ATs Tested on Snow and Ice

[montechie]

That time or past that time to think about snow traction. I already pulled the trigger on some MT Baja AT for my non-JT truck, wanted a year-round Montana tire that could handle snow and mud season. I run the gammut of tires in the winter on our vehicles, dedicated studded winters, non-studded winters, studded-siped ATs, and aggressive ATs.

Tyre Reviews is a decent reviewer and one of the few trying to be the most scientific in his approach, even having the rally track surface groomed between tire runs. Little sad Falken gave up snow traction for HD longevity on the AT4w, I would've gotten them after the AT3w otherwise. He has a lot of past snow tests too that are worth checking out.

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[NC_Overland]

When I lived in CO, most of my friends had snow tires. I got by just fine on A/Ts. I know snow tires are better, but A/Ts have come a long, long way in wet and winter traction. The only M/Ts I’ve ever had were horrible in anything but deep unplowed snow. Downright scary.

This is me going up a hill that was all ice on Revo 3 A/Ts. FFWD to the 40 sec mark. You can see all the cars either stuck on in the ditch.

 

[montechie]

When I lived in CO, most of my friends had snow tires. I got by just fine on A/Ts. I know snow tires are better, but A/Ts have come a long, long way in wet and winter traction. The only M/Ts I’ve ever had were horrible in anything but deep unplowed snow. Downright scary.

Definitely agree, ATs have really improved, the silicon based compounds really makes a difference. I've really been impressed with the Grabber ATx, I've ran them year-round and currently as 35s with studs and additional siping. Dedicated snows are awesome but we get a lot of whipsaw weather in Bozeman, -20s & powder one week, 40s and sloppy mud on ice the next week. Would love a winter tire with sidebiters for mud on the edges.

 

[NC_Overland]

Definitely agree, ATs have really improved, the silicon based compounds really makes a difference. I've really been impressed with the Grabber ATx, I've ran them year-round and currently as 35s with studs and additional siping. Dedicated snows are awesome but we get a lot of whipsaw weather in Bozeman, -20s & powder one week, 40s and sloppy mud on ice the next week. Would love a winter tire with sidebiters for mud on the edges.

Yeah, I imagine MT winters are no joke. CO was tame in comparison. I’m surprised that no one makes a hybrid tire like that.

 

[Free2roam]

As long as I can find the falken at 3 I'll keep buying them

 

[Bjeepz]

As long as I can find the falken at 3 I'll keep buying them

I found my Falken AT3W's to be the best all year tire I've ever had. Had them on a 4Runner, a ZR2, a Tacoma and 2 Gladiators in various sizes I find the KO2's on my Jeep XR packages to be not as good on road in snowy conditions but better off road in slick stuff. Bummer to hear the 4's don't seem to be performing as well, or is it just that the others are that much better? Gonna run my new XR KO2's for a while now, but next round would like to try the Mickeys.

 

[Sweetums]

The only M/Ts I’ve ever had were horrible in anything but deep unplowed snow. Downright scary.

Spoiler: Actual photo of my driving the LJ in the snow for the first time on 10 year old 35" Goodyear MTs

 

[Dartboy]

I don't know where a tire named "Baja" gets off having great snow traction Glad to see he gave my Nokian Outpost the win in the end.

Where I live in Southern CT, snow fall isn't too common lately. Maybe 6 or 7 days with an inch or two, occasionally 6". Rarely we get a huge dump of 2+ feet, deepest in recent memory was 40". But typically, I need to drive to work in fresh snow, by the time I'm heading home the snow is mostly gone. Doesn't really make sense for full-on snow tires.

He did a similar test across the Nokian line, the WRG4 is a little better than the Outpost, but vanity sent me to the knobby AT for the Jeep.

 

[jeramie964]

I was running a set of 33" Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT's with the snowflake rating on my 2-door JK and they outperformed my old BFG KO2's I had on previously by a decent margin in the snow both on highways and off road. I sold the JK and put it's Baja Boss AT's on to my new 21' Gladiator I purchased in February (they had about 42,000 miles on them) and they still performed excellently during a heavy March snowstorm along I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction.

I'm debating whether to stick with the Baja Boss AT's when I jump up to a 34.5" tire next year or switch to the new Goodyear DuraTrac RT's. My biggest reason for considering the DuraTrac RT is because of weight. The DuraTrac RT weighs 65 lbs per tire vs. 74 lbs for the Baja Boss AT for a 295/70R18 tire. But I'm having a hard time justifying ditching the Baja Boss AT's because they perform so will in all weather conditions.

How big of a difference does that 9 lbs per tire effect both MPG and performance with the 3.6 liter V6? Any firsthand experience?

 

[Geoarch]

I was running a set of 33" Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT's with the snowflake rating on my 2-door JK and they outperformed my old BFG KO2's I had on previously by a decent margin in the snow both on highways and off road. I sold the JK and put it's Baja Boss AT's on to my new 21' Gladiator I purchased in February (they had about 42,000 miles on them) and they still performed excellently during a heavy March snowstorm along I-70 from Denver to Grand Junction.

I'm debating whether to stick with the Baja Boss AT's when I jump up to a 34.5" tire next year or switch to the new Goodyear DuraTrac RT's. My biggest reason for considering the DuraTrac RT is because of weight. The DuraTrac RT weighs 65 lbs per tire vs. 74 lbs for the Baja Boss AT for a 295/70R18 tire. But I'm having a hard time justifying ditching the Baja Boss AT's because they perform so will in all weather conditions.

How big of a difference does that 9 lbs per tire effect both MPG and performance with the 3.6 liter V6? Any firsthand experience?

I just went a similar route. I've been running Goodyear Ultraterrains 35/12.5/17s on my JTR. I used them on my Tacomas. I was getting tired of the 10 ply pounding especially on rutted dirt roads. They weigh 68 lbs. I went to the Goodyear Duratracs (not the RT) that are D's 315/70/17s and 62 lbs., so essentially the same size. Interesting, they are slightly taller on the ground at 34 psi, same as Ultraterrains (34" for Duratracs and 33.4" for Ultraterrains). I had the diameter set at 34, so I don't have to go back and change it. I was surprised that the Duratrac 315s were taller. The diameters stated online seem meaningless. The good thing is that I can really tell the difference in the ride - softer with the Duratrac Ds versus the Ultraterrain Es. Of course, the Duratracs are brand new and should be softer. I found the Durtracs better than the Ultraterrains in snow. Haven't seen ice yet. It's actually 65 degrees now in Albuquerque - normal is 48 degrees for a high. Mtn biking is like it's October! I know the sidewalls aren't quite as durable at 8 ply versus 10 ply, but we'll see.

 

[Janster]

How big of a difference does that 9 lbs per tire effect both MPG and performance with the 3.6 liter V6? Any firsthand experience?

Something to think about…. Do you notice any difference in MPG benefits when your gas tank is empty versus when the tank is full? I mean…. A full tank of gas probably weighs much more than 40lb.

 

[Pismo61]

Hard to find a weinner here.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=OFAT&width=285%2F&ratio=70&diameter=17&tireSearch=true&filter=y

 

[RudeJeepin]

Something to think about…. Do you notice any difference in MPG benefits when your gas tank is empty versus when the tank is full? I mean…. A full tank of gas probably weighs much more than 40lb.

Rotating mass is different than stationary mass.
For example...
We had a Ram 2500 Cummins for a long time. When I went from the stock Michelin tires to Falken AT3W on 3+ hour, mostly freeway, trips to see the daughter I lost 0.5 mpg. On my daily commute 1 lost nearly 1 mpg.
If the 8 to 10 pounds difference per tire effected a rig with 370hp and 800 ft/lbs of torque, what do you think it will do to a rig with 285hp and 260 ft/lbs???

 

[NC_Overland]

Something to think about…. Do you notice any difference in MPG benefits when your gas tank is empty versus when the tank is full? I mean…. A full tank of gas probably weighs much more than 40lb.

Rotating mass is way different than adding a full tank of gas. It makes a huge difference.

 

[NC_Overland]

Rotating mass is different than stationary mass.
For example...
We had a Ram 2500 Cummins for a long time. When I went from the stock Michelin tires to Falken AT3W on 3+ hour, mostly freeway, trips to see the daughter I lost 0.5 mpg. On my daily commute 1 lost nearly 1 mpg.
If the 8 to 10 pounds difference per tire effected a rig with 370hp and 800 ft/lbs of torque, what do you think it will do to a rig with 285hp and 365 ft/lbs???

I wish the 3.6l had an extra 100 ft lbs of torque. lol

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