Fresh Rubber
Testing The New 32” ITP Terra Hook
Story and Photos By: Brandon Bunch
Alright, here we go, another day, another tire review… but seriously, tire manufacturers are constantly releasing new models or updating the existing consumer favorites, and that’s definitely nothing for us to complain about. Tire brands are in fierce competition to provide the most traction, best comfort, and strongest durability; all while keeping the price affordable on what can arguably be the most often replaced component on our UTVs.
For years, ITP has been one of the top manufacturers in the UTV/SXS tire market, and 2019 is no different from its precursors. They look to stay at the leading edge of design and have been hard at work to develop and release another all-new high-performance UTV tire. Coming off the success of the race-proven Ultra Cross R Spec and the ultra-tough desert focused Coyote, the Terra Hook is altogether a whole new animal.
The 32x10R-15 we have here comes in at 36.75 lbs per tire, per ITP’s tech specs, which makes it the lightest 32 inch tire available in ITP’s lineup. That’s 2.75 lbs lighter than the Ultra Cross R Spec, and a massive 7.35 lbs lighter than the Coyote. With weight savings as significant as that and the tread pattern being as aggressive as it looks, we had high expectations for the overall performance of this new and interesting tire.
Mounted on a set of ITP Tornado wheels, we bolted up the Terra Hooks to our 2019 Can-Am Maverick X3 X ds Turbo R and hit the dirt. To start, we wouldn’t recommend putting 32 inch tires on this particular car in stock form, as we experienced a bit of rubbing on the bodywork directly behind the tire, but that was obviously our fault and not ITP’s. The 32x10R-15 Terra Hooks do look impressively massive on the 64-inch wide X3, as they measure up to be 32.26 inches when mounted up on the car.
Getting to the tire’s actual performance, we noticed right away that these tires provide a very high level of grip without being too aggressive. This is most likely a result of the Terra Hook’s wide footprint and rounded shoulder profile; giving us predictable traction both on slippery hard-packed surfaces and in the soft gravel washes, all without punishing our arms with aggressive feedback when pushing hard through deeply rutted corners. In both of these conditions, we felt that the harder we pushed the X3, the better the Terra Hooks responded with more control and precision. Braking hard and late when entering corners awarded the driver with sharp turn-in response, and all 172 horsepower was easily transferred to the ground when charging out of the corners or shooting up hills.
When compared to the ITP Coyote, the loss of over 7 pounds per tire was very apparent in terms of ride quality and suspension performance. The significant loss in unsprung mass allows the suspension to react much quicker to the terrain being traversed, and the reduced rotational mass leads to much more responsive braking and acceleration performance.
As we find that many of the new tires being released perform very well in terms of delivering great traction, one of the biggest differentiating factors between tire models for how the car actually feels is the weight of the tire. The Terra Hook is one of the lightest 32 inch tires we’ve ever tested; they are responsive and precise, the ride quality is top of the class, and overall, this is one of the best feeling tires we’ve ever had the pleasure of driving on.