Toyo Open Country AT3 Wet Traction

Can anyone using these tires comment on their wet road experience? Seems like a lot of reviews rate these tires highly on wet road performance but the Tire Rack test showed it kinda sucked on wet braking and handling. I wonder if tire size and load range plays a part in this? Tire Rack tested a General Grabber ATX and it did great on their wet braking and handling test and when they tested it again it didn't do so well. I think they use a F150 for their AT tests.

 

I was really happy with their wet pavement performance for the whole week or so it rained here in Derpifornia.

 

Thanks for a good data point.

 

I had those tires and they did good in snow and they got me to where I wanted. I can’t say how well they do after many miles as I didn’t have them on long before I upgraded to 34” tires and sold them… here is a pic of my Toyo AT3’s after my lift (as you can see they didn’t look good with the lift):

 

I have these tires and they are excellent in wet conditions. Much better than the stock street tire that my 4Runner came with. It’s also miles better than other AT tires, most notably KO2s

 

The interesting thing about these tires is the relatively light weight of the 265/70 SL BSW version at only 39lbs. The white letter version is listed at 42lbs.

 

Weight was a major deciding factor for me when I picked these over the WildPeaks. Those are just stupid heavy.

 

I have the Toyos on my truck and they do just fine on wet roads, gravel roads, dirt roads, muddy roads, rocky roads, steep roads. Zero issues. I had a couple sets of Coopers before these and they are excellent as well. I never look at weight, just look for the triple peak, wet road ratings and what is on sale!

 

I was in the same boat a while back choosing Tires. I went back and forth from choosing either Ko2, Falken wildpeaks, or Toyo AT3. I chose AT3. Why ? it was more expensive and figured maybe it might be the better tire because of price, ratings, and the Snowflake on them. I wanted an unbiased review, but could not find one. everyone says " i have ______ tires, i like them." but they never really compared it to another tire. Even I cant tell you 100%, but here is my semi biased review.



-Purchased the : Toyo AT3 305/70/17

-Northern California we had an atmospheric river pass through for a week from December 25th - January 2. Wet roads for almost 72 hours straight and then Rain off and on. Mixture of soft rain to large downpours while driving.

-Performed 4.5 out of 5 for me.

-There is a turn on my way home that when wet can spin out very easily. Here are some of my old vehicles and new.

Info is in relation to the left turn I take and the experiences I have had while in the turn. (10-15mph)

2007 Merc C230 Pirelli Pzeros = mid to low tread Fishtailed

2015 BMW 428 Pirelli Pzeros = mid to high tread no spin

2000 4runner 2014 General Grabbers = mid tread wear Spin fishtailed

2020 4runner 2020 Dunlop At20 = High Tread spin, slight fishtail

2020 4Runner 2021Toyo AT3 = High Tread little to no spin, no fishtail Highway: cut through water easily




Highway hitting puddles:

2007 Merc C230 Pirelli Pzeros = mid to low tread driving did not exceed 50mph. issues

2015 BMW 428 Pirelli Pzeros = mid to high tread comfortable 65mph. no issues.

2000 4runner 2014 General Grabbers = mid tread wear did not exceed 50mph. issues.

2020 4runner 2020 Dunlop At20 = High Tread 65 mph . no issues

2020 4Runner 2021Toyo AT3 = High Tread no issues at 70mph+


other
2021 Tesla = just a piece of $hit


biggest con of the TOYO AT3 it doesnt look aggressive enough like the Falkens, but performance over looks i guess.

 

Great info. Thank you!

 

I bought the Toyo AT3 in LT285/70R17 for my 2014 Ram 1500.

Great highway manners. Great in the dirt and rocks and light mud. Awful in the snow and wet pavement.



I've heard that the latest version is much improved, but can not confirm.

I do know that the best AT tire I have ever ran in the snow and on the pavement is the Goodyear Ultra Terrain AT. These tires continue to impress me in every environment...

 

OK, so there's one person who states that the AT3 is awful on wet pavement. I wonder if it's the difference in how people drive on wet pavement?

 

My mistake. I had the Toyo AT2, which was not good in the snow or on wet pavement. I've heard the newest version is great.

I've done a full review of the Ultra Terrain showing just how good they grip on packed snow and excel in deep snow. So far, they are the best tire I've ever ran, and I've ran nearly all of them, from Idaho to Arizona. Leaving on a 3500 mile road trip in a week from Idaho down to the Mexico border and will do some sand running and rock crawling in the desert. When I get back, the tires will have 5000 miles on them. If they show decent wear and perform well in the desert, then I will have found my holy grail of tires.

 

For what it's worth. I've been running General Gabber ATXs stock size SL rated for two years now. My biggest complaint has been the wet traction. It was semi-decent brand new but now with age and miles, it's gotten worse. I'm looking at these Toyos or Falkens (which I've ran before) to replace.

 

I've got a set being installed tomorrow at the local Discount Tire. (265/70 r17 SL)

Will be glad to have the OEM Dunlops in the rear view mirror despite their being well mannered on the road, and even decent enough on the gravel roads within our rural subdivision. (Never put them to the test in particularly icy or snowy conditions in an abundance of caution...especially since our subdivision's gravel roads are not maintained by the county, and we get a lot of snowdrift accumulated at the bottom of the slope down to our garage.

DT gave me a nice price to include the Certificates as well, which I hadn't purchased when putting in the order for the Toyos online. So, that was a plus when I confirmed my appointment earlier today.

Looking forward to seeing what a step up these will be.

 

These tires seem fantastic so far. No shimmy, shake or road noise up to just over 65 on the way home from Discount Tire. Feels very planted, despite the light rain.

Great on the twisty country road along the river, and the winding (paved) road up the mountain and on to home which is on very narrow, winding gravel roads.

And the tires did not hold but a piece or two of gravel that I noticed.

If this is what I can expect, I am in love.

 

My experience is that the AT3's are the best tire for snow I've had on a vehicle. The first few weeks I was impressed with how they performed in wet conditions but I think that was in comparison to my BFG K02's. I wouldn't say they are the worst and they are probably good for an all-terrain tire but I wouldn't consider them the best either.

 

DT is good people... Curious as to if they mentioned the Goodyear Ultra Terrain. It is exclusive to them and my experience with them so far has been amazing.

I got the military discount through DT and just found out my cousin works in HR for Goodyear and says she can get me a 40% discount on Goodyear and Cooper tires.

 

They didn't, but when I spoke with them on the phone I had told them only that I was considering both the Toyo and Wildpeak and explained my parameters. (I think at last check there was only $11 separating the two tires, with the Toyo being the more expensive.)

(I'm not a Goodyear fan, but that discount on the Cooper's would pique my interest.)

They were great at Discount Tire. They had a team do the tires like a pit crew and I was in and out of there in 45 minutes...plus they gave me the Certificates for $63 (tax included).

I'm retired law enforcement, not military, so no other discounts applied in my case and I didn't ask for anything but whether they might give me a deal on the Certificates for not having waited for the President's Day sale, which I think was going to be 5% off. (I didn't want to chance the tires being out of stock as I've seen elsewhere.)

Happy note: All four tires were made in the USA (Georgia) and are as fresh as can be...built the first week of 2022.

 

Tire Rack comparison test dinged the Toyo ATIII for wet traction.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=275

"Needs a substantial increase in wet traction."

It had the lowest combined dry/wet rating of the four AT tires tested, though it had the best rating in snow.

Concerns about wet performance are why I decided not to choose this tire -- I had been leaning heavily toward it until I saw that. Rain and snow performance are big priorities for me, along with puncture / damage resistance.

 

That report troubled me until I did more of my own research and had conversations with people I knew who had them on their vehicles in various parts of the country, from the Southwest to the Northeast...

...And even more importantly, some who live nearby...including one who drives fire trucks and EMS wagons for a living locally...and is more than familiar with our terrain and how those tires (specifically) operate in our environment on his own vehicles. (Mountains, narrow winding roads, gravel, clay, rain, snow, ice.)

The Tire Rack data, while useful, is also a bit skewed because the players and the goalposts change somewhat from one video to another.

Also, look at the ratings across the board for the AT3 on their own chart...which are quite impressive overall, even in the wet and dry performance arena, (which can be further broken down by clicking on the top of the column):

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT&width=265/&ratio=70&diameter=17&tireSearch=true&filter=y

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

I saw the Tire Rack video but on the CR test the Toyo AT3 got a good rating on wet braking and very good on hydroplaning. The Wildpeak scored the same but lower on snow and dry braking. Surprising that the Cooper AT3 4S only did fair on wet braking.

 

I really wonder if there is a lot to lot variation in tires and that's why people have totally different experiences. For example, Tire Rack tested the General ATX twice. On the first video it did great on the wet test and not so well on the second test.

 

Reviews and tests generally should be taken with a grain of salt. User reviews in particular get skewed favorably when the product is new. People are excited about their purchase and post their positive reviews before they've had enough experience. The tire I picked has the best user rating of any Three Peak all season on Tire Rack, but those reviews only reflect about 700K miles of use, unlike reviews for something like the Defender which has millions of miles of use behind its stellar reviews. So I full expect the average ratings for my tire to drop over time.

This is why I'm more swayed by the expert reviews based on a consistent methodology and metrics. But even here you can get weird results. It's possible that a rerun of this very same Tire Rack test would produce a different ranking. Who knows what variables may have interfered with an objective result.

In the end, it's all good input to have for making a rational decision -- and certainly more rational than relying on a couple anecdotal reports -- but it's far from foolproof.

 

i imagine there are a lot of other variables that factor into tests and reviews. such as the vehicle used, its weight, the PSI setting, etc.

 

Got the Toyo AT3 on the 4R.
Been great in snow,ice and wet pavement.
Daughter borrowed my tandem axle trailer.Brought it back and tried backing it up an ice covered hill to the garage with her Escalade with Nexten Tires.
Couldn't even begin to back up the hill.Hooked it to the 4R backed right up the ice covered hill.Never spun a tire.She claimed it was because she had to much HP.

 

So the tires in that test have a load rating of 121. Details like this are critical. Toyo offers the AT3 with a 115 load rating. Most people opt for the 115 because it adds a number of benefits over the 121’s (wet traction included). Not all tires come with a 115 and 121 option, and its nice that the AT3 allows the consumer to choose.

I would only consider the 121 for heavy rock crawling and if you’re a heavy tower. The 115 is otherwise better. Better MPG, less road nose, more comfortable ride, better wet traction. You can still rock crawl with the 115’s, but you want the added security that the 121’s offer.

For an A/T tire, its the 115 AT3 all day. Otherwise the 115 Michelin Defender. The defender is a tire that does not just punch “up,” it punches in to other classes of tire. It is an exceptional tire.

The AT3 is an off road tire that can make you believe you’re riding on a highway tire. When off road, The Defender is a highway tire that can fool you in to thinking you’re actually on a snow or A/T tire.

 

I have the Toyo AT3s on my truck. No complaints. I am curious about the neg reviews about them. This is my second set and the reason I bought the first ones was because of the good wet road traction reviews, bought them again because they worked well for me the first time! I can confirm that Terra Grappler MTs are not good on wet roads.

 

Happy New Year, how are the AT3's holding up? I'm seriously considering them in your size.