The Patriot R/T is a rugged terrain tire designed to provide stellar off-road performance and a sophisticated and comfortable ride on the road. It can go anywhere a typical mud-terrain tire can and doubles as a smooth and quiet city driving tire. Its category fits somewhere between an all-terrain and a mud-terrain truck tire. In this review, we’ll see how much of those promises from Patriot hold true in the real world. Let’s begin!
On Road Performance
Remember that the Patriot R/T is supposed to have a blend of on-road and off-road capabilities, so the tire can’t perform like a performance or touring tire. They’ll be good on all surfaces, but not the best.
With that said, the Patriot R/T packs a pretty decent grip on dry roads. You won’t lose traction in dry conditions whether you’re accelerating, cornering, or simply cruising down the street. The tire brakes are shorter than you’d think, too — so no complaints here.
Wet Performance
All-terrain or rugged-terrain tires typically have tread voids for improved traction on hardpacked surfaces, but that doesn’t help in wet conditions due to water retention issues. However, the Patriot R/T isn’t useless in wet conditions; it’s got deep circumferential grooves designed to evacuate water and provide hydroplaning resistance in the rain. You’ll have sufficient traction, stability, and cornering grip at safe speeds with an occasional steering correction here and there.
Winter Performance
The Patriot R/T is an all-season rugged-terrain tire with an M + S rating representing its capabilities in snow and deep mud. The tire’s winter performance seems to match that rating on light snow thanks to its rubber compound composition, biting edges, and tread pattern.
The tire digs through light snow pretty comfortably and provides ample traction and stability on the road. However, the tire isn’t reliable enough for regular use in tougher winter conditions such as icy roads or thick layers of snow.
You’ll have decent snow traction in light snow but that’s about it. Unfortunately, there’s no way around getting proper winter tires for freezing cold temperatures.
Off-Road Capabilities
The Patriot R/T shines in the off-road realm. Everything about its design seems to be geared towards optimizing the tire’s off-road performance. For instance, its “flaming demon design” features dagger-shaped lugs that are meant to penetrate mud, as well as a dual sidewall design for added sturdiness.
The tread pattern has sizeable voids and an aggressive block pattern that improves grip on gravel and loose soil. Chip damage and puncture risks are also taken care of thanks to the tire’s chip-resistant dual sidewall design.
Ride Quality
Patriot claims that the R/T isn’t just a star off-road, but also provides “on-road comfort and sophistication.” The ride quality was never going to be as plush as a premium grand-touring tire’s, but it’s pretty peaceful.
Achieving adequate levels of comfort, handling, and quietness in a tire that can go anywhere a mud-terrain tire can is honestly pretty impressive, so props to Patriot for this one!
Conclusion
If you’ve got a powerful truck or SUV and love to take it on regular off-roading ventures and still use it as your daily driver, the Patriot R/T tire could be a perfect choice. It blends on-road comfort and handling with superior off-roading capabilities that can easily get you through any muddy, rocky, or grassy track. However, you should look elsewhere if you get long and extreme winters where you live.