Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4 Review: Real All-Terrain Capability for Your Everyday SUV Without the Compromises

All-Terrain Tires That Don’t Ruin Your Daily Drive

Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4 Review: Adding capability to our Land Rover LR4 without sacrificing everyday drivability

Most SUVs spend the majority of their lives on pavement. Even those of us who regularly venture onto dirt roads and trails still rack up far more miles commuting, running errands and traveling on highways than we do off-road. It makes sense, then, that many SUVs leave the factory equipped with street-oriented tires.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. A highway or touring tire generally delivers quiet operation, predictable handling and long tread life. But SUVs such as our Land Rover LR4 were designed with considerably more capability than the average crossover, and a street tire can become the limiting factor once the pavement ends.

That got us thinking about whether we really wanted to wait until our next serious off-road trip to justify switching tires. Instead, we decided to fit our LR4 with a set of Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4 all-terrain tires and find out what we would gain—and what, if anything, we would give up.

Consider this Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4 review our initial take on whether all-terrain tires for daily driving really make sense.

Why Go All-Terrain?

The traditional reason for installing an all-terrain tire is obvious: traction off pavement. A more open tread pattern and larger tread blocks can provide better grip on dirt, gravel, loose surfaces and other terrain where a conventional street tire can struggle.

For an everyday SUV, though, the benefits extend beyond recreational four-wheeling. Dirt access roads, snowy mountain trips, muddy campsites and unexpected stretches of unpaved road are all situations where having additional traction can be useful.

Even if you never plan on tackling a technical trail, there’s something reassuring about knowing the tires underneath your SUV are prepared for more than dry pavement.

We also have realistic expectations about what this particular setup is meant to accomplish. Our LR4 is still running its factory 19-inch wheels with 255/55R19 tires, and this isn’t the tire-and-wheel combination we’d choose for serious rock crawling or more technical off-road use.

That’s a limitation of our chosen fitment, not the GEOLANDAR A/T4 itself. Yokohama offers the A/T4 in a broad range of sizes, including LT sizes and fitments with taller sidewalls better suited to more demanding off-road applications.

For our LR4, the objective is different. We wanted to take a comfortable daily driver and give it the ability to confidently handle a wider variety of terrain and weather without changing the things we like about driving it every day. For a lot of SUV owners, that’s probably a more realistic reason to consider an all-terrain tire in the first place.

Weather is another consideration. The GEOLANDAR A/T4 carries the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) symbol, indicating that it meets the required performance criteria for severe snow service.

Yokohama also incorporates Triple 3D Sipes designed to maintain biting edges as the tread wears, while zig-zag grooves help evacuate water from beneath the tread to resist hydroplaning.

For anyone who drives to the mountains during winter, encounters heavy rain or simply wants additional all-weather SUV tire capability, those are useful attributes whether an off-road trail is involved or not.

Inside the GEOLANDAR A/T4

The GEOLANDAR A/T4 is Yokohama’s current-generation all-terrain tire for trucks, SUVs and crossovers, replacing the previous GEOLANDAR A/T G015.

Compared with the G015, the A/T4 moves toward a more aggressive tread design and increased off-road capability while still putting considerable emphasis on the on-road manners that made its predecessor popular with daily-driven vehicles.

Yokohama designed the A/T4 around a combination of off-road durability, all-weather traction and on-road comfort rather than pushing it all the way toward the more aggressive end of the all-terrain spectrum.

Its construction includes Yokohama’s GEO-SHIELD technology, which combines multiple sidewall plies, a full nylon cap and a high turn-up carcass. The company’s Enduro-Compound uses a triple-polymer formulation intended to resist cutting, chipping and wear.

Mud and stone ejectors help keep the tread grooves clear, while aggressive center blocks and EdgeTec grooves provide additional biting edges when driving through dirt and snow. 

There’s a visual benefit, too. An all-terrain tire simply looks appropriate on a vehicle such as the LR4. The A/T4 has enough tread and shoulder definition to give the Land Rover a more purposeful appearance without looking like an oversized mud tire.

Yokohama even provides two different sidewall designs, allowing the owner to choose which shoulder treatment faces outward.

It adds a subtle dash of adventure to the daily commute, even if the day’s biggest obstacle happens to be a grocery-store parking lot.

A/T4s on Factory 19-Inch Wheels

Rather than changing the LR4’s overall appearance with aftermarket wheels, we retained its factory 19-inch wheels and headed to RPM Offroad Garage to have the Yokohamas mounted and balanced.

Our GEOLANDAR A/T4s measure 255/55R19, which is a relatively low-profile size by traditional off-road standards. There isn’t a huge sidewall to air down or provide the additional cushioning and protection you’d get from a smaller-diameter wheel and taller tire. Again, serious off-roading wasn’t our objective.

What has impressed us so far is how well this 255/55R19 all-terrain tire balances its on- and off-road roles. On pavement it retains the responsive, composed feel we expect from the LR4, while on dirt the tread provides noticeably more confidence than the street-oriented tires it replaced.

Keeping the stock wheels was deliberate. We like the LR4’s factory appearance, and this wasn’t intended to become an aggressive off-road build. The goal was to add useful capability while maintaining the vehicle’s everyday character.

For anyone searching for Land Rover LR4 tires with similar priorities, the 255/55R19 A/T4 fits that approach particularly well, giving us additional traction and a tougher tire without substantially changing how the LR4 drives.

The A/T4s accomplish that visually, too. They give the LR4 a more purposeful stance without making it look heavily modified. For owners who like the factory design of their SUV but want something a little more capable underneath it, an all-terrain tire can be one of the simplest ways to achieve that balance.

On-Road Performance

Our biggest question wasn’t how the A/T4 would behave on dirt. We expected it to perform better there than the street tires it replaced. What interested us more was what we’d notice during the other 90-something percent of our driving.

So far, remarkably little.

All-terrain tire road noise can be one of the most noticeable tradeoffs when moving away from a street-oriented tire, but road noise hasn’t been an issue with the A/T4. Ride quality remains comfortable, and we haven’t noticed a meaningful penalty in normal handling or general driving manners.

Yokohama uses a single-pitch shoulder block specifically intended to reduce road noise while retaining off-road traction, and our initial experience suggests the company has done a good job of managing the usual compromises associated with an all-terrain tread.

We also took the LR4 onto some of our local canyon roads, where the A/T4s proved perfectly happy being driven at a spirited pace through the curves. Steering response remains predictable and the tires don’t make the LR4 feel like it has suddenly been converted into an off-road truck.

That’s important because this is still an everyday vehicle. Adding capability doesn’t mean much to us if we’re reminded of the compromise every time we drive to work.

From Canyon Roads to Fire Roads

The real fun began when we transitioned from pavement onto the dirt fire roads running through the surrounding mountains.

Here, the reason for making the switch became immediately apparent. Loose dirt and gravel that would have us thinking twice about the LR4’s street tires became much less of a concern.

The A/T4’s more aggressive tread provided the confidence we were looking for, particularly as surfaces changed underneath the vehicle.

There wasn’t a dramatic transition in character, either. We could enjoy the LR4 through the paved canyon roads, turn onto dirt and simply keep going. For the type of mixed-surface exploring many SUV owners actually do, that versatility may be more relevant than extreme off-road performance.

We’re not suggesting that installing a set of A/T4s suddenly turns every SUV into a rock crawler. Tire size, wheel diameter, vehicle clearance and other factors still determine where a vehicle can realistically go.

Our 19-inch setup is aimed at relatively mild off-pavement use, but the broader GEOLANDAR A/T4 lineup includes sizes intended for trucks and SUVs running considerably more serious off-road setups.

For us, the advantage is having a daily driver with a broader operating envelope. An unexpected dirt road, changing weather or weekend trip into the mountains doesn’t require much thought about whether the tires are up to the task.

Warranty and Value

Yokohama backs Euro-metric GEOLANDAR A/T4 sizes with up to a 65,000-mile limited treadwear warranty, while LT-metric versions receive a 55,000-mile limited treadwear warranty. A 30-day satisfaction guarantee is also offered.

Those numbers are particularly relevant for a tire like the A/T4 because it isn’t intended only for weekend trail use. On a daily-driven SUV, the majority of those miles are still likely to accumulate on pavement, making tread life an important part of the equation.

GEOLANDAR A/T4 Verdict

After our initial time with the Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4, perhaps the biggest compliment we can give it is that we don’t think much about it during everyday driving.

The LR4 remains quiet, comfortable and enjoyable on pavement. When the weather turns poor or the road turns to dirt, however, there’s considerably more tire underneath us than before.

Add the severe-snow rating, tougher construction and additional off-pavement traction, and the reasoning behind swapping from a conventional street tire becomes easier to understand.

We still need considerably more mileage, varying weather conditions and additional trail time before rendering a long-term verdict on tread wear and durability. For now, consider this an initial review rather than the final word.

Our first impressions, however, have been entirely positive. For an SUV that spends most of its time on pavement but regularly heads toward dirt, mountains and changing weather, the Yokohama GEOLANDAR A/T4 makes a strong argument that choosing an all-terrain tire doesn’t have to mean accepting the compromises that once came with one.

Sometimes it’s simply nice knowing that when the pavement ends, you don’t have to turn around.

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