Cover photo: @stella.the.jimny, a Cape Town Jimny on all-terrains out on the West Coast. Go give them a follow.
Talk Jimny tyres at a braai and it goes straight to brands. Grabbers or BFGs? But the first choice is the type: road tyre, all-terrain or mud tyre. The right type depends on how you drive.
A South African Jimny spends its week in a Joburg storm, on the dirt road to the plot, or on Cape gravel. Some go to the dunes on the West Coast. A few go to the mud with the club every weekend. Each of those calls for a different kind of tyre, and sometimes for no new tyre at all.
This guide covers the three main types of off-road tyres for a Jimny, all in 15-inch sizes, plus the new one you will hear about at the counter. Once you know your type, our best tyres guide helps you pick the brand. The tyre size guide has the sizes, speed ratings and pressures.
The short answer
- Mostly tar: keep the factory tyre until it wears out. Then replace it like for like.
- Tar in the week, gravel and dirt roads on the weekend: fit all-terrain tyres. On a current Jimny that usually means 215/75 R15.
- Mud and club trails most weekends: mud tyres, usually with a lift and bigger tyres.
- Sand: the type matters less than you think. Letting air out does the work.
First, check your size
This is the part most tyre articles miss. On a current Jimny, the type you want often decides the size you run.
Every current Jimny, 3-door and 5-door, leaves the factory on 195/80 R15 tyres. That size is hard to shop for. We checked Tiger Wheel & Tyre, Supa Quick and the Cape Town Jimny shop JimnyworX on 23 September 2026. Here is what they had for 4x4s.
| Size | Who runs it | All-terrains | Mud tyres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 195/80 R15 | Every current Jimny (2018 on), as standard | None chunky, only two light road tyres | None |
| 215/75 R15 | Current Jimny, the popular step up | 9 | 2 |
| 205/70 R15 | The older Jimny (1998 to 2018), as standard | 6 (Tiger Wheel & Tyre) | None found |
So in the factory size, the real choice is not highway against all-terrain against mud. It is one of two light road tyres, or a change of size.
The two road tyres are the Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 and the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 684. The labels mean little here. Supa Quick files the Dunlop as a highway tyre and the Bridgestone as an all-terrain, the opposite of their names. Both are light, road-first tyres. Judge the tread, not the sticker.
The rest of the 195/80 R15 shelf is minibus and van tyres. They are legal, because they carry more weight than a Jimny needs. But they are made for loaded minibuses, not a light 4x4. Ask for the 96S printed on your door sticker, and the shop will know what you mean.
Moving up to 215/75 R15 opens up proper all-terrains. It also changes your speedo a little. Some owners get a light rub at full lock in reverse. Our bigger tyres guide covers that step, and when 235s make sense.
The factory tyre: keep it until it wears
Nobody knows for sure which tyre every South African Jimny leaves the factory on. Owners report both a Dunlop and a Bridgestone. What they agree on is the kind of tyre. It is light, narrow and road-first, with a tall sidewall.
That tall sidewall is a good thing here. A South African long-term test of the 5-door found it suits our potholes and corrugations.
Owners call the factory tyres “biscuits” and swap them fast. But look at why. It is not grip off-road. It is toughness. One dad on 4x4community found a 10 mm screw right through a near-new tread on his daughter’s Jimny. The tread and sidewall felt paper thin to him, so he fitted five tougher all-terrains.
Other owners stay put. A 4x4 driver with 30 years behind the wheel keeps his factory tyres. On a forum thread about wet grip, he said they behave on tar, go easy on fuel and cope in slippery spots. His one gripe is Bushveld thorns, so he carries a plug kit.
If your factory tyres still have good tread and you live on tar, you may not need new ones yet. When they do wear out, a like-for-like set is the cheapest option.
| Road-first tyre, 195/80 R15 96S | Price per tyre | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Dunlop Grandtrek AT20 | R1,969 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
| Bridgestone Dueler H/T 684 | R2,644 | Supa Quick |
Prices seen on 23 September 2026, VAT included, fitting extra.
All-terrain tyres for a Jimny (A/T)
An all-terrain tyre has a chunkier tread and a stronger sidewall than a road tyre. It is made to grip on gravel, dirt, sand and rock, and still behave on tar. Locals just say “ATs”.
For a Jimny that leaves the tar often, this is the right type for most owners. It is also what South Africans fit first. In forum threads from 2021 to 2025, the usual path is the same: factory tyres off, 215/75 R15 all-terrains on.
The reason is toughness, and it is a local reason. Builders’ screws on city roads, thorns in the Bushveld, sharp shale and Karoo stones. A stronger carcass, the body of the tyre under the tread, is the fix owners reach for.
There is real proof that all-terrains are enough for long trips. Suzuki Safari, a Jimny tour group linked to Suzuki, runs a guide car called “Safari San”. It has done about 150,000 km of trips through Southern and East Africa. It runs 215/75 all-terrains, and 4x4 Afrika reported not one puncture. The team rotates the tyres and checks the alignment after every trip.
A second Jimny from the same group did about 7,000 km alone through Namibia. That covered Damaraland, the Hoanib and the dunes near the coast. It ran on all-terrains that already had about 40,000 km on them, again with no punctures.
The catch is weight. All-terrains are heavier than the factory tyre, and a Jimny has a small 1.5 engine. Owners say a heavy tyre dulls it on tar. So pick a light one, and stay at 215 unless you have a reason to go bigger.
These are the all-terrains we found in 215/75 R15, the size most owners move to.
| All-terrain, 215/75 R15 | Cheapest price seen per tyre | Where |
|---|---|---|
| General Grabber AT3 | R2,899 (JimnyworX lists Grabbers at R2,720) | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
| Falken Wildpeak A/T3WA | R2,786 | Supa Quick |
| Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme | R2,869 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
| Bridgestone Dueler A/T 697 | R2,932 | Supa Quick |
| Dunlop Grandtrek AT5 | R2,970 | Supa Quick |
| Yokohama Geolandar A/T 4 | R3,199 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
| Maxxis Worm Drive | R3,580 | JimnyworX |
| Hankook Dynapro AT2 | R4,279 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
| BFGoodrich KO2 or KO3 | R5,639 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
Prices seen on 23 September 2026, per tyre, VAT included, fitting extra.
The General Grabber AT3 is the name South African Jimny owners mention most. The BFGoodrich KO3 is the premium pick. BFGoodrich says it wears better and lasts longer on gravel than the older KO2. Our best tyres guide compares them properly.
If you searched for Maxxis tyres for a Jimny: the one we found in a Jimny size is the Maxxis Worm Drive. It is an all-terrain in 215/75 R15, sold by JimnyworX. We found no Maxxis in the factory 195/80 size.
One more thing on punctures. Dunlop gives free road-hazard cover on its SUV and 4x4 tyres bought at a Dunlop dealer. It runs for 18 months and covers up to five tyres, if you register within seven days. Check that your tyre and dealer qualify when you buy.
Rugged-terrain (R/T): the new word at the counter
You will hear “RT” or “rugged terrain” more and more. It sits between an all-terrain and a mud tyre. The blocks on the edges are chunkier than an A/T’s, and it is quieter than a mud tyre.
One South African owner runs rugged-terrains in the factory 195/80 size on his wife’s daily Jimny. He says they are quiet, barely worn after 11,000 km, and good off-road. His shop added a one-year road-damage warranty.
We could not find an R/T in a Jimny size at the big chains, though. Ask your tyre shop. And check the speed rating, because some R/Ts are rated lower than the factory tyre.
Mud tyres (M/T) on a Jimny
Mud-terrain tyres, or “muddies”, have big blocks with wide gaps between them. The gaps let mud squeeze out as the wheel turns, so the tread keeps biting in wet clay and deep mud. They are also strong in the sidewall for rocks.
There are none in the factory 195/80 R15 size, and we found none for the older Jimny either. In 215/75 R15, we found two.
| Mud tyre, 215/75 R15 | Speed rating | Price per tyre | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nankang FT-9 | Q (160 km/h) | R2,650 | JimnyworX, may need ordering |
| BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain KM3 | Q (160 km/h) | R5,989 | Tiger Wheel & Tyre |
Prices seen on 23 September 2026, VAT included, fitting extra.
The Nankang FT-9 surprises people. Nankang itself lists it as a mud-terrain, and it is the cheapest tyre of any type we found in 215/75. So price is no longer what stops you. At 235/75 R15, the lifted size, the choice widens a little.
Watch the speed rating. The factory tyre is rated S, which means 180 km/h. Both mud tyres above are rated Q, which means 160 km/h. The law says you may not drive faster than your tyre’s rating. One road test gives the 5-door’s top speed as 145 km/h, so on that car a Q rating still covers it. Just do not buy a mud tyre expecting to cruise at the limit of its rating. The tyre size guide explains the ratings.
The best case for mud tyres comes from one owner with a current Jimny auto. He has done over 100,000 km on 235 mud tyres. Off-road, he says they are fantastic. He runs them at 0.5 bar and has never had one come off the rim or cut a sidewall.
Then he argues against himself. On tar, he says they are poor, with no grip in the wet. His fuel use went up a lot. And his earlier Jimnys on all-terrains handled everything, mud included. His advice: 215 all-terrains suit most people.
Wet grip on mud tyres is argued both ways. An owner of an older Jimny on a different mud tyre says it brakes better in the wet than he expected. Mud tyres vary. Test yours carefully in the rain before you trust them.
Here is the thing about a Jimny in mud. It is light, so it tends to float over mud where a heavy 4x4 digs ruts. A long-time owner told a new owner with a muddy 2 km farm road to try the factory tyres first. He has often got through places he expected to get stuck.
So mud tyres are for the owner who drives club trails or wet clay most weekends. That owner will usually add a lift and 235s as well. See our lift kits guide and the bigger tyres guide for that build.
How the types usually compare
No South African test has put the tyre types head to head on a Jimny. So read this as a general guide, built from what owners report and what the shops stock.
| Factory or road tyre | All-terrain (A/T) | Mud tyre (M/T) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toughness against screws, thorns and stones | Weakest | Stronger | Strongest |
| Mud | Often fine on a light Jimny | Good | Best |
| Weight | Lightest | Heavier | Heaviest |
| Road noise | Quietest | A little more | Most |
| Speed rating in Jimny sizes | S (180 km/h) | Usually S or T | Often Q (160 km/h) |
| In the shops, current Jimny | Two in the factory size | Nine in 215/75 | Two in 215/75 |
Sand: it is the pressure, not the tread
The West Coast, the Kalahari and the Namibian dunes are where a Jimny shines. SA 4x4 magazine calls it the king of soft sand, because it is so light. The same article warns that heavy mud tyres make it bog down.
In sand, letting air out of the tyres does the work. A softer tyre spreads out and floats on top. Tread type matters far less. Do not go so low that the tyre comes off the rim. The right sand pressures are in our tyre size guide.
Tyre type does matter in one way. A tougher sidewall lets you air down further without damage. Owners on mud tyres say theirs take far lower pressures than the factory tyre can. A tyre deflator and a good gauge make this quick. You can find both on our wheels and tyres page.
Which off-road tyres suit the way you drive
Be honest about your week, not your dream trip. Then budget for five tyres, not four. The full-size spare hangs on the back door, and it should match the other four. The tyre size guide explains why.
| Your week | Type | Size | Five tyres, cheapest seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tar commute in Joburg, Durban or Cape Town, gravel is rare | Keep the factory tyre, then like for like | 195/80 R15 | R9,845 |
| Tar all week, dirt road to the plot, some gravel passes | All-terrain | 215/75 R15 | R13,600 |
| Long gravel and overland trips: Karoo, Baviaanskloof, Namibia | A tough all-terrain | 215/75 R15 | R14,850 to R28,195 |
| West Coast and Kalahari sand | Whatever you have, aired down | Any | Nothing |
| Club trails and wet clay most weekends | Mud tyre, usually with a lift | 215/75 or 235/75 R15 | R13,250 to R29,945 |
| Older Jimny (1998 to 2018), any mix | All-terrain in the factory size | 205/70 R15 | R10,895 |
Prices seen on 23 September 2026, VAT included. Fitting and balancing adds about R180 to R300 a tyre.
If you land between two rows, pick the tamer tyre. A light Jimny gets further on less tread than most people expect.
The older Jimny (1998 to 2018)
The older Jimny has it easier. Its factory size is 205/70 R15, and proper all-terrains are made in it. Tiger Wheel & Tyre had six on 23 September 2026, from R2,179 for the Dunlop Grandtrek AT5. So you can fit all-terrains without changing size. We found no mud tyre in 205/70 R15.
The bottom line
The type matters more than the brand, but the answer is simpler than the forums make it. If you live on tar, keep your factory tyres until they wear, and carry a plug kit. If you leave the tar often, fit a light all-terrain in 215/75 R15, and buy five. Mud tyres are for the few who wheel in mud most weekends, and there are now two in a Jimny size. In sand, let air out before you spend money.
Once you know your type, the best tyres guide helps you choose the tyre. For the rest of the car, see our Jimny accessories guide. And for how far a standard Jimny really goes off-road, read is the Jimny a good 4x4?.
A big thank you to the people whose photos made this guide: @stella.the.jimny and @sooty_957 on Instagram, Des Sol in Pinetown and photographer Nathan Pellow-Jarman, and Suzuki Auto South Africa. Go and see their work.
Looking for your next Jimny? Browse Jimnys for sale or get an instant estimate with our Jimny valuation tool.
