Here at The Dirt, we love tires. When a new tire comes out, we geek out over images of it. We then have heated discussions on how we think they will work. Nothing is better than actually getting our hands on a new set of tires, though. We can feel the tread compound and inspect them in person. And who doesn’t love the smell of new tires in the morning? Of course, we can’t wait to get them out in the dirt to see how they will actually perform.

One of the new tires that piqued our interest is Mickey Thompson’s Baja Boss. Billed as an ultra-premium extreme mud terrain, the Baja Boss sits at the top of the Mickey Thompson’s extensive line up of tires. One look at the Baja Boss and it is easy to tell that it can take on the toughest of trails. It features deep and wide voids to shed mud and provide lots of forward bite. The next-generation four-pitch Sidebiters that extend down the sidewall are 50% larger than any previous Mickey Thompson tire. Its new PowerPly XD construction adds 50% extra denier to the cords of the 3-ply sidewall for maximum puncture resistance. The angled shoulder scallops help claw through terrain and aid self-cleaning ability. All of it adds up to a tire well suited to tackle the dirt.

The Mickey Thompson Baja Boss isn’t just made for taking on the trail, though. It is as equally at home on the street with an asymmetrical tread pattern designed to help reduce road noise. That same tread also improves handling as well as on-center feel. The beefier PowerPly XD sidewall creates a stiffer carcass that aids in handling and quicker steering response too. A silica-reinforced compound is said to increase tread life along with wet and braking performance.

Overall, the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss looks like it should be a solid performer. It is available in a host of sizes for wheel sizes up to 24 inches in diameter. For our first impression review of the Baja Boss click here.