New Shoes - Cooper AT3

[BenjMN]

Just got some new Cooper AT3's put on today. LT265/70/17, load range "C". Also got a bunch of 100K maint. stuff done, except for the front diff. as the plug was rusted in, so....a trip to the dealer to get a front diff drain plug is in order for me, and it's likely the plug will have to be chiseled out. :redbrick:

Okay, so here are my initial impressions:

-Ride is not noticeably harsher than the tires I had on before which were yoko geolandar HT/S 265/65/17 P-metric. If anything, even though I'm still breaking in the coopers, the ride seems more stable than with the yoko's.

-I had a fairly significant pull to the left with the yoko's, even in the right lane, and especially in left lanes. The pull appears to be gone, which is awesome!

-so far, these tires don't seem to want to track road deviations (read: the typical ruts in the road caused by semi's) They track nice and straight.

-the noise is minimal even in comparison to the yoko's even given that these are an all-terrain. You do hear a slight howl at lower speeds, but it's not overly annoying and it's a little more pronounced when taking corners, but I'm not concerned about it.

-Unfortunately, there is no snow in MN this year, so I don't have any feedback on snow performance yet, but I'm sure we're due for "snowmaggedon" in the near future. However, I anticipate that these will be better than the yoko's in any snow. Those things were like driving on hockey pucks with even a dusting of snow, I had zero confidence in the yoko's.

-I'm going to have to find an area where I can take these bad boys to try 'em out in some slop yet too, I'll post up my experiences when I do.

-Haven't put on enough miles to see how it affects mpg, but acceleration seems to be the same. And although this statement is purely subjective, I expected some kind of change in feedback upon acceleration with the heavier tire. There doesn't seem to be any I guess.

I went with the LT265/70/17's "C"s since I wanted a little more sidewall strength, a bit more ground clearance, and plus there's a little more tread depth. I checked to see if they rub at full lock, but have only checked while sitting still at this point.

edit: I do have very *slight* rubbing only on the driver's side when at right and left full lock, both forward and reverse, it does not appear to be happening on the passenger side at all. I guess that just means I need to put in that spacer lift sooner! Not sure if it rubbing on the upper control arm, or on the fender liner & mud flap. Can anyone chime in on this?

However, there's barely any clearance at the fender liners & mud flaps, so next up.....at minimum, a lift for the front is in order I think. At least to ensure that I don't have any rubbing if there is significant articulation of the suspension, since I'm thinking I might get some at stock.

Let me know if I missed any important feedback I should have included, and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[deedst4r]

I have the same tires with 10,000 miles in them and they are holding up great.

 

[BenjMN]

Deed, do you have your front end lifted at all? If not, do you also experience the same symptoms I have at full steering lock?

It's good to hear that your tires are holding out well. I can't imagine you've had much time with them in the snow, living in GA, but otherwise, have they lived up to your expectations?

 

[BenjMN]

Update

I thought I would update my initial impressions on the cooper AT3's

I have had these on now for roughly 400 miles, and any initial squirm is gone, as it seems that the tires have started to "bed in" (don't know if that's the term for wearing off that typical initial layer tires)

We got our first significant snowfall/sleet/rain storm of the season here in MN, so here's how the tires performed:

-We have had a mixture of freezing rain, sleet & snow, so most roads have a sheet of packed down snow/ice. In the areas where the roads were covered in just snow, I feel the tires definitely lived up to expectations. I could hear the snow being cleared out of the treads as it was spraying my fender wells. Plenty of snow traction to be had with these.

-I think the most impressive attribute of these tires is their stopping and control. On my way in to work this a.m. I was driving a back road when I came upon a cross street that had been plowed, and unfortunately, the plows had left the snow pile (more like a snow-wall approx. 3' h.) in my lane. It looked quite solid, and I don't think I would've wanted to try to plow through it.

Because it was dark yet, I didn't realize it was there until I was right on top of it. I made an evasive maneuver to not only miss the snow pile, but then to also avoid an on coming car. The VSC did kick on once I swerved around the pile and returned to my lane, but only for a moment, and I never felt like I was losing control. With all of the discontent I have for VSC, this is a situation where it was actually nice to have.

-For an AT tire, they do fair on the hardpacked/icy stuff. I may have set my expectations too high for the tire in this regard, as I'm not overly impressed, but they're definitely no dedicated snow tire. Not too bad considering, but no one was really going too fast anyway. And if they did, more often than not, I'm sure they'd end up in the ditch.

In all, I think these are good tires, and seem that they will serve me well. I'll be checking these out in some mud come spring.

 

[Mytoy4]

Looks good! Oh.. and cute puppy

 

[MikeInNH]

I've been running on the AT3's since December....GREAT tires. I'll finally get to test them out in snow tomorrow. NH has had a very mild winter so far.

I however think they look better black...but to each their own.

 

[BenjMN]

Haha Mike, yeah, I think that's the opinion of the majority on here....black out, but with a darker runner, I kinda like the white letters out to set off the tires. Might go black out on my next set.

I do agree overall that the tires seem to be great, and we have had a VERY mild winter here too, last year at this time we had 50+" of snow on the ground. This storm of approx. 6" is the biggest storm we've had yet this year.

I do have to admit that the only shortcoming of this tire is in hard packed snow/icy conditions, (a little more siping might help that) but I'm not sure too many tires other than dedicated snows are very good on that stuff. And I think it was exacerbated by the fact that these load "C"'s are a little firmer than the P's I had on before, so I was bouncing around a little more than I would have before, since the hardpacked snow had that "washboard" effect going.

My close call this morning really helped inspire some confidence in me in these tires, which was more of a typical wet snow condition. It was a pretty evasive maneuver, and I was kind of thinking I was going to end up in the ditch after my initial reaction!

Feel free to post up and chime in on your impressions of their performance in the snow as well.

 

[MikeInNH]

Haha Mike, yeah, I think that's the opinion of the majority on here....black out, but with a darker runner, I kinda like the white letters out to set off the tires. Might go black out on my next set.

Don't be concerned what I think it looks like. It's what you think. Everyone is different and perceive things differently.

Got to drive them on the way home from work. Snowing pretty good and the plows weren't out yet. Handled GREAT. Expecting a total of 10" by tomorrow.

 

[mbraider808]

nice tires! I just bought mine and had to do the spacer lift cause of the rubbing (was pissing me off) lol nice runner by the way

 

[deedst4r]

Deed, do you have your front end lifted at all? If not, do you also experience the same symptoms I have at full steering lock?

It's good to hear that your tires are holding out well. I can't imagine you've had much time with them in the snow, living in GA, but otherwise, have they lived up to your expectations?

Yeah, i do get rubbing at full lock. I dont have any lift as well. It is nothing major so i am not too concerned. I plan on lifting when i get the funds so i will not have to worry about this someday! And yes they have been exactly what i wanted/needed. A GREAT road tire with a nice aggressive A/T tread. Great on the highway. I have not been through mud but off road on rock, dirt, grass, and hills they have performed great.

Its a good tire and i recommend it to anyone who needs a good all around A/T!