Best all-year AT tyre.

A couple of interesting US comparisons between the Cooper AT3 and the Grabber AT2. Couldn't find a similar test with the Grabber AT3. Perhaps the US doesn't have those yet. But the G AT3 is supposed to be an improvement on the AT2 so I guess we can assume the Grabber scores would be higher again for the 3



There's nothing in it for general off-road performance and dry grip but the Grabbers clearly win on snow while the Coopers have better wet grip and road manners but return less mileage.

I notice on the first link that the Grabbers weigh substantially less than the Coopers which has got to improve fuel economy. The Coopers are cheaper but the Grabbers last longer, so added to the assumed better fuel economy that probably cancels out the slightly higher purchase price.

All in all, and on the assumption that the Grabber AT3s will be an all round improvement on the 2s, I'm leaning towards Grabber AT3s.
 
Hi
I looked at the GGAT3 for my Grand Cherokee but was put off by their wet weather rating and the following test that showed its relatively poor wet performance 2018 Auto Bild SUV All Season Tyre Test - Tyre Reviews Let's face it, we spend a lot of time on wet Tarmac.

I opted for the Michelin Latitude Cross. So far they have been excellent. Very good in heavy rain and standing water. Also been very good in the snow and ice of Perthshire. My Grand Cherokee was like Bambi with the Kumho tyres it had before but the Michelins have transformed it. They are actually more 'aggressive' in the flesh than the pics suggest.
 
I agree that the stats look poor for for the AT3 on that test, but for some reason when they first came out there were two specs. The H rated and the V rated. In comparable tests the V spec outperformed the H spec vastly resulting in the H spec being dropped all togethor.

I believe the test mentioned features the old H spec so would take with a pinch of salt.
 
I’ve tried various tyres over the years on different pickups had a set of BFG all terrains on until a few weeks ago had to change them after they were about 30% worn. The noise on road from them sounded like a wheel bearing gone.Just fitted a set of Cooper discovery AT3 sport just before we had snow and they performed brilliantly. Now the snow has gone,dry roads wet roads and motorway driving absolutely fine.Upto now I would definitely have them again only done about 2000 miles on them so will have to wait and see how they are long term.
 
.... I'm following this thread with interest having just bought a new shooting wagon that I want to put 4 x AT tyres on..... I had General Grabber AT2s, then GGAT3's, on my previous wagon (Terrano), but I've been considering Cooper Discoverer AT3s - seem a better all rounder, good off road but with (apparently) better wet grip than GGs or BFGs, and a farmer mate has them on his L200 and rates them..... Any other views on the Coopers?
I’ve got the Coopers on the Hilux and have been more than happy.
 
Running bfg at ko2’s for going on their third season and still plenty life in them
Good things-
Tyre life
Tyre wall width/low puncture rate and often repairable
Tread on edges doesn’t wear down easily

Bad things-
Really noisy
Eats fuel for breakfeast
Very hard compound so slippy I’m wet or icy roads
Actual wet ground or slight mud will have them getting as stuck as a fiat panda
Very expensive

I do most driving on the road but when shooting I do enter some really muddy situations. People tell me to buy road tyres but in honesty, then I might as well buy a fiat panda if I can’t do off-roading!! What’s the point in a big suv then??
The other thing I’ve learned in life up to now, is that 90% of a 4x4’s ability to handle wet/muddy ground is in the tyres entirely. Put mediocre thread tyres on the worlds best 4x4 and it’s as useless as anything...put very progressive mud tyres on that fiat panda and it will leave that g-wagon on ballet slippers begind

So for me, despite tyre wear, noise, dry road performance, I will be going for good mud tyres next as the at2’s are useless when the going gets tough. I’m sure they’re great in places, but muddy tracks and fields just isn’t their bag
 
Just a quick word of warning, if you drive fast, do not use BFG AT! I had two delaminate on me on the autobahn and one of the blew out. Contacted BFG as had only done 5ooo mile from new and their response was " you were obviously driving to fast for extended periods of time" Really, in a frontera! also they are as poor as you can get in wet and ice.
 
Just a quick word of warning, if you drive fast, do not use BFG AT! I had two delaminate on me on the autobahn and one of the blew out. Contacted BFG as had only done 5ooo mile from new and their response was " you were obviously driving to fast for extended periods of time" Really, in a frontera! also they are as poor as you can get in wet and ice.
Yep!
 
I've decided to give Yokohama Geolanders GO15s a try.
They're cheaper than the Grabber AT3s, fuel consumption is the same but they rate significantly higher for wet grip and they're quieter than either the Grabbers or the Coopers.

They get good customer reviews too, with excellent handling and good mileage and I suspect their off-road capability will be more than enough for what I need.
 
Yokohama geolander, quiet, great in most conditions

I have run the Geolander (GO12 which I believe has been replaced with the GO15) for about 50k miles in the past and am currently running the BFG KO2. I can't think of a situation where the BFGs have performed better than the Yokos. I'm not saying that the BFGs are awful but suspect that they are old technology trading on a reputation based on when they were the only AT option and I doubt that I will be having another set. The one positive with the BFGs is that they do have a very good reputation for being robust but I've no idea if that is flawed in the same way as their reputation for being the best AT tyre.

The Geolanders were good on the road and good in snow, not just soft, fresh, snow but also on compacted snow on A roads and motorways and wet snow or slush on the roads, they also coped well with snow off road but this would mostly have been on stony tracks and the like. They were also better on wet mud over stone tracks where the BFGs leave you sliding sideways into the ditch if there is a decent camber. With more space in the tread etc. there must be some set of conditions where the BFGs will perform better than the Yokos but I don't think I've found it yet. The BFGs are OK on soft, fresh snow, not as good as the Yokos, though I haven't run them much on normal "on road" snow where it is compacted or slushy but I simply can't see how they get their snow rating. The BFGs can be extremely unpredictable on a wet road, you expect an AT to have less grip but what you don't expect is for it to randomly let go even when you are aware of the potential for problems and driving extremely carefully and this is probably the biggest negative for me as even with care and awareness of the potential for problems the BFGs seem to have the potential to put you in the ditch and that potential seems to greatly increase with wear even when plenty of tread remains.

I never found the BFGs noisy though as they age they are getting a little more noisy but nothing to get overly worked up about. In terms of wear then they will be road legal for much longer but I don't think I will get much more off road use out of them and they are at about 26k miles, my guess is they will do 30k or a shade more while the Geolanders did maybe 25k so there is a bit of a difference there. I do hear reports of people having trouble getting them to balance, and there's a lot of weights on mine, and some people who never got them sorted but mine have been OK with even wear and they've not gone out of balance as some have said they do.

I can't say the Geolanders are the best as I've only directly compared two AT tyres but as a general purpose AT tyre that will offer reasonable performance on and off road and that will give you a chance on road in winter conditions then the Geolanders would win it for me over the BFGs but I can't place either of them relative to the other offerings.
 
Sideways sliding has been a bit of an issue with the Grabber ATs I've got on now. I like to straddle ruts because the Vitara doesn't have the greatest ground clearance in the world and the exhaust system is rather exposed (two inch lift kit going on before next winter). Maintaining your course can be hard work with the Grabbers. I did think the Geolanders tread pattern looked better for avoiding slides.
 
.... I'm following this thread with interest having just bought a new shooting wagon that I want to put 4 x AT tyres on..... I had General Grabber AT2s, then GGAT3's, on my previous wagon (Terrano), but I've been considering Cooper Discoverer AT3s - seem a better all rounder, good off road but with (apparently) better wet grip than GGs or BFGs, and a farmer mate has them on his L200 and rates them..... Any other views on the Coopers?
Don’t go with coopers!! I had a set that the side wall perrished in about three months took me a further three months to get my money back off them. Wasn’t impressed with their service either as was told I had to buy another full set of tyres( by cooper themselves not the garage) before they would look at refunding the faulty set, even after garage agreed something was wrong with them. So I did a full set of Goodyear’s.. quieter and better in everyway
 
I agree that the stats look poor for for the AT3 on that test, but for some reason when they first came out there were two specs. The H rated and the V rated. In comparable tests the V spec outperformed the H spec vastly resulting in the H spec being dropped all togethor.

I believe the test mentioned features the old H spec so would take with a pinch of salt.

Hi FB
That's fair enough. If there is more up to date information on that tyre then it is good to know. They only offer a 'H' rating in my 245x65x17 size though.
Did you notice that it was the quietest tyre tested?

Believe it or not my Jeep main dealer were the cheapest for my Michelins.
 
I very recently bought a set if Goodyear AT SA+ for my ranger. They ticked a lot of boxes for me as I need a decent road tyre that will also cope with soft slippery clay headlands in winter. I'm pleased with them so far, slightly more agressive shoulder than the other brands (bar the BFG) road manners are very good (wet and dry grip, no noise to speak of) and they were a great price from Black Circles, well worth a look.
 
Another one if they do them in your size is the malatesta kobra trac n2, I'm using them currently and my old man had a set on his disco td5 for 5 years or so, they are an aggressive tyre however are relatively long lasting, great handling on road and even better off road. If your steady on the throttle they don't chew grass up and will get you most places you didn't think you would get. only down side is increased fuel economy as there a pretty hefty tyre with a 20mm tall tread block. I can push really hard and it won't let go, and off road if you want to slide around on the throttle its controllable lol. Worth a look
 
I’ve tried various tyres over the years on different pickups had a set of BFG all terrains on until a few weeks ago had to change them after they were about 30% worn. The noise on road from them sounded like a wheel bearing gone.Just fitted a set of Cooper discovery AT3 sport just before we had snow and they performed brilliantly. Now the snow has gone,dry roads wet roads and motorway driving absolutely fine.Upto now I would definitely have them again only done about 2000 miles on them so will have to wait and see how they are long term.
That's really surprising. I have been running BFG ATs on my Ford Expedition for 12 years, they are as quiet as any tire could be. My current set has 60K miles on them but they do need replacing asap. I rotate them at every 5K mile oil change
 
Sideways sliding has been a bit of an issue with the Grabber ATs I've got on now. I like to straddle ruts because the Vitara doesn't have the greatest ground clearance in the world and the exhaust system is rather exposed (two inch lift kit going on before next winter). Maintaining your course can be hard work with the Grabbers. I did think the Geolanders tread pattern looked better for avoiding slides.
That's really surprising. I have been running BFG ATs on my Ford Expedition for 12 years, they are as quiet as any tire could be. My current set has 60K miles on them but they do need replacing asap. I rotate them at every 5K mile oil change
guy out west it may have been an abnormal wear as the set before were fine who knows.
 
That's really surprising. I have been running BFG ATs on my Ford Expedition for 12 years, they are as quiet as any tire could be. My current set has 60K miles on them but they do need replacing asap. I rotate them at every 5K mile oil change
I don't know where your driving but BFG AT are some of the noisiest tyres out there. When im out in the fields up here I don't notice cars in the distance, I do notice them if fitted with these tyres! often it sounds as though the bearing are dropping out!. Likewise I had them on my Trooper, when I exchanged them for GGrabber at1s it was like a breath of fresh air. When I was going on my trek from here to Russia I had them fitted because they were suggested by tyre fitters for doing what I was up to, as already stated they delaminated on the autobahn. all four replav
replaced with Continental tyres, no noise and no dangerous delaminating.
 
Full set of Yokohama Geolander GO15s going on tomorrow then 30 miles of tarmac to work and a nice slimy, and steep, field to drive over after a weekend of solid rain. Hoping it will be £460 well spent.
 
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