Dry Traction
Dry traction is basically a combination of two thingsgrip and cornering.
The tire’s grip is measured by seeing how long it takes to stop when full brakes are applied (at a specified speed)while the handling depends on the lateral traction.
In case of Goodyear Workhorsealthough the tire provides a closed up rib in the middle area which offers a good directional stability.
Although the spongy rubber blocks work against gripthe strengthening rubber supports underneath the blocks ensures that grip stays firm (its tread is actually made out of dual compound).
So overall grip is not going to be an issue with this tire.
Dry traction is a mixture of tire’s grip and handling. Let’s talk grip first.
If we talk handlingthat’s even better.
Handling of a tire is basically how well the tire cornersand over there the tire’s sides meet the pavement the most.
The Goodyear Workhorse AT offers a closed up design here where all blocks have connectors in between. So with them joined togethera good enough rigidity is provided whist the tread doesn’t become too hard because of it’s lighter tread.
And as a result you get great handling times (compared to other equally aggressive A/Ts).
Wet Pavement Traction
In wet conditions always be aware of a few thingscheck if the tire has enough siping for oneand also ensure the type of tread the tire haswhat’s its texture like.
Both of these play an important role in overall wet traction of a tire.
Wet Grip
The Goodyear Workhorse offer a nice combination of soaking tread compound and sipingwhich are the two main key ingredients when it comes to gripping on wet tarmacs.
The tire offers a new gen compound consisting of good silica density along with few more polymers and all these provide the tread ribs with flexibility to move easily.
So sipesthe slits you see clear water off by contracting and sucking water inand this way the grip is made.
For Your Info: Most suitable tire in AT category for wet traction is Falken Wildpeak AT3wreview it here:
https://tiredriver.com/falken-wildpeak-at3w-review/
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaningalso called aquaplaning is the phenomena of tire floating on water. So in order to tackle thisthe tire must have massive grooves from where the in-compressible water can leave out.
And so the tire’s “resistance” to hydroplaning is calculated by measuring the float speeds (which tells how fast a tire can go over water without floating).
Now Recon Grappler provides you with ample channels for water to escape throughso it shows no problem.
There are 3 main channels which helps this tire achieve good enough float speedstwo of those are the ones which divide the central ribs from the shoulderswhile the rest is the lateral one which joins these circumferential outer channels.
So water get a clear pathway to get escaped from the tire.
Tread Noise
On road noise is a key component of overall ride qualityand as the tires are getting better day by dayit’s now demanded more than ever.
That’s why all tires have variable pitched blocks.
Basically noise is just air which comes in and goes out of the tire with pressure (which is due to tire’s weight).
What tire companies do is they vary the sizes of the tread blocks slightlyso each block produces a different tone.
This is actually called pitch sequencing which is very significant for on road quietness.
Winter Capabilities
Winter traction depends on the tire’s capability of forward momentumcornering ability and braking response on both deep and slick on road snowas well as ice.
Goodyear Workhorse AT offers peak mountain snowflake rating (3PMSFR)which tells us that its great in terms of acceleration (which is what this test is).
The tire for one is rounded so more of it’s pressure is put in the middle.
It’s softer rubber is also prone to getting stiff even with freezing temperatures exposure.
Rocky Areas
Goodyear Workhorse AT offers horse shoe shaped lugs. These lugs biters give them this shape.
And with these biters looking in all directionthe tire is actually able to grab in each direction.
This is crucial for rock climbingas the tire needs grip from all sides.
The tire also offers softer lugs with supporting rubber layer beneathso these lugs stick on the rocks and don’t break apart.
Speaking of whichall these rubs have special composition which makes them cut resistanceso you can even go at higher speeds on sharp gravely roads.
Muddy Areas
Goodyear Workhorse AT is not mud friendlythough it can still be driver on lighter muddy terrains.
Basically the tire offers mini ridges installed within the groovesand on lighter terrainsthese break apart the particles in to smaller piecesso they can move out easily.
But this can’t happen with thicker mud as the tire is not bald enough for faster evacuation of this thick terrain.
Sand
On sand you need a light weight tirewhich has soft sides that would not dig inand focus more on forward momentum.
And Goodyear Workhorse AT does exactly thatthe tire is one of the lightest you can findso and with a ton of footprintit gets on top of my list of best tires for sand.
Ending Note
Goodyear Workhorse AT is a good all rounder tirewhich offers one of the best steering response on highways. This has to do with it’s being so light.
The heaviest size of the tire is just above 50 lbsmost of the AT tires start from there.
So with that the tire does great on sandand climbing rocks (where gravity doesn’t work against it too much).
And at the same time the biters everywhere help this tire with traction further.
These several biters also earn this tire with 3 peak mountain snowflake rating symbol.
