PRODUCT REVIEW | ITP Tenacity XNR

Our interests peaked as soon as the new ITP Tenacity XNR tires rolled off the delivery truck. With the relatively tame tread pattern and tire profile resembling an all-terrain truck tire more so than a hardcore off-road UTV tire, the design is a departure from what we’re used to seeing. According to ITP, the new Tenacity series was engineered using a computer-aided, non-directional tread pattern and specifically designed for desert, gravel, rock and sandy terrain… Which is exactly the terrain that we’re used to dealing with here at home in Lake Havasu and across most of the southwest region, so what better tire for us to put to the test!

The ITP Tenacity series is available in two variations: the 10-ply steel-belted radial XSR, and the 10-ply nylon-belted radial XNR, that features a continuous cap belt. The steel-belted XSR was built to offer the maximum in durability, puncture resistance, and high-speed performance to suit the needs of the hardcore rider or racer, while the nylon-belted XNR that we have here was designed to offer less weight and a more compliant ride at low speeds to better suit the average recreational rider. I wouldn’t consider myself the average recreational rider, but I bolted up our set of 32X10R15 Tenacity XNRs to our 2020 Polaris RZR PRO XP anyway, and set off to deliver as much punishment as I’m capable of.

First impressions of the Tenacity XNR were very good, and after a short distance it was clear that the light weight nylon-belting provided great small bump absorption and compliance when traversing rocky terrain at virtually any speed. Much better than the OEM tires that come equipped on the PRO XP, and they even handled the deep washboard bumps in the gravel washes very well. Hitting small rock ledges at speed did not deliver any horribly jarring impacts, and the traction delivered was better than expected on the small rock obstacles that I encountered.

I definitely found the handling performance to be very predictable on all terrains, from deep sand to soft gravel washes and slippery hard packed trails littered with loose rock. The only time I felt the handling to be a bit sloppy was when pushing well above seventy miles per hour on the hard packed trails, and that could have easily been caused by the PRO XP’s exceptionally soft Dynamix suspension. However I’d recommend the steel-belted Tenacity XSR if you find yourself running high speeds on a regular basis. At more normal speeds, in the 20-60 mile per hour range, I felt that turn-in response on corner entry was very sharp even when aggressively driving into corners. The initial bite and stability under hard braking or acceleration was also very good, whether in 2WD or 4WD, and I was able to easily control massive drifts by delivering light steering inputs.

After a few days of testing, I found the Tenacity XNRs to be one of the best all-around tires I’ve had the pleasure of driving on. I never had any issues with the tire delivering nasty feedback through the steering wheel in deep ruts like a lot of other square-profile tires I’ve tested, while the forward bite provided on both sand and hard pack was much better than I expected for such a mellow looking tread design. Even though I thoroughly abused these tires by occasionally hitting rocks at speed, I had no punctures, no flats, nor any injuries that I could find, and the treadwear experienced was in line with what I’d expect for driving a UTV like a 16 year old who just got his license. The ITP Tenacity Series are currently only available in a 32X10R15, and you can find them at dealers now. Head to itptires.com to locate a dealer or more information!