Moab Off-Road Adventure

by Michael Satterfield - 07/03/2022

I get the opportunity to do some amazing things off-road, from driving Trophy Trucks across the Nevada desert to taking a Challenge Car down the trails in Baja, there is just something special about getting off the pavement and exploring. So when the team at Cosmo Tires asked if I would like to be part of a small group to off-road test their new Mud Kicker tire in Moab, the answer was of course yes. 

Now if you haven't heard of Cosmo Tires, don't worry, while the company has been a major supplier in Latin America and other parts of the world for decades, Cosmo is just starting to make inroads into the US market. I have run across Cosmo Tires on my many adventures in Nicaragua but recently the brand has been popping up at drifting and autocross events across the country and as the main sponsor of professional drifter Zack Calvin's Corvette. 

The new Mud Kicker tire is obviously being marketed as a "Mud Terrain" or M/T tire, but don't let that name fool you, M/T tires are really the most off-road focused tires on the market and are designed to go head to head with tires like the Nitto Open Country, BF Goodrich KM3, and the Nitto Trail Grappler. We would be the first to drive on the new Mud Kicker tires in the US and to do so we would be taking three Jeep Wranglers to the deserts of Moab, Utah.  

The group was small, just a handful of automotive journalists and the team from Cosmo. We got up before sunrise to head to the first trails of the day, Fins and Things. This intermediate trail would give us a chance to get used to the Jeeps as well as get some instruction from the Outlaw Jeep Adventure guides. About halfway through the trail, we stop at a large rock that has several areas where we can test the climbing and grip abilities of the new Mud Kickers. 

We all took turns driving up and down the rocks, the tires performing as designed obviously they were aired down for the trail, but even so our Jeep Wranglers were stock with the exception of a 3 inch lift and the Cosmo tires and there was nothing we attempted that the tires couldn't handle. After a quick lunch on the trail, we headed to a more advanced course called Hell's Revenge. 

Hell's Revenge trail is home to some of the more interesting challenges in Moab including "Mickey’s Hot Tub" and "The Staircase" which would be far more challenging. Since I had more off-road driving experience, our group opted to have me drive the rest of the day which meant I would be navigating some of the more challenging obstacles in the area. 

Mikey's Hot Tub was the first big challenge we would take on, a near-vertical drop into a rock basin and a near-vertical climb out, but without a hitch, the Cosmo-equipped Wrangler simply drove down and out with very little drama. While some of my passengers were a little worried that we could only see the sky for a few minutes we eventually leveled back off and made our way down the backside of the trail towards the Staircase. 

The Staircase has been closed to vehicles for several years but recently reopened and it has become a popular spot for off-roaders to test their skills and bravery. I would be the last Jeep to drive up in our group and while several times we were on three wheels, the Jeep and the tires never let us down. We cleared the top of the trail and headed back toward the exit and back to our hotel in Moab. On the road, even with lower air pressure, the tires were surprisingly quiet for M/Ts and I am looking forward to testing them again in some real-world conditions. We have a set of Cosmo tires coming for our Land Rover Discovery project, and I will report back on how those perform on a daily driver, once we get the Rover up and running. 

Pricing on a 255/75R17 from SimpleTire.com is $213 each, while a BF Goodrich KM3 in the same size is $322 from major retailers like Walmart. With a savings of over $430 a set, the Cosmo Mud Kickers are offering a lot of tire for the money. For more on the new Mud Kicker Tire and to see available sizes visit CosmoTire.com. 

Click on the thumbnail below to watch my video from the trip: