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Last updated 9/13/2024 - Originally published 9/13/2024
Written by SimpleTire
You already know that many (really, really a lot) light trucks, SUVs, and crossovers are on the roads these days, and many of those trucks come from the factory with a 4WD drivetrain. If you’ve got a 4WD truck and like to go off-road occasionally, the best way to get peak performance out of your vehicle is with a set of all-terrain tires for situations where highway or all-season tires won’t be capable of getting the job done.
It comes as no surprise that the market is flooded with all-terrain tires for light trucks at every price point and set of features you can think of. Today, we will examine the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT. Here at SimpleTire, we’ve been pretty impressed with products from Toyo and Cooper for a long time, and the Wildpeak A/T3W and Discoverer AT3 LT definitely deliver on our expectations for both brands.
Are you familiar with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? It’s the rating method we developed to give you a quick, at-a-glance idea of a tire’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. We look at a tire’s specs, reviews, and other data points, then distill that information to a numerical score of 1-10 for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore for each tire.
For the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT, the SimpleScore ratings shake out as follows:
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
- Traction: 9.8
- Handling: 9.4
- Longevity: 8.6
- Overall average SimpleScore: 9.2
Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT
- Traction: 8.5
- Handling: 8.6
- Longevity: 8.5
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.4
Those are some pretty solid SimpleScore numbers for any tire (with the Falken coming out in front), but of course, SimpleScore is a 30,000 foot overview that doesn’t give you the full picture and all the details on what to expect with a tire. That’s why we’re here today—let’s take a closer look at what the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT are all about.
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires
According to the team at Falken, the 3W stands for Wet, Winter, and Wear. That sounds pretty good to us, since the Wildpeak A/T3W does have the tire industry’s Three Peak Mountain Snowflake designation for severe winter service. The grip is never a problem, with an aggressive all-terrain lug tread and an initial tread depth that’s a full 19/32”, along with lugs that extend down from the shoulder onto the sidewall, helping to enhance lateral traction for cornering or clawing out of ruts. That’s enough for us to give the Wildpeak A/T3W a SimpleScore of 9.9 for traction.
The Wear part of the 3W designation is also not just hype – the Wildpeak A/T3W has a rugged silica-infused tread formulation, step-down features, support ramps for durability in off-road situations, a reinforced sidewall, and heat dispersal technology to protect the tire’s internal construction. That’s enough for Falken to cover the Wildpeak A/T3W with a 55,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty and enough for SimpleTire to award a SimpleScore of 8.9 for longevity.
The Wildpeak A/T3W is an all-terrain tire that offers aggressive performance off-road, but that doesn’t mean you have to compromise much in the way of road manners and civilized behavior on the pavement for a SimpleScore of 9.6 for handling. SimpleTire’s price on the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W starts at $188.07 per tire.
Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT tires
Next up is the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT. As for us here at the SimpleTire team, we’ve always felt that the Cooper is a great value, and great performer overall, and we give this tire SimpleScore rankings of 8.5 for traction, 8.2 for longevity, and 8.6 for handling, with an overall average SimpleScore of 8.4.
The AT3 LT is a commercial-grade tire that’s designed for heavy load ratings, and durability that’s equally as consistent as its year-round traction and performance. The Discoverer AT3 LT starts off with a silica-infused tread compound for great wear properties (and 60,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty) with a 2-ply polyester casing, twin steel belt package, and single-ply nylon reinforcement layer that gives it a boost in durability and high-speed stability.
Engineered to be just as competent at handling mud, dirt, and gravel as well as the interstate, the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT’ all-terrain tread features an aggressive all-terrain block tread with stone ejectors, Rugged Traction Shoulders with alternating cleat and lug edges and multiple zigzag sipes designed for sure-footed grip in wet or snowy conditions. Cooper’s Even Wear Arc Technology helps to balance the vehicle’s weight distribution and enhance the tire’s contact patch, for excellent control, traction, and braking performance. The Snow Groove Technology package includes a pattern of sawtooth edges in the block edges, actually trapping and retaining snow for snow-on-snow traction. SimpleTire’s price on the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT starts at $208.99 per tire.
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT tires on traction
With SimpleScore ratings of 9.8 for the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W vs 8.5 for the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT in the traction department, this one’s not really close. The Cooper is definitely loaded with some great and innovative tread features like the Snow Groove package and Rugged Traction Shoulders with their design of cleats and lugs. With the Falken, though, its combination of deep initial tread depth, 3D sipes, step-down features, and support ramps in the tread grooves are enough of a boost in winter performance for it to rate the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service. All those design features that give the Falken great performance in snow and slush also help with off-road grip and control in mud, gravel, sand, loose dirt, and generally rough terrain and conditions. This one’s an easy one, and our decision is:
ADVANTAGE: Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT tires on handling
How do the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT look against each other when it comes to the handling category? With a SimpleScore of 9.4 for the Falken and 8.6 for the Cooper, this one’s not really close either. One of the things that’s crucial to the handling properties of any tire is the rigidity of its tread face, shoulder, and sidewall. As a vehicle starts to take a corner or make its way around a turn, its momentum and weight try to keep it going in a straight line. This puts stress on the tire and can cause it to deform and experience “tread squirm”, sometimes with the inboard side of the tire leaving the pavement altogether. The reinforced internal design and outer apex sidewall of the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W gives it the rigidity to resist tread squirm, which means very capable and predictable cornering, steering response, and overall road manners. Granted, a set of all-terrain tires for a 4WD light truck or SUV is not going to be as nimble as performance tires for a car, but our decision is:
ADVANTAGE: Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
Falken Wildpeak A/T3W vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT tires on longevity
When we get to the longevity category, things are a lot tighter with the Falken registering a SimpleScore of 8.6 vs 8.5 for the Cooper. When it comes to longevity, it’s usually the limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage that moves the needle and the SimpleScore. It’s a little counterintuitive here, though, since the Falken comes along with a 55,000 mile warranty vs 60,000 miles for the Cooper, yet the Falken is ahead in the SimpleScores by 0.1. Regardless, they’re both very durable and dependable tires with great wear properties and resistance to damage. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Falken Wildpeak A/T3W
When to use each
The question to ask yourself here is probably this: what are your real needs and expectations with a set of all-terrain tires? The Falken and the Cooper are both tires that are durable enough to stand up to rough terrain, obstacles, heavy loads, and towing - meaning they could both be a great choice for work trucks that have to make their way around unimproved job sites. They’re also a great option for drivers who have to deal with nasty winter conditions and winter storms that can leave several inches of snow on the roads for days at a time – their tread features give them an edge in winter traction where all-season or highway-terrain tires are usually not going to be capable of getting the job done.
These tires also perfect for drivers who have to negotiate oilfield lease roads, ranch roads, rural gravel lanes, or any kind of conditions where you need that extra measure of traction, durability, and ride height to clear obstacles with ease, but then again they’re both comfortable, quiet and composed on the highway. Does that sound like your set of checkboxes for tires?
Which one should you choose?
So now we’re literally down to the bottom of the page and the bottom line. In all the pertinent categories, the Falken does come out on top in this head-to-head matchup. That doesn’t mean that the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT isn’t a good performer and good value, though. There’s plenty to recommend the Cooper as well, so let’s compare the two at their price point: $208.99 per tire for the Cooper vs $188.07 per tire for the Falken. When you take price into account, the Falken still looks pretty good and actually delivers a pretty good bang for the buck. When it comes right down to it, after taking everything into account, we at the SimpleTire team would probably have to go with the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W over the Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.