Mickey Thompson reveals street-legal Baja Boss XS

LAS VEGAS — Mickey Thompson's new Baja Boss XS is the most rugged DOT-approved tire they have ever made.

The Baja Boss XS is a competition-inspired extreme off-road tire that's also designed for street use. The tire features extreme "SideBiters" and silica-reinforced compound for traction and a four-ply "PowerPly Pro" sidewall technology for enhanced sidewall strength/integrity desired for operating in the unpredictable terrain of competition-style rock crawling, endurance desert racing and short-course style racing.

The Goodyear company based in Stow, Ohio, unveiled their latest product at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and it has already drawn praise.

Mickey Thompson received a runner-up award for the Boss XS — along with the Cooper Cobra Instinct — in the "tire and related products" category of the SEMA Show new product awards.

Heather Tausch, senior director of marketing, described the Boss XS as an "evolution" of the Baja Boss M/T.

Tausch said Mickey Thompson has long worked with Ultra4 off-road race teams to design tires to handle the varied terrain of competition-style rock crawling, endurance desert racing and short course style racing. In this space, the Baja boss M/T — released in 2019 and available in 33 sizes — has been successful. This year, she said, it was used by driver Jeremy Jones in winning both the King of the Hammers Everyman challenge and the Ultra4 Legends West Championship.

In the Baja lineup, the Boss XS sits between the Boss M/T and the Boss X — the competition-only tire also known as "Sticky Mickey."

Ben Anderson, senior product manager of light truck at Mickey Thompson, said they wanted to combine qualities of both the M/T and X.

"For the (racing) class that requires a DOT-approved tire that's readily available to the public, we developed the Baja Boss XS," he said. "It combines the competition-proven compound and design of the Baja Boss M/T, and utilizes the 4-ply and sidewall technology of the Boss X."

The Baja Boss XS uses the same silica-reinforced compound as the M/T. It features a "high-void, purpose-built asymmetric tread pattern mated to large four-pitch SideBiters that create a biting surface capable of tackling extreme rocky terrain," the company said.

PowerPly Pro is a sidewall construction composed of two radial plies sandwiched between two heavy-duty bias plies. The sidewall compound thickness is engineered to reduce the risk of sidewall punctures, the company said.

The Baja Boss XS is planned for release before the Ultra4 2024 race season, which begins with the King of Hammers in late January. It will initially be available to the general public in three popular flotation sizes: 35x12.50R17LT, 37x12.50R17LT and 40x13.50R17LT.

The company plans to utilize the Baja Boss XS to expand its footprint into more racing series, like SCORE International. The Baja desert race series was founded 50 years ago by racer Mickey Thompson.

"Before, we really didn't have the right technology for SCORE racing," Tausch said. "Now, we have a tire that's really appropriate for that space, and we're going to start doing some work with those race teams."