Bridgestone Dueler A/T 694 Review
Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004 at 14:38
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NathanK
I just wanted to share my opinions on the new Dueler A/T 694 tyre from Bridgestone, which replaces the ever-increasingly popular 693 A/T version.
The new tyre is a lot more aggressive in tread pattern than the previous one, and is quite possible one of the most aggressive All-Terrain tyre on the market. (remember guys, the Cooper ST is NOT an all-terrain tyre, so you can't compare it to that one!). The tread pattern ensures GREAT traction in both road and off-road conditions. I've had them for a couple of months now and have done over 5000kms, about 1500 of them off-road up at
Coral Bay and the
Cape Range National Park.
Here's a break-down of performance I've experienced:
Wet - Impressive to say the least. My Discovery used to skid if the brakes were hit hard, now i just get a bruise on my forehead from my head hitting the steering wheel - the traction is THAT good!
Dry - Typical great handling - The feeling is slightly spongier than Cooper A/T or BFG's, but that's not really noticable.
Sand - Incredible! Blows the BFG's, Cooper A/T's, Desert Duelers and others away for it's traction. Quickly cleaning and just bites in for traction in some very soft sand on some very steep hills and dunes. On wet sand it's not as good, as it doesn't clean it that quickly, but still very impressive.
Mud - Only had a quick stint in the mud, and as you'd expect from an A/T tyre it's not all that flash. there was ample traction at slower speeds, but anything more than that you'd be going with a M/T tyre anyway.
Gravel - Great traction again, only complaint was the aggressive tread sometimes picked up the stones and flung them out pretty fast - scratched the powdercoating on the underside of my sidesteps a little bit, but once again not a real problem.
On the whole, I'm more than impressed with them. I'm selling my Disco and moving to a SWB Landy, and I'm going to be getting them fitted to my new car most definitely. The price too is a bonus - I paid $210 per tyre F&B for 245/70 R16's, much much cheaper than BFG's or Coopers.
Nathan