A tire specifically for sand? Yes, they exist too

The most famous brand of tires designed specifically for sand is Sumitomo Shaheen Sand Tyres, which are undoubtedly rated as one of the best tires for operation in sand dunes. The production of Sumitomo Shaheen Sand tires takes place in Japan at the Dunlop plant. All quality and production control mechanisms are ensured by this world-famous manufacturer.

As the only one of the narrow range of special tyres, Sumitomo Shaheen Sand has a radial construction with steel reinforcement in the tread. Thanks to this construction, they are relatively safe compared to competing brands, such as Siam 900, which use a diagonal construction that is now rare.

The tread pattern of all sand tires is fine, with only horizontal grooves and very soft sidewalls allowing for maximum tire underinflation. The fine tread pattern together with the underinflation tire ensures maximum traction in fine sand and eliminates rapid deep "burying" of the car when spinning the wheels.

Another advantage of Shaheen Sand tires is the reduced formation of flat surfaces on the tread when the vehicle is parked on a hard surface for a long time, i.e. parking. With competing brands, this vice of creating flat surfaces occurs and it is necessary to warm up the tires by driving slowly on paved roads, which will “flatten” the tires into a circular profile again. We can easily recognize this by the loss of steering vibrations and the disappearance of the shaking of the entire car. Only then can we fully enter the sand dunes.

Shaheen Sand tires are also very smooth when driving on dry flat roads. However, in general, special sand tires of all brands are unsuitable and actually dangerous on wet roads due to their fine tread design and soft sidewalls. This lightweight design has a minimal contact patch with the road on paved roads. A vehicle using them has similar handling to a vehicle on an icy road.

It is true that in the areas where these tires are most widely used (the Arabian Peninsula), it hardly rains and their users rarely encounter this shortage. However, when it does rain, there is an increase in traffic accidents with serious and even fatal consequences.

As already mentioned, Sumitomo Shaheen Sand tires are manufactured at the Dunlop plant, which also produces top-of-the-line tires in this class under the Dunlop Grandtrek Sand Tires brand.

The homologation of sand tires is a separate chapter, where Sumitomo Shaheen Sand dominates this section of specials again, as it is the only brand to have passed tests in the USA and, according to the UTQG office, meets the temperature index of class "A" for areas with very hot operating conditions, the speed index "H" up to 210 km/h, the traction grade "B" and the wear resistance rated with an index of 300.

• A tire's resistance to heat is rated from highest to lowest as "A," "B," or "C." Currently, nearly 60% of tires manufactured have a B rating.

• Wet traction is rated from highest to lowest as “AA,” “A,” “B,” and “C.” Approximately 75% of tires manufactured have a B rating.

• The wear index is determined by assigning a new tire to the test tire with an index of 100 and comparing it to other tires. For example, a tire with an index of 200 should wear twice as slowly as the control tire.

Interestingly, specifically on the Arabian Peninsula, tires are not subject to homologation or other tests before being put into service. This is also the reason why other brands with their sand tires rank far behind the manufacturer Sumitomo/Dunlop in comparative tests by users themselves.

In conclusion – as Paulo Rosseti confirmed to me after a brief email exchange – sand tires are rare and scarce even where they are most widely used, due to limited commercial availability and production in smaller numbers. If they were more widely available, they would probably become more widespread in desert areas around the world.