For truck drivers who are looking for a versatile tire, BFGoodrich Trail Terrain vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires are excellent choices! Which is best suited to your needs?
Blackcircles Canada helps you make your decision with this detailed comparison between the two tires. Find out more about their main features, specs and performance!
How do the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 tires compare?
First and foremost, how do both of these tires compare? What are their main features and similarities? Here is a sneak peek at what they have to offer so as to help you in your selection.
The BFGoodrich and Cooper brands are both United-States born manufacturers who specialize in off-road tires.
On the one hand, the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain is an all-terrain winter certified tire. It comes in 47 dimensions for trucks, SUVs and crossovers. On the other hand, the Cooper Discoverer AT3 offers three different versions, depending on your needs:
- The Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S tire, for SUVs and trucks
- The Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT tire, for light trucks
- The Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT tire, for heavier loads
These three versions were designed to cater to each consumer’s specific needs and to make it easier to figure out which is best between the numerous different versions. In both cases, dimensions range between 15- and 22- inches.
However, only the 4S and some of the LT and XLT versions are winter certified; on the other hand, all Trail Terrain tires have this certification. If purchasing a single set of tires for both the winter and summer seasons is important to you, then make sure you get the right model!
Even though both tires are specially made for off-road driving, you will notice that the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain tire has a more aggressive design. The Cooper tire looks way more like a regular tire, although several of its features focus on off-road driving.
In fact, both tires were specially designed for daily use, but with the capacity of driving off the beaten path whenever you want to.
Their respective specifications will allow you to better understand how both models compare; we will then see how this translates to the road.
BFGoodrich Trail Terrain: Specs
The BFGoodrich Trail Terrain tire is, in a way, the KO2’s little brother, a formidable Baja champion. The Trail Terrain provides you with a versatile driving experience, both off the beaten path and on the highway. In order to succeed in this, it focuses on features such as:
- Full depth 3D sipes
- An optimized footprint
- Rugged serrated shoulder blocks
- Good resistance to perforations and tears
Firstly, the Trail Terrain’s optimized footprint will provide you with a greater contact surface with the road. This translates into greater stability, but also a more comfortable driving experience and noise reduction. In fact, it helps prevent air circulation in the grooves.
This maximised contact surface also allows for more even wear, over the whole tire surface. This is an advantageous feature that helps ensure maximum durability!
The blocks and grooves are also equipped with three dimensional auto-locking sipes. This will provide you with maximum traction levels, especially during winter conditions. Moreover, the depth helps maintain efficiency even once the tire starts to wear.
This means that the tire is not only durable; it remains efficient during its entire tread life.
To better face off-road conditions, it offers a solid structure and a resistant rubber compound, which makes it more resistant to tears and perforations on gravel roads.
The wide shoulders and the central groove design optimize the tire’s stability levels. You will also notice that shoulder blocks are serrated, allowing for better debris ejection and a good off-road driving experience.
Cooper Discoverer AT3: Specs
Designed both for driving off the beaten path and regular use on paved roads, the Cooper Discoverer AT3 comes in different versions. This way, you could opt for a model that was designed for four-season use, or a model that was specially made to tow heavy loads, according to your needs.
In more general terms, the tire will provide you with the following features:
- Adaptive-Traction Technology
- Snow-Groove Technology
- Whisper Grooves Technology
- Circumferential grooves
- Stone ejecting edges
- Etc.
Take note that the features and technologies will vary slightly according to model, but that the tire still offers the same design on each one.
In order to offer infallible traction levels, the Cooper tire focuses both on wide shoulder blocks and Adaptive-Traction technology, which will provide you with great grip levels on all types of road surfaces, for a versatile and safe driving experience. The wide shoulder blocks also contribute to the tire’s stability levels.
When it comes to gravel trails, the tire includes integrated stone ejectors on the edges, which provide you with a more stable drive. As for winter driving, this is exactly what the sipes were designed for, in the blocks and on the edges of the circumferential grooves, for better grip levels on snow.
These four circumferential grooves will obviously also contribute to better water evacuation, thus helping reduce the risks of aquaplaning. On top of the outstanding performance it offers, the Cooper Discoverer was designed for those who are looking for a comfortable and quiet driving experience, mostly thanks to the Whisper Grooves technology.
Finally, technologies like the Even Wear Arc or the Durable Tread also help ensure optimal durability by balancing pressure levels on the tire. This way, tread wear is more even and you can expect a longer lifespan, while also enjoying a more stable driving experience.
Make your selection between the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain and the Cooper Discoverer AT3
Which tire would be best suited to your needs between the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain vs Cooper Discoverer AT3? Both provide you with good performance both on and off the road; they do, however, remain different.
Let’s first look into all-terrain driving in greater detail. As mentioned at the beginning of this comparison, the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain’s design shows more aggressive lines. It also includes wider shoulder blocks; all of this translates into a more confident off-road driving experience over sand, mud and rocks.
The Cooper tires also offers good performance and stability for occasional off-road driving, although generally, off-road performance is less impressive.
On the other hand, when it comes to driving over wet road surfaces and resistance to aquaplaning, it clearly comes out on top. Thanks to the four circumferential grooves and numerous lateral grooves, it evacuates water more efficiently.
So, it compares to the BFGoodrich tire favorably, given that this one only has two circumferential grooves and off-set blocks.
An off-set block design, however, comes with its own set of advantages, which include a maximum contact surface with the road. This means that it can prevent noise from forming inside the tire, which translates into a quiet tire model. It also allows for a lower rolling resistance and greater savings on fuel.
On this note, Cooper relies on a noise reduction technology, but does not eliminate source noise. This means that, although it is considered a quiet tire for its category, it remains a little noisier than the BFGoodrich tire, according to Tire Driver journalists.
These journalists also mention that the tire absorbs road imperfections more efficiently, which means that road handling is generally more comfortable. This duel is tight: on the one hand you have a quieter tire, while on the other you have a more comfortable one!
One strength they both share is how they behave on dry roads. Both provide you with a maneuverable and precise driving experience, enjoyable on this type of road surface, along with good braking distances. Tire Driver critics have awarded a slight advantage to the Trail Terrain for maneuverability, but both come out equal in terms of traction levels.
Moreover, both have griping edges and grooves that allows them to offer a stable drive in winter conditions. As the BFGoodrich often boasts, the Trail Terrain still offers grip levels that are 11 % superior to those of the Discoverer AT3 4S on snow covered surfaces.
So, which is the best tire? Only you will have the answer to this question! If you are looking for a tire that is more performant in off-road settings and offers a very quiet driving experience, we suggest you opt for the Trail Terrain. If you prefer greater comfort levels and a more stable drive on wet road surfaces, then the Discoverer AT3 is made for you!
Comparing Warranties
The good news is that both tire models offer a competitive warranty.
On the one hand, the Cooper offers a 105,000 km warranty on tread life with the AT3 4S. The other versions will provide you with a 96,000 km warranty. The brand also offers a 45 day satisfaction guarantee.
With BFGoodrich, the warranty is for 100,000 km and you will also enjoy a satisfaction guarantee, for up to 60 days!
Take note, however, that the BFGoodrich Trail Terrain price range is slightly higher than for the 4S and LT models, while the XLT is more expensive, given the added performance and features.
No matter which model you choose, you will be sure to find it at the best possible price with blackcircles. Look for your dimensions and find the all-terrain tire that is best suited to your needs, or discover all of our available models online!
