Considering how prevalent light trucks, SUVs and crossovers are on the roads, it just makes sense that all-terrain tires take up such a big share of the tire market. After all, if you’re driving a vehicle that’s equipped with four-wheel-drive (4WD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD) and you find a need to go off the pavement even just now and then, a quality set of all-terrain tires is going to be the best way to get the most out of your vehicle’s traction and control.

All-terrain tires are a pretty far cry from the heavy, noisy, clumsy all-terrains of a few decades ago. Today the best all-terrain tires are designed for the just-right balance of capable off-road traction and durability, along with ride quality, noise levels, handling, and road manners on the pavement that are more along the lines of what you’d expect from an all-season or Grand Touring passenger tire. Seeing as how the market in all-terrain tires has expanded so much, there are all-terrains at every price point; from very spendy premium brands to more affordable tires from brands that are less well-known. The Aethon A/T from Hemisphere is a great example of the value in a budget-priced all-terrain tire; it’s a tire that’s equally at home on a boulevard, the Interstate, or a tough ranch road. Let’s get in there and get a closer look at what this tire has to offer with this Hemisphere Aethon A/T tire review:

Features and Benefits

When it comes to the Hemisphere Aethon A/T, this is a tire that really has a lot to offer. Here are some of the design features and innovations that make the Hemisphere Aethon A/T an exceptional performer and a great value:

• Silica-enhanced rubber compound is designed for long wear, damage resistance, and excellent grip on wet or dry pavement
• Aggressive all-terrain tread with a staggered lug pattern
• Staggered center rib and biting groove edges for dependable grip on or off the pavement
• Wide grooves are designed to easily rid the tread of mud, gravel, and debris, protecting the casing against damage and making sure there’s always a clear section of the tread to dig in as the wheel turns
• Microgrooves at the shoulders extend down onto the sidewall, enhancing lateral grip for cornering control and clawing out of ruts
• Tread footprint is redesigned to put more rubber in contact with the road for optimized braking, handling, wear properties, and control
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to keep road noise low by negating certain frequencies and overtones
• Grip in wet or wintry conditions gets a boost from the Hemisphere Aethon A/T’s pattern of sipes, hundreds of hair-thin edges that multiply the tread’s surface area and traction by chewing and slicing through snow and slush
• Great-looking outlined white letter sidewall
• Reduced rolling resistance helps to cut down on fuel consumption and emissions
• Covered by a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Internal construction includes a polyester casing with a high-tensile steel belt package and nylon cap ply for added stability

Pros and Cons

Let’s have a look at its good things and not-so-good aspects.

PROS:

• Durable, with dependable performance off the pavement and good grip in snow, mud, gravel, and loose dirt
• Ride quality and handling on the pavement are predictable and precise
• Generous mileage warranty from the factory
• Low noise on pavement

CONS:

• Not good in heavier mud
• Not good for aired-down rock crawling use
• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

SimpleTire’s view on Hemisphere Aethon A/T tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary rating system that was developed by the SimpleTire team to give you an easy overview of any tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s technical details, manufacturer’s information, specs, customer reviews, and other data points, and then we process all that to a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and durability, along with an overall average SimpleScore number. For the Hemisphere Aethon A/T, the SimpleScore ratings break down this way:

Hemisphere Aethon A/T:

• Traction: 7.7
• Handling: 7.8
• Longevity: 7.3
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.6

Those are all some pretty respectable SimpleScore numbers, and they look even better when you bear in mind that SimpleTire’s price on the Hemisphere Aethon A/T runs from $132 to $164 per tire, depending on tire size.

The Hemisphere Aethon A/T starts from the ground up with a next-generation tread compound that’s silica-enriched, giving it excellent durability and wear properties as well as enhancing grip and control on wet and dry roads. The staggered center rib and tread blocks are designed for solid straight-line tracking as well as dependable grip and control in challenging off-road conditions.

Ride quality is fairly forgiving with this tire, although it can be a little firm on irregular pavement surfaces. Steering response is direct and light, with straight-line stability at highway speed that’s as solid as an armored car with little need for constant tweaks and correction. In the corners or on curvy roads and onramps, the Hemisphere Aethon A/T has handling that’s neutral and predictable, with little tendency toward understeer (although it might not be up to what you’d expect from a performance tire).

While the Aethon A/T isn’t Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service, it does inspire confidence in winter conditions, and its durable, damage-resistant tread compound is designed to stay pliable and keep delivering grip even in subfreezing weather. A 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty is a nice perk too, especially for a category of tire that often doesn’t come with a mileage warranty from the factory at all. All in all, it’s our take here at the SimpleTire team that the Aethon A/T from Hemisphere is an uncompromising balance of quality, value, and performance on the street or rough, difficult off-road terrain.

Vehicles the Hemisphere Aethon A/T is a good replacement tire for

While the Hemisphere Aethon A/T isn’t featured as OEM on any vehicles, it would make a great aftermarket replacement tire on light trucks and SUVs such as:

• Ford Explorer
• Ford Escape
• Ford Freestyle
• Jeep Wrangler
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Ford Bronco
• Ford Ranger
• Ford Maverick
• Ford Expedition
• Jeep Compass
• Chevrolet Traverse
• Buick Rainier
• Nissan Murano
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Toyota RAV4
• Toyota 4Runner
• Honda CR-V
• Honda Ridgeline
• Honda Pilot
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Chevrolet Equinox
• GMC Acadian
• Dodge Durango
• RAM 1500
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• GMC Yukon
• Kia Sorento
• Kia Telluride
• Kia Sportage
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Hyundai Tucson
• Hyundai Palisade
• Hyundai Santa Cruz
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Volkswagen Atlas
• Volkswagen Taos
• Mazda CX-5
• Mazda CX-3
• Mazda CX-9
• Mazda CX-50