Source: Hankook TireSource: Hankook TireConsumer research helps drive product offerings, and in the tire industry that means analysis of buyer trends resulting in differentiated tires with varying purposes.Like other manufacturers, Hankook Tire polls current and prospective buyers to see what they are or might be interested in, and it turns out that "nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. drivers are interested in taking an all-terrain or off-road driving adventure, almost double the number who expressed interest just one year ago (34%)." Your author isn't surprised, but the data is still surprisingly strong.Source: HankookSource: HankookAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Covid-sparked overlanding and off-roading boom has hardly slowed. Auto manufacturers are cranking out more off-road influenced vehicles than ever, and that means both aftermarket and secondary companies alike-such as tire manufacturers-need to keep up. Whether users actually go about taking advantage of these capabilities is almost irrelevant, as the main priority is selling vehicles and rubber. But the data and interest supporting the enthusiasm for off-road hobbyists is strong.Here's how Hankook put together its information for us to extrapolate from:The Hankook Gauge Index is a survey of Americans' attitudes and opinions about driving, fielded since 2014. The latest survey was conducted on June 5 through June 8, polling 1,000 randomly selected American drivers aged 18 and older.The Hankook Gauge Index-effectively the brand's aggregation of data for tire buyers-says that 74% of Gen Z and 72% of Millennials are interested in taking an off-road trip, while a surprisingly lower 57% of Gen X and 42% of Boomers show interest in the same activity. In general, the overarching desire to seek out adrenaline, excitement, and risk all tend to fall off with age, so the numbers aren't shocking.Source: HankookSource: HankookAdvertisementAdvertisementLooking further into Hankook's data, 45% of the people surveyed prefer wooded trails to more hardcore rocky or sand-based driving, but only 17% are into sand driving. Whittling it down further, "More experienced drivers show a stronger preference for forested routes, with Gen X (50%) and Boomers (49%) more likely to choose wooded trails than Gen Z (39%) or Millennials (43%)."As for their preferred vehicles for adventure travel, 52% said they would like to do so in an SUV while only 36% said a pickup is their preferred means for getting out into the wilderness. Gas is preferred to the tune of 79%, which isn't surprising considering electric off-roading is still relatively new to the world.Here's what our biggest takeaway from Hankook's study is: "The latest Hankook Gauge Index shows that interest in off-road adventures is strong among drivers of all ages, especially younger generations." To that we say, hell yes. Expect Hankook to use this data to its advantage when marketing and further developing its already-excellent line of Dynapro tires, but for us on the outside, we love to hear this.