Post-SEMA Wheel and Tire Trends

With all the new tech, products, and hot trends coming out of SEMA, it’s honestly extremely refreshing to step back and talk about wheels and tires. Why? Because it’s the easiest single mod that you can do to your vehicle that will get the bug off your back to try something different, satisfy performance needs, and make the vehicle look completely different all at once.

That said, what’s hot? What’s new? While we still have yet to see someone reinvent the wheel (ha-ha), we still found some slick new offerings at the show that anyone will dig. Below, we unpack what we think were the noticeable wheel and tire trends of SEMA 2019.

Speed and Performance

A perennial trend-setter, the speed and performance realm is always exciting. Not necessarily because new and wild things are happening, but because more of what we see in the high-tier worlds is becoming readily available to us through recognized suppliers. Really, that in and of itself is a trend of sorts, but more clear-cut was the continuing rise of pro-touring’s popularity.

It’s a style we’ve loved for decades, but if there’s any gripe I’ve had with this segment, it’s the wheels. Classic cars with big, modern wheels are hard to pull off. And having a limited selection to choose from really only makes this challenge more obvious.

With that in mind, suppliers are on the ball. American Racing debuted a new line of forged wheels before SEMA, which you may have caught at the show. Likewise, FTG Performance Parts will showcase its own new line of forged wheels and titanium lug nuts at the PRI Show as part of the featured products showcase.

Seventeen-inch wheels bring a lot of performance advantages to the table in terms of handling. However, in rough conditions found on the street, they can be a bit delicate. That said, lightweight forged aluminum wheels are going to deliver in these environments and that’s a great thing.

Again, this style of wheel isn’t really anything new, but it’s good to see more offerings hitting the table. This will inevitably help builders differentiate their rides from the tired same-old-same-old. As the pro-touring segment continues keeping things fresh and sharp, we have a feeling this will play out well for enthusiasts.

Powersports

Powersports has always been near and dear to my heart. So, to see big-name brands like ICON Alloys and GRID coming in hot is exciting stuff. Simply put, UTVs really do really clear the gap for those who love and want an off-road capable vehicle, but just can’t justify taking a $50,000 truck for a ruthless off-road beating. (Or just don’t want a full-size rig to begin with.)

Granted, many of these vehicles are not cheap by any means. But people are obviously looking for opportunities to customize—and have been for some time. While other brands in the industry have been supplying products to this market (lighting, recovery gear, even sound systems), it’s safe to say we’ll see more of them joining the rising tide of powersports enthusiasm.

Interestingly enough, wheels and tires are high on the agenda.

Fury Off-Road Tires launched the new Country Hunter UTV, specially designed for offering off-road handling with on-road comfort. The Country Hunter is no new name for tires—you can find it in aggressive mud-terrain and everyday driving options as well. In all forms, these are no-nonsense tires, resistant to chunking and tearing on the trail which is absolutely perfect for UTVs.

Fury Off-Road isn’t alone in this conquest either, as Toyo gets its feet wet in the market too. Launching a UTV-version of its Open Country LT tire, the Open Country SxS is already race-proven, taking a win in the stock UTV class at the 2019 National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) Mexican 1000.

Tires aren’t where it ends, though. Both GRID and ICON are getting in the game by supplying owners of these units with custom wheel options. GRID brought new designs and colors to the table for its UTV wheel segment and ICON is bolstering a new UTV Compression Wheel.

Bigger is Better

Will this ever not be a SEMA wheel and tire trend? This year’s act definitely followed last year’s, as monster sizes wowed the crowd, led by none other than Mickey Thompson.

If there’s anything to know about Mickey Thompson, it’s that there’s nothing small about them. As a brand they’re a giant name in the industry—and this is because they are titanic in terms of performance.

This year, the company showcased a few new sizes for its Baja Pro XS line. Ten sizes being added to the line is one thing, but the fact that a 58-inch monster chunk of rubber joined the lineup is another thing entirely. Then, you throw in the fact that said 58-inch monster is DOT-approved and suddenly you’re in a whole new world. Did we mention it’s a beast off-road thanks to a tough 4-ply bias-ply construction, angled shoulder scallops, and aggressive mud scoops?

The fact that buyers even have access to a 58-inch, DOT-approved tire says a lot about the industry and what is possible. Most people understand that there are few street-driven builds that will truly warrant this tire size. (In fact, to build a vehicle to fit this kind of tire is likely going to be exclusive to off-road use only.) However, such a product being available really says that there is no limit to what you can achieve—and suppliers are 100% along for the ride.

Off-Road-Ready and A/T Tires

Pro-touring may have dominated our speed and performance discussion—and even Battle of the Builders—but off-road is far from dead. In fact, the Best New Tire Award went to Yokohama for the Geolandar X-AT, an extreme all-terrain tire designed for rugged off-road adventures. However, the brand’s Advan Apex tire took runner-up, showing that both trucks and passenger cars are reaping the rewards of the manufacturer’s hard work. (But it still certainly seems that truck guys have a lot to look forward to.)

Yokohama Tire announced that its all-terrain GEOLANDAR X-AT and the performance SUV/crossover GEOLANDAR X-CV each won 2019 GOOD DESIGN awards in the transportation category from The Chicago Athenaeum. “Winning two impressive GOOD DESIGN awards is a great honor and another testament to our new product development,” said Andrew Briggs, Yokohama’s vice president of marketing and product management. “The X-AT was the most decorated tire in the industry this year. It was also named “Best New Tire” at SEMA and earned two Global Media Awards as well. And the X-CV was a 2020 SEMA New Product runner-up.” According to The Chicago Athenaeum, the GOOD DESIGN awards program, which began in 1950, creates awareness about contemporary design and honors products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions for innovation and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace. – SEMA e-News

Nowhere else do we find such a big gap between the demands of intended uses for dual purpose vehicles as we do in the truck and off-road segment. Owners need something that will perform well on the street but even better on the trail. They also need something that will not sacrifice comfort levels in terms of handling and road noise. And suppliers have their minds set on offering tires that do all of these things. While this may have been the goal for some time, it doesn’t make it any less exiting to see prime examples hitting the market.

The off-road heavy hitters really took the cake, though.

Again, it was all Mickey Thompson—laying out the Baja Boss, Baja Boss X Sticky, and the Baja Pro X. While the standard Baja Boss isn’t new, 15 fresh sizes jumped on board, making the dual-purpose off-road tire available for even more applications.

We spoke with Dan Guyer of Keystone Automotive who has long-running experience with all things off-road. From both an enthusiast and professional standpoint, the Baja Boss X Sticky was the tire at SEMA that really got his attention. Specifically, the 40-inch offering.

“This was the most notable tire in MT’s booth. That’s like the primary wheeling size right now—a 40. It’s also a sticky, so it can compete with the other competition compound tires out there (of which there are a ton). This really throws them right in the thick of things. When you look at the tires used for KOH and competition rock crawling, everybody uses between a 39 and 40-inch tire. This makes a competition-ready compound tire readily available to everyone and that is a big deal,” he points out.

The Baja Boss X Sticky is more than just a new tire, though. It’s a symbol of the industry standard and what people want for their rigs based on what wins. Do you remember the old saying, “Win on Sunday. Sell on Monday”? Well, it still holds water to this day.

What the pros use on their rigs is what the masses will want. Not just because it’s trendy, but because it performs. And if you want to stand a chance in modern competition, you will always need something that is on the same level as the competition.

Rounding out the offerings from Mickey, the Baja Pro X gained five new sizes, too—the most interesting of which is a UTV size.

That’s not all…

Mickey Thompson isn’t the only talk of the town when it comes to off-road tires. Nexen’s Roadian MTX is still swingin’. No, it wasn’t new to SEMA, but this tire’s versatility makes it one worth considering when you’re traversing pavement to get to the next trail. These are thick three-ply tires with an F-load rating, which cuts them out for work as well.

But what if you’re not a truck owner? What if you’re running a crossover? Well, then you should check out the Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail. The aforementioned Nexen and Mickey Thompson are just a few of the many offerings that truck and SUV owners get to enjoy. However, trucks and SUVs are no longer the only off-road capable options on the market!

So, Falken hit the drawing board in order to produce a tire specially designed for crossover owners to use—both on and off the trail. The result? An aggressive off-road capable tire that will perform in all weather conditions on the street. How good is it? Well, in 2020 this will be original equipment for the Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road edition. We’d call that a ringing endorsement.

So, what you think—are wheel and tire trends doing the same ol’ song and dance? Or do you think we’re onto something with these predictions? Let us know in the comments below.