Magazine for the professional tire industry
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MTD August 2016 Traversing a thick mud pit is no problem with Grabber X3s. Dunk them in gunk and they keep on going. Rock star General Grabber X3 mud terrain tire goes to the extreme By Lori L. Mavrigian C ontinental Tire the Americas LLC recently showed off the capabilities of two new tires at a ride-and-drive event for some its biggest customers at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa. One was a General brand — the Grabber X3, and the other was the Continental TerrainContact A/T (see next page). e "X3" in the new General Grabber X3 stands for extreme dirt, mud and rock, making it Continental's first true M/T tire in the U.S. It will replace the original Grabber, which was "really intended to take us into the off-road market for desert racing and short-course racing," said Travis Roffler, Continental's director of marketing, when the company previewed the tire for its Gold dealers earlier this year. "For rock, we have multi-angled gripping edges," said Joe Maher, product manager for passenger and winter tires. "So basically, the tire (provides) traction in every direction." In addition, a series of ribs in the shoulder protect the upper sidewall from damage. e tire will be available in 29 sizes beginning in September. ere will be 16 LT sizes with rim diameters ranging from 16 to 20 inches featuring an 18/32-inch tread depth; and 13 flotation sizes with rim diameters ranging from 15 to 20 inches with a 21/32-inch tread depth. irteen of the sizes will be available with either black leering or red leers. Some of the tire's design features are: • For mud, the tire offers a high void paĨern design, evacu- ation channels and alternating shoulder scoops. • For dirt, there are block chamfers, traction notches and stone bumpers. • For rock, the tire is equipped with multi-angle gripping edges, deflection ribs and pads, and sidewall lugs. • For on road driving, the Grabber X3 has a siped tread design for wet and winter performance and a multi-pitch paern to minimize noise. • Duragen technology provides three-ply construction in all sizes, a robust compound and ultra-high strength steel belts. e tire maker reported a comprehensive benchmarking, development and evaluation program was created to ensure a robust entry into the mud-terrain segment. e program included over three years of development, 16 tread paerns, over 500 hours of off-road testing, more than 1,000 tires built and tested and well over 2 million miles of testing in a variety of extreme conditions. Focus on industry The robust General Grabber X3 has the ability to climb rocks due to its multi-angle gripping edges, deflection ribs and pads and sidewall lugs, Continental Tire notes. Thirteen of the Grabber X3 sizes will be available with a choice of either black lettering or red letters. 62