New Falken AT tire (A/T3W)

[Decipher]

Trying to weed through this thread to find my answer but seem to have issue with the server as some pages Are notloading

Anyways the stock 265 P rated tires seem 10% Heavier than most A/t tires. Most are around 40 and these are 45/46 lbs.
Don’t need real aggressive tread mainly for snow and some mud. I about 75% highway with 25k a year mileage so concerned on gas mileage. Any input? 1mph loss would be pretty expensive over a year

You’re gonna lose at least 1 MPG going from a highway tire to an aggressive AT or pretty much any AT tire for that matter. You’ll have to figure out what matters more to you...MPGs or off road prowess. These do extremely well for their tread pattern but you’re looking for a unicorn my friend. You’re going to suffer somewhere.


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[4central]

Falken ATs are not great for winter traction. I had to replace them with nokian WRG4s. As much as all the fuss about Falken ATs winter abilities in forums, I happen to believe they are coming from mostly in comparison with other AT tires or owners who do not believe/test winter/all weather tires. Deep snow traction on Falkens are acceptable. However, threads do not hold snow enough to enable snow on snow traction, and the compound is regular AT stuff. Compound is too stiff under cold temperatures (this applies to non LT Falken ATs as well). Ice traction is terrible. Cold Wet traction is acceptable. The ones I replaced falken with, WRG4s are night and day difference even though they are all weathers/not pure winter tires. 4wd on Falken ATs give false impression that they can drive you around, it is stopping distance on ice/light snow terrified me. If your winter driving involves severe winter conditions for extendable period of time, ATs including Falken AT will not serve you any good. Speed reduction and paying close attention to other drivers with some driving skills can compensate some failures of the Falken ATs; however there will be times you wish you had that extra stopping ability not to rear end another driver or t-bone them. It is true that, most winter tires provide not much mud capability. For those weekend winter off road adventures where the surface is muddy, just replace the wheels with ATs. Winter tires / all weather tires do not provide the look of ATs for sure, but in my mind safety comes first.

 

[jhguth]

No AT is going to be as good as true winter tires in winter weather, that Nokian is basically a winter tire with a compound that makes it a bit more friendly for all season

Also what size did you have to get for the WRG4? Most people probably wouldn't want to drop down to a 245/45 (25.7" vs stock 31.6")

 

[mustangr2]

Had to make the trip through Tahoe last night. It was 4wd and snow tires or chains required and have to say had no traction issues. Granted I kept the speed reasonable but definitely could have carried more speed if wanted. Probably will be replacing them with another set when the time comes.

 

[4central]

No AT is going to be as good as true winter tires in winter weather, that Nokian is basically a winter tire with a compound that makes it a bit more friendly for all season

Also what size did you have to get for the WRG4? Most people probably wouldn't want to drop down to a 245/45 (25.7" vs stock 31.6")

This is WRG4 SUV version with the stock 4 runner size, 265/70r17s. Your statement for WRG4s are right on the money: winter tire with a compound that makes it a bit more friendly for all seasons. WRG4s were more than adequate for packed snow and even for deep snow to my surprise.

Back to Falken ATs, other than my disappointment with winter traction, they are good to ok for most situations. Falken ATs did perform ok with east coast mud, but once again they are not mud tires. They don't clean mud with ease on the trail. Once the winter season is over, I may give a try to Falken MTs for the summer season.

 

[spartacus]

I am more concerned with the dingbats following me too closely on the highway specially in slick conditions.

 

[MrGainzz]

Don’t use them if you live in a cold climate area.
I had to change it back to Nokian Hakkapeliittas R3 in October as my Falken performs poorly on ice and snow and winter is 8 months long in my city.



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[Drobs]

Falken ATs are not great for winter traction. I had to replace them with nokian WRG4s. As much as all the fuss about Falken ATs winter abilities in forums, I happen to believe they are coming from mostly in comparison with other AT tires or owners who do not believe/test winter/all weather tires. Deep snow traction on Falkens are acceptable. However, threads do not hold snow enough to enable snow on snow traction, and the compound is regular AT stuff. Compound is too stiff under cold temperatures (this applies to non LT Falken ATs as well). Ice traction is terrible. Cold Wet traction is acceptable. The ones I replaced falken with, WRG4s are night and day difference even though they are all weathers/not pure winter tires. 4wd on Falken ATs give false impression that they can drive you around, it is stopping distance on ice/light snow terrified me. If your winter driving involves severe winter conditions for extendable period of time, ATs including Falken AT will not serve you any good. Speed reduction and paying close attention to other drivers with some driving skills can compensate some failures of the Falken ATs; however there will be times you wish you had that extra stopping ability not to rear end another driver or t-bone them. It is true that, most winter tires provide not much mud capability. For those weekend winter off road adventures where the surface is muddy, just replace the wheels with ATs. Winter tires / all weather tires do not provide the look of ATs for sure, but in my mind safety comes first.

Curious as why you went with an all weather tire vs a dedicated snow tire? If you are going to have 2 sets why not have a the best?

A friends of mine swears by studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta's.

Where I live in Southern Missouri - a dedicated winter / snow tire would be a waste. Was 60F out yesterday. Studded tires are legal but it rarely snows here. When it does snow, it's gone within a week.

I grew up in the Chicago area and went to college in Minnesota. Increasing following distance, plus slowing down before intersections, is what prevented us from crashing into others.

 

[4central]

Curious as why you went with an all weather tire vs a dedicated snow tire? If you are going to have 2 sets why not have a the best?

A friends of mine swears by studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta's.

Where I live in Southern Missouri - a dedicated winter / snow tire would be a waste. Was 60F out yesterday. Studded tires are legal but it rarely snows here. When it does snow, it's gone within a week.

I grew up in the Chicago area and went to college in Minnesota. Increasing following distance, plus slowing down before intersections, is what prevented us from crashing into others.

I drive south and north in the winter, where there can be temperatures up to 80F or -10F. Dedicated winter tires will have very limited treadwear in hot temperatures. If you live in a place where the temperature does not go above 45-50F all winter and mostly around 30F and below, dedicated winters are good. All weather tires are designed for places like Midwest where temperature goes up and down all time during winter (upper midwest is different). I used to have WRG3s, their summer treadwears were acceptable, surviving like 30K miles. But the new one WRG4s are more winter tire than before. In a trip to south of 5000 miles, I lost 4/32 tread right away. Plus side, they do perform very good in winter conditions. Studs are good where you have no rain in winter, and roads are packed snow/ice or you have very icy long driveway you need to climb/down. You may lose studs on dry pavement. Secondly I do offroad in summer, I will change mine to AT or MT during summer.

 

[z32-z33]

What Psi are y’all running with 275 70 17 C load. Was checking after the 2nd dealer service and they are 30psi which I think was the stock tire size psi. Tia!!


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I've had my 275/70/17 load C for about 2 months now and just took at 1300 mile round trip to Joshua Tree. I have them at 37 psi in the front and 36 psi in the rear. It felt mushy at 32 psi and too stiff at 40 psi.

 

[ForRun]

Falken ATs are not great for winter traction. I had to replace them with nokian WRG4s. As much as all the fuss about Falken ATs winter abilities in forums, I happen to believe they are coming from mostly in comparison with other AT tires or owners who do not believe/test winter/all weather tires. Deep snow traction on Falkens are acceptable. However, threads do not hold snow enough to enable snow on snow traction, and the compound is regular AT stuff. Compound is too stiff under cold temperatures (this applies to non LT Falken ATs as well). Ice traction is terrible. Cold Wet traction is acceptable. The ones I replaced falken with, WRG4s are night and day difference even though they are all weathers/not pure winter tires. 4wd on Falken ATs give false impression that they can drive you around, it is stopping distance on ice/light snow terrified me. If your winter driving involves severe winter conditions for extendable period of time, ATs including Falken AT will not serve you any good. Speed reduction and paying close attention to other drivers with some driving skills can compensate some failures of the Falken ATs; however there will be times you wish you had that extra stopping ability not to rear end another driver or t-bone them. It is true that, most winter tires provide not much mud capability. For those weekend winter off road adventures where the surface is muddy, just replace the wheels with ATs. Winter tires / all weather tires do not provide the look of ATs for sure, but in my mind safety comes first.

I don't get it. Hundreds have said these are awesome in snow/ice etc. Many in your area. Now you say they suck

 

[Decipher]

Having owned KO2s, Nitto Ridge Grapplers and two sets of these Falkens in both stock size and now 285/70-17 (SL on both), I can tell you these perform miles ahead of the tires I listed. It’s all relative I guess. For an AT, I’m impressed and would stick with these if I had to purchase again right now.

To be fair, you simply can’t compare this tire to a dedicated or even heavily leaning winter tire. I’d be pissed if my winter tires didn’t perform better than an AT. It’s all a matter of perspective but in my experience now, these Falkens have hit a sweet spot on performance and value. If you need more than these offer (remember they’re 3MPSF rated), then a dedicated snow tire is what you demand and settle for nothing less.


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[sn_85]

I don't get it. Hundreds have said these are awesome in snow/ice etc. Many in your area. Now you say they suck

Tire opinions are a dime a dozen. Everyone has one and they either love it or hate it. I lived 3 years in the mountains of Utah. Drove to numerous ski resorts in UT, WY, MT, and CO. Never a problem. Rode BFG KO2, Cooper AT3 XLT, and Falken AT3W.

The scariest drive was a particularly sketchy AF mountain shelf road from Silverton to Ouray (Million Dollar Hwy) in winter, at night. One lane roads, no shoulder, hair-pin & switchback turns, cliff sides are a few thousand feet down. The Falken AT3W's did just fine.

Obviously there's no comparison of a 3-peak winter rated AT vs a dedicated winter tire. That goes without saying. But I find it hard to believe when people claim they flat out "suck". I'm starting to believe tire reviews are more expectation and driver skill dependent more than anything else.

 

[4central]

I don't get it. Hundreds have said these are awesome in snow/ice etc. Many in your area. Now you say they suck

As I said, it depends on your expectations, conditions you drive and driving experience. If the driver never had winter tires, comparison will be limited to other ATs. However, among all ATs, I wouldn't rate Falken AT at the top of the list for winter. It is better than average AT, but not best AT for winter traction. Falken ATs were good in deep snow. But not on ice or light snow. They were terrible. When you look at the comments and dive into, you will see few more comments like mine.I have the "luxury" of driving 30-35K miles per year in all conditions from ice roads in Canada to beaches in Atlantic. I buy 1-2 tire sets each year for my cars. So I am able to test many tires. The idea to drive one set year long is sure tempting, and for many folks in better climates Falken ATs may serve them.

For most folks, testing AT tires in winter involve deep snow with 4wd. 4runner compensate that type of driving with tech. However, the stopping on icy road is the issue.

Other good thing about Falken, they were quick in approving my tire returns and they are cheap tires.

 

[jhguth]

i think the people who say the falken is good in winter weather don't live in places that need winter tires, if you live somewhere with regular winter seasons get winter tires. if you don't live in a place that justifies the expense of winter tires, these are good

 

[bugkillr]

Decided to get a set of wheels ( FN fxPro) 17x8,,, so now I need tires.
Been doing a TON of tire research, especially weight. It looks like these Wildpeaks are 46lbs in a P265/70. Stock tires look to be 40lbs. Has anyone here that has jumped 5-6lbs per corner but kept stock sizing chime in? I'm not concerned with a MPG or 2, but I'd like to keep as much acceleration as possible. That's one of the reasons I went with FN wheels, I saved about 4lbs a corner right there.

Edit: the Falkens are on the heavier side of the AT tires I e looked at, most of the P265'S I've narrowed it down to are in between 37-41lbs each.

 

[Decipher]

I made the original jump from a Dunlop highway tire to these Falkens in stock size, passenger series. I can attest to the fact that while there was an impact on road performance, it was marginal at best and more likely due to the aggressive tread of the Wildpeak which leads to higher rolling resistance over a highway tire rather than the increase in weight. The difference, again, is noticeable but also marginal and not a reason to shy away. I remain impressed with their on road comfort and performance for a tire of this level of aggression.

Also, the additional weight of these tires in passenger series is because Falken extends the same sidewall technology and ruggedness to all of their tires regardless of load rating. This means you get the same rugged sidewall construction in a P series or an LT series. The LT just adds more plies underneath the tire tread. I’ve off-roaded a ton with P series and have yet to have a single issue.


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[bugkillr]

I appreciate your hands on experience. Thanks!

 

[Pathfinder!]

I don't get it. Hundreds have said these are awesome in snow/ice etc. Many in your area. Now you say they suck

Well he is comparing 2 completely different kinds of tires. Those Nokians will be useless in deep snow/mud and won't be tough enough to take off road.

 

[MAST4R]

The 4R on AT3Ws does great in snow on 4x4 trails, including on rock. But a 4R will never compete with a Subaru in bad weather conditions on pavement.

There is a sea of vehicles better suited to a mall parking lot than a 4R.

That said, I am very happy there is enough demand to keep 4R prices from LC territory.

Happy Holidays!