Nowhere near USaian levels, of course, but you're still 65%, i.e. 15 percent above average
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Hybrids - The New Winter Tire
Nowhere near USaian levels, of course, but you're still 65%, i.e. 15 percent above average
What are these "blinkers" you are referrring to? I've never seen them...in action. Are these like unicorns or snipes?
Sort of... there was an Attenborough special on this.
Crashes = blinker mating rituals, and then it's new blinkers on the way!
They don’t fit them on CAlifornia vehicles it appears..
In the Boston metro area, they're used to indicate that the vehicle in the lane identified by the blinker has left too big of a following gap and needs to close it up.
Another entry to the game, Goodyear has released the Ultra Terrain as a Discount Tire exclusive. I’ve added a ‘04 4Runner Sport (V8 model) to the stable (two more drivers approaching the age) for a crazy low price and the old Duratracs were quickly swapped for Ulta Terrains in LT 285/70/17 size.
This tire looks like a cross between the Falken AT3W and Duratrac, and features Goodyear’s most modern compound advances, or so we would think. So far I’ve had it on icy hardpack, warming soapy stuff, and hitting ground blizzard drifts that are much deeper on one side at speed.
They have been unflappable with the 4Runner’s stock AWD center diff, even under throttle trying to kick them out. Super impressed so far, and the Discount Tire manager is running them with some disbelief in their winter performance to date. We’ve had some really ugly days here locally so it’s a good bit of feedback.
We’ll see how they wear, but with compound advances it’s hard to not go with the newest tire releases. The other good thing about this tire for most people is it is a lighter 2-ply sidewall - more road/weather bias than heavy duty offroad.
They are quiet and smooth, which we hope for a new tire, but the Runner with its highly upgraded suspension feels like a car with these tires.
Will report back. If they wear like the Falkens, will probably put them on the Sequoia next.
This tire looks like a cross between the Falken AT3W and Duratrac, and features Goodyear’s most modern compound advances, or so we would think. So far I’ve had it on icy hardpack, warming soapy stuff, and hitting ground blizzard drifts that are much deeper on one side at speed.
They have been unflappable with the 4Runner’s stock AWD center diff, even under throttle trying to kick them out. Super impressed so far, and the Discount Tire manager is running them with some disbelief in their winter performance to date. We’ve had some really ugly days here locally so it’s a good bit of feedback.
We’ll see how they wear, but with compound advances it’s hard to not go with the newest tire releases. The other good thing about this tire for most people is it is a lighter 2-ply sidewall - more road/weather bias than heavy duty offroad.
They are quiet and smooth, which we hope for a new tire, but the Runner with its highly upgraded suspension feels like a car with these tires.
Will report back. If they wear like the Falkens, will probably put them on the Sequoia next.
This post may give @tball heart palpitations, which I hope are only symptomatic, but at 10K miles I am upgrading my view on the Cooper STT Pro as a top tier hybrid tire for those who want full offroad durability and prowess.
I’ve posted vids a few pages back of somewhat irresponsible ice driving, and have had them in just about every continental climate condition except true glare ice, of which we have little to none.
Performance on ice has been as good as anything I’ve driven that isn’t studded, slush and soapy snow don’t exist, and hardpack performance is really good. Deep snow is pretty obvious. They will certainly slide in slide(y) conditions, but lateral traction is excellent and manners immediately return once off the throttle.
So that brings us to a more interesting test on extremely steep use in Moab a few weeks ago. Had very little sliding compared to the other tires in the group including Falken AT3W and Cooper AT3, and where they did slide any tire would because snow on >20% pitch is a just not a controllable design variable, low range gearing notwithstanding.
My son’s Taco is also on STT Pro - my other son’s 4Runner is on Falken AT3W and they did well, but the STT Pro were better. Good shot to show steepness, because it’s steeper
. Some of the other rigs were more ‘controlled slide’ here. And all driven by teenage boys .
What goes up must come down?
And what good are they if not driving almost 90 mph across the Utah badlands at 24 PSI? With a tailwind of course. Not possible otherwise even in much smaller tires than 37” on an 80 series Cruiser.
^^^was on the way out. Coming home we had snow from Moab to Idaho Springs. We took the canyon route out along the Colorado River including long stretches of unplowed road 4-6” deep. The Sube WRX in our group had to stop to clear wheel wells of snow, and the two 4Runners almost got taken out by an 18 wheeler just arbitrarily changing lanes coming down I-70 from Copper requiring emergency avoidance maneuvers at 50 mph, but all drama resolved as it should.
Needless to say, a major point of these tires is to handle everything from remote exploring in all conditions to ugly interstate conditions. What more can you ask for?
Now I want to see them on a Sube
.
I’ve posted vids a few pages back of somewhat irresponsible ice driving, and have had them in just about every continental climate condition except true glare ice, of which we have little to none.
Performance on ice has been as good as anything I’ve driven that isn’t studded, slush and soapy snow don’t exist, and hardpack performance is really good. Deep snow is pretty obvious. They will certainly slide in slide(y) conditions, but lateral traction is excellent and manners immediately return once off the throttle.
So that brings us to a more interesting test on extremely steep use in Moab a few weeks ago. Had very little sliding compared to the other tires in the group including Falken AT3W and Cooper AT3, and where they did slide any tire would because snow on >20% pitch is a just not a controllable design variable, low range gearing notwithstanding.
My son’s Taco is also on STT Pro - my other son’s 4Runner is on Falken AT3W and they did well, but the STT Pro were better. Good shot to show steepness, because it’s steeper
. Some of the other rigs were more ‘controlled slide’ here. And all driven by teenage boys .What goes up must come down?
And what good are they if not driving almost 90 mph across the Utah badlands at 24 PSI? With a tailwind of course. Not possible otherwise even in much smaller tires than 37” on an 80 series Cruiser.
^^^was on the way out. Coming home we had snow from Moab to Idaho Springs. We took the canyon route out along the Colorado River including long stretches of unplowed road 4-6” deep. The Sube WRX in our group had to stop to clear wheel wells of snow, and the two 4Runners almost got taken out by an 18 wheeler just arbitrarily changing lanes coming down I-70 from Copper requiring emergency avoidance maneuvers at 50 mph, but all drama resolved as it should.
Needless to say, a major point of these tires is to handle everything from remote exploring in all conditions to ugly interstate conditions. What more can you ask for?
Now I want to see them on a Sube
.
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*Wonders HTF the Geolandar is still the only AT tire available in his sizes*
Time for some updates.
The new Ultra Terrains are just awesome. They had great pull in the super dense snow we had in the “bomb cyclone” a couple weeks ago, exceeding a typical tire in this class (the BFG ko2 also excels here, but with lesser lateral traction). Much more like a MT. My wife has felt really confident in icy conditions and variable stuff, and we’ve had a ton of that this winter.
I haven’t found anything this tire isn’t really good at yet, and they are still crazy quiet, but not many miles so need more time there. But this may be the class leader as an all around tire, especially given it’s less burly and therefore better suited to the CUV class. Want to give your Subaru some love? Ultra Terrain it.
The Falken AT3W. What to say here? Still rolling through a 3rd winter handling primary family duty now at 54K miles. Tread depth is at 10/32, and I didn’t really keep up well with rotations. I think the new Goodyear ^^^ is a better tire due to its advantages in deep, dense compacted snow (like blizzard stuff), but at this price point it’s like having gotten a free set of tires and performance is still high. I’ll probably swap them out in September before next winter at around 65k. Going to be hard to mess with success. Incredible.
And then the STT Pro. This tire has crushed its first winter, despite not being winter rated. Real glare ice is hard on everything not studded. No problems here driving carefully, but everything has it limits. Tread depth is 20/32 at 11k miles - this is exceptionally good wear for this type of tire and they are still relatively quiet.
Plus, when it goes nuclear and you need to get around (or screw around) those wimpy winter tires are just chilling in the garage. Or in ditches (yep, that Expedition is wearing winter tires waiting for the tow truck), which is what I would call a “passing lane”.
The new Ultra Terrains are just awesome. They had great pull in the super dense snow we had in the “bomb cyclone” a couple weeks ago, exceeding a typical tire in this class (the BFG ko2 also excels here, but with lesser lateral traction). Much more like a MT. My wife has felt really confident in icy conditions and variable stuff, and we’ve had a ton of that this winter.
I haven’t found anything this tire isn’t really good at yet, and they are still crazy quiet, but not many miles so need more time there. But this may be the class leader as an all around tire, especially given it’s less burly and therefore better suited to the CUV class. Want to give your Subaru some love? Ultra Terrain it.
The Falken AT3W. What to say here? Still rolling through a 3rd winter handling primary family duty now at 54K miles. Tread depth is at 10/32, and I didn’t really keep up well with rotations. I think the new Goodyear ^^^ is a better tire due to its advantages in deep, dense compacted snow (like blizzard stuff), but at this price point it’s like having gotten a free set of tires and performance is still high. I’ll probably swap them out in September before next winter at around 65k. Going to be hard to mess with success. Incredible.
And then the STT Pro. This tire has crushed its first winter, despite not being winter rated. Real glare ice is hard on everything not studded. No problems here driving carefully, but everything has it limits. Tread depth is 20/32 at 11k miles - this is exceptionally good wear for this type of tire and they are still relatively quiet.
Plus, when it goes nuclear and you need to get around (or screw around) those wimpy winter tires are just chilling in the garage. Or in ditches (yep, that Expedition is wearing winter tires waiting for the tow truck), which is what I would call a “passing lane”.
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^^^I’m first tracks drift busting in that last pic, for reference of how much snow is being thrown around by the tires
got me interested in what others say about the STTs, seem those on TR agree. One guy noted getting some extra sipes at the dealer
https://www.tirerack.com/survey/Sur...STTPRWL&tirePageLocQty=&partnum=67QR7DSTTPRWL
That guy reviewed the STT, which is a tire I know a lot of people liked and was basically a ripoff of the Toyo MT. A more classic MT design, siping the inner lugs was very effective. The STT Pro is a completely different tire and in my view better in every way.
I’ve beat the crap out of my set off-road and they really have killed it in everything. It’s not a casual tire and I can’t really recommend it for people who don’t fourwheel hard (other than for looks), but it’s an example of how far things have come that a tire like this is “good” on ice, smooth at 90 mph, wearing slowly and consistently, and the worse it gets, weather or off-road, the more the STT Pro shines.
Badass. 10/10. Until somebody does better, this is my pony for when it matters.
I can't believe I'm tire shopping AGAIN, but here I am. Selling the Mazda and buying a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee V6. The seller of the GC put brand new Falken Rubitrek tires one size too big on it, and we are not a fan of them, nor are we a fan of running non-stock size tires. They are way too aggressive of a tread for the type of driving we do.
The Jeep has variable 4WD options, including snow. I have NOT had issues running non snow tires for the first season or two with an AWD/4WD vehicle where I drive, even daily commutes to the resort for skiing.
I am not going to pay Michelin premium prices again. Tire size is 265/60/18. The Goodyear Assurance is intriguing but I don't think Discount Tire carries it in the size I need.
We have priced Cooper Discoverer HTP. I am also curious about the Cooper AT/W that you all have been discussing here. I don't want a noisy tire, and gas mileage is important to me. I also am a "spirited" driver on our local mountain highways and like something to hold up to that.
Ideas??
The Jeep has variable 4WD options, including snow. I have NOT had issues running non snow tires for the first season or two with an AWD/4WD vehicle where I drive, even daily commutes to the resort for skiing.
I am not going to pay Michelin premium prices again. Tire size is 265/60/18. The Goodyear Assurance is intriguing but I don't think Discount Tire carries it in the size I need.
We have priced Cooper Discoverer HTP. I am also curious about the Cooper AT/W that you all have been discussing here. I don't want a noisy tire, and gas mileage is important to me. I also am a "spirited" driver on our local mountain highways and like something to hold up to that.
Ideas??
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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If you're shopping at Discount Tires take a look at these. I found they worked very well on my pickup in the snow. We also have them on our Expedition and it also goes well in the snow.
Thanks @Andy Mink! How are they the rest of the year? Good in rain? Quiet? I hit a lot of standing water in Weber Canyon, which is the main route I take to get to Ogden, which I travel down 5+ days per week. So, I truly need something that will perform well in everything with better than adequate snow traction. I will put dedicated snows on after a year or two.
I loved the Cooper AT/3's when I had em. They are solid AT tire that is very well mannered on the highway. The AT/W should be similar but even better in winter. The plus of having an AT tire is that in Summer you will be able to get pretty much to any trailhead in your Keep GC.
Offroading hasn't been on our radar, yet...the Jeep could change that. We do plan to tow the trailer to some BLM dispersed camping spots, which I've heard in S. Utah can be pretty dicey to get to. Thanks for the input! Seems any of the Cooper tires could be a viable option.
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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I found them to be pretty quiet and they did well in the little rain we get. Where I was really surprised was packed snow and ice in ski area parking lots. I was travelling g Reno to Northstar quite a bit and rarely had to put it 4x4. Once in 4x4 it was great. On an suv with better weight over the back tires you should be golden.
Andy Mink
Everyone loves spring skiing but not in January
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SkiTalk Tester
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It doesn't look like Discount Tire carries them any longer?
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