Tire Questions: Cooper Discoverer AT vs. AT3--Differences other than $$$$ ?

[bamakojon]

Any light that anyone can shed on the functional differences between the Cooper Discoverer AT All-Season and the Cooper Discoverer AT3 would be great. From what I can tell, they have the same load and speed rating, similar tread pattern, but a $100 price difference per tire! The AT is a 55,000 mile tire and the AT3 is a 60,000 mile tire, so not too much difference there either. $400+ associated tax is a fair chunk of change, so I'd like to know what the real difference is. I assume that the AT3 has kevlar or some such reinforcement that the regular Discoverer AT doesn't and maybe some difference in the rubber compound. Any thoughts from experience are welcome! Thanks!

Here are links to both tires at Walmart.
AT All Season: Cooper Discoverer A/T All-Season LT265/70R17 121S Tire - Walmart.com
AT3: Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT All-Season LT265/70R17 E 121S Tire - Walmart.com

 

[LostWoods]

Generally speaking, any time you see an exclusive (In this case the AT all season) at a much lower price like that, corners have been cut severely. It's likely an older design with a less durable compound and fewer sidewall plies or something. Since it's wally world only, they're going to be the only source of information and they don't give much.

The AT3 is an outstanding tire for mixed use that IMO handles better off road than a KO2 but is slightly less mannered on road. I know it's a bit more but personally, I'd want a tire that I can get replaced at a dealer anywhere and not be locked into a single SKU from a single retailer despite how big they are. That's a common size likely to be stocked at many Cooper retailers and local distro centers that you can generally have it same day or next morning.

 

[Daryl 32]

We used the AT3's for years on our 1999 F250 2wd with Detroit locker. They worked great off road and on road for us.

Before going to Baja in jan 2020 I up graded to the AT3 XLT which I really like, the extra side wall protection.

We get good wear out of them and they are quiet on the highway. They work good in sand at 25 psi and in the mud. We took pieces out of the treads on the rock shell roads.

 

[Earthbound Misfit]

I have had AT3 for last two years and very happy with performance on my Tacoma. Air down to 20#, pull trailer, spend plenty of time in 4wd. Will continue to use same tire in future.

 

[MidOH]

I'll ignore the above, and raise ya to ST Maxx's.

 

[rgallant]

I am with @MidOH St/Maxx good solid tire, not too loud on the road and work well in the wet

 

[Downs]

Any light that anyone can shed on the functional differences between the Cooper Discoverer AT All-Season and the Cooper Discoverer AT3 would be great. From what I can tell, they have the same load and speed rating, similar tread pattern, but a $100 price difference per tire! The AT is a 55,000 mile tire and the AT3 is a 60,000 mile tire, so not too much difference there either. $400+ associated tax is a fair chunk of change, so I'd like to know what the real difference is. I assume that the AT3 has kevlar or some such reinforcement that the regular Discoverer AT doesn't and maybe some difference in the rubber compound. Any thoughts from experience are welcome! Thanks!

Here are links to both tires at Walmart.
AT All Season: Cooper Discoverer A/T All-Season LT265/70R17 121S Tire - Walmart.com
AT3: Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT All-Season LT265/70R17 E 121S Tire - Walmart.com

The AT (not AT3) is a tire made specifically for Wal Mart. FWIW I ran a set of the ATs on my XJ and liked them quite a bit. They were 235/75R15s and were only like 75 dollars a tire. They carried me all over Oklahoma and Arkansas and saw a lot of dirt use. Never had an issue with them. When I wore them out (I replaced before minimum tread depth) I went to some Achilles Desert Hawk ATs because they were still affordable and had a tougher sidewall, not that I had sidewall issues with the Coopers either. I bought some Achilles Desert Hawk MTs for my CJ and a spare set for my XJ's spare wheels for off road trips.

I'll go dig though my maintenance records and see how many miles I got out of them.

 

[Downs]

Just checked I got to about 30,000 miles on them when I changed them out. Like I said they still had useable tread when I changed them out. I have no doubt I could have got to at least 40k, IIRC when I changed them they were still at the top edge of "yellow" zone of my tire depth gauge.

 

[Tundracamper]

Went with the AT3 4S on the 4Runner and am quite happy. No more road noise than OEM tires. I was originally leaning toward KO2s since that’s what everyone rants about. However, I read those have lousy wet road traction and I spend way, way more time driving wet roads than I spend off roading. The AT3s do quite nicely in heavy rain.

 

[bamakojon]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm at the point where I'm shopping around to try to find the next tire that balances performance, appearance, and cost. Turns out that's quite a chore...