Tires are inflated for heat resistance and load carrying on highway, not maximum traction in any given condition. Though winter tires generally do better with a smaller contact patch, a real world test of that coffee table assumption is good.
Aahhh the snow in Canada. Always different depending on age of the snow, temps and layers etc. My experience is to run a full winter tire tread with less width say less than 10 inches and full inflation gets best results as it cuts through the wet fluff and finds more firm ground beneath. Airing down in winter is counter productive because the tire ends up having to push more resistance through a tall snow layer... food for thought.
Ya I hear ya. Every condition is slightly different. Though I have done lots of wheeling in winter and tried airing down and not. I find that there is almost always a benefit to airing down though sometimes you only really notice it once you get down to single digits.
@@OkanaganOverland The colder the snow the better the traction, Thought everyone knew that.....So airing down is still dumb. And the more salt the road crews use the slicker the road will be , at least untill it melts down to the pavement or gets plowed .
The reason the first run was the most successful was do to being in non compacted snow. Each trip up compacting the snow you create a slight glaze and being compacted the tires have less to bite into. Any time I come into a situation like that I will always look for the fresh non compacted snow.
I have the Coopers, they have done extremely well in this year's snow and ice storms. Vehicle; 1997 F150 XLT 4X4 (open differential- no added weight) 10/10
I had to set up BF Goodrich and they were absolutely amazing in the snow and mud for that thought they were loud on the highway and if you didn't rotate them often the front tires War badly but if you live somewhere there's lots of snow for the winter BF Goodrich all the way...
I live where we get 8-10 feet of snow. BFG all terrains are bad In the snow. Most every one here uses either the cooper discoverer at3s or the discover m/s.
yeah the bfgs cake up and they dont clean well... i have the General Grabber at2s and they are much better in snow and mud. Get the Grabbers, Duratracs or Falken Wildpeaks
Interesting review. I bought the General Tire, Altimax ARTIC 12. 225/55/16 for my 2004 Mercedes E320, with the 4matic drive system. I drive in the winter conditions associated with Flagstaff Arizona. (Snow Bowl Ski Lodge). The tires have handled all the winter conditions very very well. Snow, slush/ice, and dry cold pavement. These tires are directional and provide good maneuverability, steady acceleration and excellent straight line braking. I run the vehicle manufacture recommended tire pressure of 28psi, front, and 30psi in the rear. $700 for a set of 4. In my opinion these are excellent tires for the money. The bottom line is, they get me where I want to go without difficulty. Very good traction from a dead stop, even on an incline. These tires are available in many different sizes. (LT& SUV) I highly recommend them as a dedicated winter tire. Nearly no noise of dry pavement. They really perform well in temperatures below 45 degrees. Very good value for the added safety and confidence to get to my destination.
👍 finding the right tire/vehicle combination can be challenging. There are so many factors to be considered. But dedicated snow tires have been greatly improved over the past decade. The new tread designs accompanied by the new rubber compounds has greatly increased their performance. I’ve used various types of snow tires during the past 40 years. Todays new fully dedicated snow tires are the best in overall performance. I highly recommend dedicated snow tires for anyone that routinely drives in snow/full winter weather conditions. The added safety they provide is worth every penny. Especially in the category of braking. They can make the difference between having an accident or avoiding one. Even minor auto body damages can cost $1-2k. And the basic road side recovery (tow truck) will cost you a couple hundred dollars. Many of the vehicle manufactures now recommend snow tires for full 4 season winter driving. They are the best way to fully achieve/maintain the benefits of the ABS and ESP systems installed on the newer vehicles.
@@byronwhitney665 couldn't agree more. When I did this 'test' I was pitting two tires in the same all weather class, though the reason I had both was that the Coopers were built with a winter bias. I know that they were a compromise still from a full on winter only tire if I was doing a lot of highway driving but since I use the Jeep as a toy and take it on unmaintained roads the performance and tougher construction of an AT was a better fit for me. Following this test and given that I was only driving about 2k km a season the BFG performed well enough for me to run them 4 season. Now at about 40-50% in the years since I made this video I can see the performance in winter diminished so have ordered some Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs which are also a four season tire with the three peak mountain snowflake rating. For our dailies we definitely have good dedicated winter tires and I wouldn't have it any other way.
@@OkanaganOverland I fully believe that once a person buys a good proper set of dedicated snow tires for their particular needs, they will always do so after they experience the difference in performance. I wish more drivers better understood the difference the proper tire for the driving terrain/conditions make. Some places around the world now require “by law” that dedicated snow tires be used for winter driving conditions. I don’t advocate for more laws, but snow tires during the winter make the roads safer to drive on. And everyone’s safety is important. Your video did a great job of informing the public. Keep up the great work!!!
I bought dedicated snow and ice Nokian tires for my Tacoma in 2018. I wish I'd held off for a little longer until I saw a preview of the General Grabber Arctic LT though. Way more tread depth, more aggressive, better in deeper snow than my Nokians will be. The Nokians are doing just fine for now though, I don't often go snow wheeling and my driveline gets its work with every day town driving with the snow we get in northern BC
It's hard to review tires cause the same tire will preform different on different vehicles. What works great on a light jeep wont work well on a heavy truck or suv. My K02's do amazing on my First gen Sequoia. I had cooper At tires before on it. I was very disappointed in the offroad snow performance.
Good video but you either need a mic, or turn down your music volume. The whole video was turn up to hear you talk, turn down when music comes screaming in. Other then that it was good.
I've driven on both in all kinds of conditions. I can tell you in my experience with vehicles in the 3500lb range, the BFGoodrich tires are far far FAR superior in the snow, the largest difference I'd say is the ability to brake, my discoverer tires have taught me to slow down 10 years before I intend on stopping, where the BFGoodrich tires, I could go 100mph and slam on the brakes at the last second and still stop... That's an exaggeration, but I'm just saying they feel that much better during icy-snow braking situations vs the Coopers. Not to say the Cooper Discoverers are bad, I've abused them plenty on dirt bike trails with plenty of jagged rocks and sharp tree stumps and never once had any issues. I'm just saying the BFGoodrich tires are much better in the snow.
I know the Cooper's come in a ton of variations with very similar tread patterns. I know the ATw is no longer made but are you sure that's what you had? On ice they were much better.
I drive a 2 wheel drive suburban(rwd) and I run nokian studded snow tires. I'm able to drive steep snow covered roads in the mountains with ease. It's only when they get extremely steep that I'm unable to keep going. If I had 4WD with the nokians I'd feel unstoppable. For reference I'm talking about roads covered with 1-1½ feet of snow
I have studded Nokian tires on my daily (AWD RAV4) and agree they are amazing tires. That said studs are going to do nothing in deep snow. They really only serve a purpose in compact snow and ice. This review was only really to compare two options of 4 season (all weather) tires. A dedicated winter will perform much better then either in winter conditions.
@@OkanaganOverland Hey I should have mentioned the first time that I really enjoyed the video and I'm glad you made it. I appreciated the comparison and I watched the whole thing! I understand what you're saying and that's the reason I watched to see how they did in deep snow. One of the reasons I made the comment was a lot of four wheel drive and jeep folks don't seem to understand how beneficial snow tires are in relatively deep snow. And I've met lots of people that don't realize that some all season AT tires don't do so well in snow and icy conditions
@@amishadowbanned6264 Thanks! Glad you enjoyed and appreciate the comments. It's always fun watching big built rigs out on the trails with massive tires struggling when a typical pickup with factory sized tires better suited to the conditions can outperform. For my Jeep which is just a toy I do still want to run mountain snowflake rated tires to have a little edge in winter but will sacrifice a full winter to have a more aggressive tread pattern for deep snow.
Haha thanks! Was more of a practice video then serious. Got so many hits I couldn't delete it! That being said I really am happy with the KO2s for what I do. I really like the Cooper's and think they are better in hardpack and ice (plus probably cold crystal snow). However since I don't daily the Jeep the KO2s give me the look I'm going for and work well enough in winter.
Living in the Appalachian mountains, I have driven in snow for over 20 years and had not heard of airing down tires to drive in snow. I’m going to look into this further. Thanks for the video
Ya awesome that you got some useful information from it! I highly recommend playing around with airing down and doing some more research on it. You won't go back.
Haha they do seem like pretty decent tires as well. I like that they can be studded if used as dedicated winters. That said I have a friend who bought them around the time I got the Coopers in the same size also on a JKU I could drive circles around him in snow but I like to think it was driver skill ;)
i do not believe this was a fair competition as far as first run with coopers, you had no snow pack which becomes like ice. I have never had a problem in snow with my BF Goodrich ko2's.
I tried to take a slightly different line each run to keep it as fair as possible. That said it's still super hard to make it all perfectly fair. The BFGs did better than I was specifically expecting.
I had both the BFG KO2s and also the Cooper Discoverer...now I'm rolling on the new Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and imo these Falkens are much better than both of those
After two winters with the Falken Wildpeak, I've noticed something that worries me in the snow...The tires are very good in all other forms of conditions, but once you get them on snow, their lateral stability is not good...I've 235/75R/15's on my Cherokee and they will not corner well...I feel them ride up on the snow and have had the front as well as the back tires slide out in turns...The snow kinda dictates to the the tires and you have to keep up with where it wants to take you...I believe the lugs and tread are too big and sipping too small, causing the tire to ride up...AS for airing down for snow, that's not the way to go...You want a tire to cut thru the snow and airing down causes the tire to ride up on the snow...That causes loss of traction...You also don't want a wide tire, but a narrower tire for snow and for the same reason...So I've been thru a few sets of tires since owning this Cherokee and the best A/T tire for all conditions was a set of Kumhos which are no longer in production, sadly...AS for the Falkens, I would not recommend them for serious snow traction...All around good tire except for snow...They'll get ya thru, but just hang on...lol...
You know, I thought I was the only one who kept emergency knives within reach of the driver and front passenger. I have a folding knife/window punch on my drivers side A pillar and a Morakniv in my passenger door.
Whatever the result, I enjoyed the video. Very interesting test, I've never seen or heard of airing down for snow, thanks. I have the Coopers on my F150 for the past 3 years now & have taken them through every kind of snow you can think of, plus icy hills. I'm VERY pleased with them. Shouldn't your every day running PSI be at 35 & not 31
Thanks for the comment. Ya you are probably right about the tire pressure. I think the factory calls for it a little higher but since I am running slightly larger tires I drop a bit to compensate. Also airing up with the onboard compressor is quicker if I don't go so high.
In snow recommended air pressure is most important for siping icy roads also packing snow in between cleats to create snow to snow adhesion. Low air pressure is not for snow & ice conditions.
I'm going to go ahead and guess you've never tried airing down offroad... While I'd never claim it's the right thing to do in all scenarios we off-road a lot in the snow and being aired down almost always makes a big difference. I actually think you make a good point that a lot of people might not know and that is snow to snow adhesion is key which is another reason why a larger footprint may be beneficial.
Yup always practice backing with your side mirrors not your rear view. I rarely use rear view only when checking for peds or vehicles/obstacles. I see too many people trying to look out the back or using there rear view. Not a good practice imo.
“Up next...........I’ll try climbing this hill with drag slicks to see if they are better than the COOPER tires that I tried in this climb, and I’ll keep trying them in the same packed down snow that I’ve tried the previous tires on. What could go wrong?”
In snow you do not air down your tires. I have no idea why people still do this. The only time you are down your tires is mud and rock crawling and sand. You want the smallest contact patch between your tire and the road surface in the instance of snow or ice you want the weight of the vehicle to work for you
Spoken like someone that clearly hasn't tried it. I'm definitely NOT saying it's something you always want or need to do but in a lot of snow conditions off-road I can assure you from personal experience it makes a big difference.
@@OkanaganOverland and I can assure you that you're not an engineer and you're just going off of gut feeling. What I said is true it is based in science and engineering in snowy conditions you want the smallest contact patch. You're an anecdotal test do not qualify fact they're anecdotal.
As much as I keep hearing that and under stand it, I think there are situations when wider is better. Certainly when you really up the tire size and width and go down to really low pressures for flotation. That being said I sold the Cooper's since the KO2s seem sufficient for what I do now during the winter months.
Honestly without keeping your speed the same this is more or less pointless. If you get lots of momentum you will make it the farthest. That said, i think your opinions of their strengths and weaknesses would be valid input.
Seems like a pretty decent guy. But I was unclear on which tire he like better . and I don't understand why people keep letting the air out of the tires. are designed to work the best at the manufacturer PSI .
Airing down when going over sandy terrain or rocks gives a wider footprint to spread the weight over sand and increase traction while climbing rocks. Airing down on snow is next to useless and completely stupid. Not sure why anyone would think about doing this in snow. Or mud for that matter.
Airing down does very little for the width of a tires footprint. Airing down primary gives a longer footprint. I'm not claiming that there are scenarios where airing down would be irrelevant or detrimental but more often than not it makes a huge difference, including in most snow. I'd suggest trying it while offroading in the snow before discounting it!
@@OkanaganOverland I should have said larger footprint , but one thing I do know if you want screw up your winter traction drive on under inflated winter tires. I livie in Winnipeg and drive on winters for six months. Nobody airs down here. But we don't have the type of snow you get. Here the snow is dry and not nearly as much. It packs hard and never seems to go away. Ever. Ever. God I miss summer already.
@@numbnutz9398 ya on road I run stock pressure and wouldn't air down. Offroad especially setting fresh tracks, airing down has been very beneficial. Around here people are running down to 2 psi with beadlock and big floatation tires. My lowest without beadlocks is 6 trying to keep up to much more capable vehicles, the higher in the mountains we got the quicker I'd get stuck and the lower I would have to go.
VA7BPR, VA7PTZ here. Where abouts the okanagan is this? Looks familiar, but snow definitely changes the scenery. I’m usually around Philpott to beaver lk Rd area.
Typically the lower the better. increases mechanical grip, as well as increases floatation. I've incrementally decreased pressure as needed all the way down to 6 psi and it makes a world of difference offroad.
@@OkanaganOverland You don't want flotation, it is pounds per square inch that gives the most amount of traction, that is why front wheel drive with snow tires are practically unstoppable and why we carried weight in the back of our 50's rear dr. car's back in the day .
@@deanreynolds7825 Depends on the situation, cutting through snow and slush to a solid base you may want full inflation, however I've been in Wyoming going over deep snow drifts in early spring, aired down for grip and flotation. Had we broken through we would have been stuck up to our door sills!
Airing down would depend on conditions of snow depth & what you need to accomplish, either trying to stay on top of deep snow or trying to bite through to the light snow. Generally remember that airing down increases your tire profile to the ground, but it also increases the resistance to ground, meaning aired down makes the tires more prone to losing grip because you've now increased the tire surface resistance, plus airing down allows snow to not be ejected from the treads which would cause loss of traction. As before mentioned depends on conditions deep snow it might be more beneficial to air down to stay on top of snow pack. Personally in normal snow driving I'd split the difference & air down to about 28 psi just to help increase stoping resistance if I even bothered at all. Also ice & snow are 2 completely different situations, lol break out the tire chains.
@@kathyarmstrong649 Bullshit, if there are high drifts you better put your chains on and snow is not beach sand. I plow [ my driveway} with my 2 wheel dr. 2007 Tacoma with mastercraft snow trekers and 300 lbs of weight in the bed and will say it again …..Snow road traction is all about pounds per square inch. Been driving many types of vehicles for over 61 years in the hills and mountains of NEPA and letting air out of tires for snow traction is the most ridiculous response ever!
I've owned both tires,sorry BF Goodrich tires are actually better I lived in Appalachian mountains,snow hills dirt trails,never been stuck never had a flat, people thought I had chains, no just the tires and experience, Cooper tires at3,4 tires are good but there not BF Goodrich tires,my opinion that's all.
Have you ever tried? Im sure it's effectiveness all comes down to the type of snow and conditions but airing down makes a huge difference on most snow that I have been on.
Tire is still skinny if it starts skinny they don't typically expand much in width but they do increase in length. I can't say that there aren't situations where you are better off at higher pressure but from real word experience in crummy snow airing down has always made a noticeable difference.
I had atws and they were fantastic the first year, then they went for a shit. Cracking between tread blocks first winter and they didn't have nearly the traction next season. Maybe have 20000k on them and out of service. Wouldn't buy them again
seriously, dont be so lazy. if the door is open and beeping like that, cut the video, fix the door and start again. i didnt even watch the rest of the video because of that annoying dinging
It's a terrible video, but has so many views I can't possibly delete it. If people do waste their time watching it and leave a smart ass comment I can point them back to that title 🤣
I'd argue that tire selection should be based on how the vehicle is/will be used as opposed to what vehicle is used. Would have been nice if you had put some thought into your comment so we could have understood where you are coming from.
I only came on here to pause the video immediately, click dislike, type this comment, and leave. Because this video was suggested to me, and the title starts off saying " Dont watch". That's just ..... 💥🤯 .. 😔 SMH. Saaad. Some peoples children....
Tbh i don't think any tire is good on wet slick pavement. I have expensive Michelin Defenders that came stock on my '17 Chevy Diesel and I slide on slick wet pavement all the time.
Tyson Collier I agree with you! I’ve had both Duelers and KOs on my 4Runner and I will say that the KOs are slippery on wet pavement compared to the Duelers.
I tried it in 2wd for the purposes of making a review and needing to potentially find the tires limit. The real question is why someone would watch a video that has "Do not watch" in the title. Nobody in their right mind would do that...
Till the floor bottomed out :) those hills were probably a lot steeper then they appeared. Pictures and videos make hills look like less of a grade then they really are. I have driven cars and trucks. No car I have ever owned would I ever drive off a maintained road
Stupid test, completely different tyres but maybe you said that? I couldn't hear what you were saying because i had to turn the volume up and down, your video has to high music in between "Yeah, my wife yelled at me to put my headphones on. Oh, something else, shut the F door :P Thumbs up for testing and your effort but it has to be pretty fair atleast in the tests too! Cheers!
Appreciate the effort, but one of the worst reviews on tires I’ve seen. Most people aren’t crawling a mountain trail with their KO2s. Keep up the work though. Edit: credit for putting DON’T WATCH in the title.
Interesting...the snow tires worked best with normal inflation. Almost like they designed them that way?
Tires are inflated for heat resistance and load carrying on highway, not maximum traction in any given condition. Though winter tires generally do better with a smaller contact patch, a real world test of that coffee table assumption is good.
Aahhh the snow in Canada. Always different depending on age of the snow, temps and layers etc. My experience is to run a full winter tire tread with less width say less than 10 inches and full inflation gets best results as it cuts through the wet fluff and finds more firm ground beneath. Airing down in winter is counter productive because the tire ends up having to push more resistance through a tall snow layer... food for thought.
Ya I hear ya. Every condition is slightly different. Though I have done lots of wheeling in winter and tried airing down and not. I find that there is almost always a benefit to airing down though sometimes you only really notice it once you get down to single digits.
@@OkanaganOverland The colder the snow the better the traction, Thought everyone knew that.....So airing down is still dumb. And the more salt the road crews use the slicker the road will be , at least untill it melts down to the pavement or gets plowed .
I run 235/85/16 (32s) KO2s at 50 psi on my Tacoma TRD Offroad , they out perform the 265/75/16 KO2s I had on.
CW Oregon Its silly how capable the 235s are in the snow. And they wear like iron too.
@@cworegon3164 50 psi !?.. How's your ass.. LOL..
A narrower tire is definitely the way to go for snow, more pounds per square inch.
The reason the first run was the most successful was do to being in non compacted snow. Each trip up compacting the snow you create a slight glaze and being compacted the tires have less to bite into. Any time I come into a situation like that I will always look for the fresh non compacted snow.
Here's what I learned...your dog is super chill. ;-)
I'll check back next year, maybe you'll remember to shut the damn door.
I have the Coopers, they have done extremely well in this year's snow and ice storms.
Vehicle; 1997 F150 XLT 4X4 (open differential- no added weight)
10/10
Which model of Coopers sir? At3? At3 4S? Considering at3 4s for my 1500. 🇨🇦
@@barrybebenek8691 Ooops.
.
Cooper Discoverer AT/W (265/75R16's)
@@trumpsextratesticle8590 thank you 👍🏼
I love the Cooper tires. My summer tires are Discover AT3s and my winters are ATW winters
I had to set up BF Goodrich and they were absolutely amazing in the snow and mud for that thought they were loud on the highway and if you didn't rotate them often the front tires War badly but if you live somewhere there's lots of snow for the winter BF Goodrich all the way...
I live where we get 8-10 feet of snow. BFG all terrains are bad In the snow. Most every one here uses either the cooper discoverer at3s or the discover m/s.
yeah the bfgs cake up and they dont clean well... i have the General Grabber at2s and they are much better in snow and mud. Get the Grabbers, Duratracs or Falken Wildpeaks
K A . I use 235_80/17 on my jeep and they are excellent in the snow. Pizza cutters work best in the snow
The comparison was good, thanks for doing it. The production is grating.
Interesting review. I bought the General Tire, Altimax ARTIC 12. 225/55/16 for my 2004 Mercedes E320, with the 4matic drive system. I drive in the winter conditions associated with Flagstaff Arizona. (Snow Bowl Ski Lodge). The tires have handled all the winter conditions very very well. Snow, slush/ice, and dry cold pavement. These tires are directional and provide good maneuverability, steady acceleration and excellent straight line braking. I run the vehicle manufacture recommended tire pressure of 28psi, front, and 30psi in the rear. $700 for a set of 4. In my opinion these are excellent tires for the money. The bottom line is, they get me where I want to go without difficulty. Very good traction from a dead stop, even on an incline. These tires are available in many different sizes. (LT& SUV) I highly recommend them as a dedicated winter tire. Nearly no noise of dry pavement. They really perform well in temperatures below 45 degrees. Very good value for the added safety and confidence to get to my destination.
My parents run General Altimax on their Subaru Outback as well. They seem very happy with them.
👍 finding the right tire/vehicle combination can be challenging. There are so many factors to be considered. But dedicated snow tires have been greatly improved over the past decade. The new tread designs accompanied by the new rubber compounds has greatly increased their performance. I’ve used various types of snow tires during the past 40 years. Todays new fully dedicated snow tires are the best in overall performance. I highly recommend dedicated snow tires for anyone that routinely drives in snow/full winter weather conditions. The added safety they provide is worth every penny. Especially in the category of braking. They can make the difference between having an accident or avoiding one. Even minor auto body damages can cost $1-2k. And the basic road side recovery (tow truck) will cost you a couple hundred dollars. Many of the vehicle manufactures now recommend snow tires for full 4 season winter driving. They are the best way to fully achieve/maintain the benefits of the ABS and ESP systems installed on the newer vehicles.
@@byronwhitney665 couldn't agree more. When I did this 'test' I was pitting two tires in the same all weather class, though the reason I had both was that the Coopers were built with a winter bias. I know that they were a compromise still from a full on winter only tire if I was doing a lot of highway driving but since I use the Jeep as a toy and take it on unmaintained roads the performance and tougher construction of an AT was a better fit for me. Following this test and given that I was only driving about 2k km a season the BFG performed well enough for me to run them 4 season. Now at about 40-50% in the years since I made this video I can see the performance in winter diminished so have ordered some Mickey Thompson Baja Boss ATs which are also a four season tire with the three peak mountain snowflake rating. For our dailies we definitely have good dedicated winter tires and I wouldn't have it any other way.
@@OkanaganOverland I fully believe that once a person buys a good proper set of dedicated snow tires for their particular needs, they will always do so after they experience the difference in performance. I wish more drivers better understood the difference the proper tire for the driving terrain/conditions make. Some places around the world now require “by law” that dedicated snow tires be used for winter driving conditions. I don’t advocate for more laws, but snow tires during the winter make the roads safer to drive on. And everyone’s safety is important. Your video did a great job of informing the public. Keep up the great work!!!
Good Video, but I'd either tone the music WAY DOWN or eliminate it.
Great video Brother.
I Love my Cooper AT3'S, I'm on my 3rd set 345k .
Just ordered the Copper AT3 XLT's
Thanks! Ya I really liked the Cooper as well. Would certainly consider them again.
I bought dedicated snow and ice Nokian tires for my Tacoma in 2018. I wish I'd held off for a little longer until I saw a preview of the General Grabber Arctic LT though. Way more tread depth, more aggressive, better in deeper snow than my Nokians will be. The Nokians are doing just fine for now though, I don't often go snow wheeling and my driveline gets its work with every day town driving with the snow we get in northern BC
It's hard to review tires cause the same tire will preform different on different vehicles. What works great on a light jeep wont work well on a heavy truck or suv. My K02's do amazing on my First gen Sequoia. I had cooper At tires before on it. I was very disappointed in the offroad snow performance.
Good video but you either need a mic, or turn down your music volume. The whole video was turn up to hear you talk, turn down when music comes screaming in. Other then that it was good.
Apples and oranges, This should have been a test between the Cooper A/T3 vs Goodrich T/A KO2, not the Goodrich mud tire. Maybe next time..
Just buy the KO2 tires. I’ve owned both sets and let’s just say I purchased the Coopers by a huge mistake
I have 45psi in ko2s they hook up great in my wrangler,even better at 22psi will buy them again....
Really wanted to watch. Intro and transition are so freaking loud dude.
I've lowered my tire pressure on Sandy conditions but never had to do so in the snow
If you spend enough time offroad in the snow you'll notice a big benefit!
I've driven on both in all kinds of conditions. I can tell you in my experience with vehicles in the 3500lb range, the BFGoodrich tires are far far FAR superior in the snow, the largest difference I'd say is the ability to brake, my discoverer tires have taught me to slow down 10 years before I intend on stopping, where the BFGoodrich tires, I could go 100mph and slam on the brakes at the last second and still stop... That's an exaggeration, but I'm just saying they feel that much better during icy-snow braking situations vs the Coopers. Not to say the Cooper Discoverers are bad, I've abused them plenty on dirt bike trails with plenty of jagged rocks and sharp tree stumps and never once had any issues. I'm just saying the BFGoodrich tires are much better in the snow.
I know the Cooper's come in a ton of variations with very similar tread patterns. I know the ATw is no longer made but are you sure that's what you had? On ice they were much better.
I drive a 2 wheel drive suburban(rwd) and I run nokian studded snow tires. I'm able to drive steep snow covered roads in the mountains with ease. It's only when they get extremely steep that I'm unable to keep going. If I had 4WD with the nokians I'd feel unstoppable. For reference I'm talking about roads covered with 1-1½ feet of snow
I have studded Nokian tires on my daily (AWD RAV4) and agree they are amazing tires. That said studs are going to do nothing in deep snow. They really only serve a purpose in compact snow and ice. This review was only really to compare two options of 4 season (all weather) tires. A dedicated winter will perform much better then either in winter conditions.
@@OkanaganOverland Hey I should have mentioned the first time that I really enjoyed the video and I'm glad you made it. I appreciated the comparison and I watched the whole thing! I understand what you're saying and that's the reason I watched to see how they did in deep snow. One of the reasons I made the comment was a lot of four wheel drive and jeep folks don't seem to understand how beneficial snow tires are in relatively deep snow. And I've met lots of people that don't realize that some all season AT tires don't do so well in snow and icy conditions
@@amishadowbanned6264 Thanks! Glad you enjoyed and appreciate the comments. It's always fun watching big built rigs out on the trails with massive tires struggling when a typical pickup with factory sized tires better suited to the conditions can outperform. For my Jeep which is just a toy I do still want to run mountain snowflake rated tires to have a little edge in winter but will sacrifice a full winter to have a more aggressive tread pattern for deep snow.
@@OkanaganOverland agreed I think it's the best of both worlds
Good to know. I just picked up a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited yesterday with brand-new ko2 on it.
Ps: I am also located in the Okanagan 👍
Haha thanks! Was more of a practice video then serious. Got so many hits I couldn't delete it! That being said I really am happy with the KO2s for what I do. I really like the Cooper's and think they are better in hardpack and ice (plus probably cold crystal snow). However since I don't daily the Jeep the KO2s give me the look I'm going for and work well enough in winter.
Living in the Appalachian mountains, I have driven in snow for over 20 years and had not heard of airing down tires to drive in snow. I’m going to look into this further. Thanks for the video
Ya awesome that you got some useful information from it! I highly recommend playing around with airing down and doing some more research on it. You won't go back.
As a new jersey born now WNC living i never recommend airing down in snow. You dont want snow shoes you want to dig to the hard pack
I live in nowhere Maine. Goodyear Wranglet Duratrac. Nuff said!!!
Haha they do seem like pretty decent tires as well. I like that they can be studded if used as dedicated winters. That said I have a friend who bought them around the time I got the Coopers in the same size also on a JKU I could drive circles around him in snow but I like to think it was driver skill ;)
Duratracs r great tires, but I much prefer the BF Goodrich KO2... Both in looks and performance...oh ya...and price, altho neither is cheap!
i do not believe this was a fair competition as far as first run with coopers, you had no snow pack which becomes like ice. I have never had a problem in snow with my BF Goodrich ko2's.
I tried to take a slightly different line each run to keep it as fair as possible. That said it's still super hard to make it all perfectly fair. The BFGs did better than I was specifically expecting.
I had both the BFG KO2s and also the Cooper Discoverer...now I'm rolling on the new Falken Wildpeak A/T3W and imo these Falkens are much better than both of those
Looking at the Falken vs BFG ko2, I have a 275 55r20 and a lot of people have said go with BFG ko2 for that size what do you think
After two winters with the Falken Wildpeak, I've noticed something that worries me in the snow...The tires are very good in all other forms of conditions, but once you get them on snow, their lateral stability is not good...I've 235/75R/15's on my Cherokee and they will not corner well...I feel them ride up on the snow and have had the front as well as the back tires slide out in turns...The snow kinda dictates to the the tires and you have to keep up with where it wants to take you...I believe the lugs and tread are too big and sipping too small, causing the tire to ride up...AS for airing down for snow, that's not the way to go...You want a tire to cut thru the snow and airing down causes the tire to ride up on the snow...That causes loss of traction...You also don't want a wide tire, but a narrower tire for snow and for the same reason...So I've been thru a few sets of tires since owning this Cherokee and the best A/T tire for all conditions was a set of Kumhos which are no longer in production, sadly...AS for the Falkens, I would not recommend them for serious snow traction...All around good tire except for snow...They'll get ya thru, but just hang on...lol...
You know, I thought I was the only one who kept emergency knives within reach of the driver and front passenger.
I have a folding knife/window punch on my drivers side A pillar and a Morakniv in my passenger door.
Nice information. Audio could be better. Close the door.
Whatever the result, I enjoyed the video. Very interesting test, I've never seen or heard of airing down for snow, thanks.
I have the Coopers on my F150 for the past 3 years now & have taken them through every kind of snow you can think of, plus icy hills. I'm VERY pleased with them.
Shouldn't your every day running PSI be at 35 & not 31
Thanks for the comment. Ya you are probably right about the tire pressure. I think the factory calls for it a little higher but since I am running slightly larger tires I drop a bit to compensate. Also airing up with the onboard compressor is quicker if I don't go so high.
Which model of Cooper? I’m considering at3 4s for my 1500. 🇨🇦
@@barrybebenek8691 Yes, thous are the ones
@@pete332 Thank you sir. 👍🏼
In snow recommended air pressure is most important for siping icy roads also packing snow in between cleats to create snow to snow adhesion. Low air pressure is not for snow & ice conditions.
I'm going to go ahead and guess you've never tried airing down offroad... While I'd never claim it's the right thing to do in all scenarios we off-road a lot in the snow and being aired down almost always makes a big difference.
I actually think you make a good point that a lot of people might not know and that is snow to snow adhesion is key which is another reason why a larger footprint may be beneficial.
Incredible test, thankls so much, for im torn between these two tires
Get the ATW. I had k02s and they were not great on icy roads. The ATWs are better
Yup always practice backing with your side mirrors not your rear view. I rarely use rear view only when checking for peds or vehicles/obstacles. I see too many people trying to look out the back or using there rear view. Not a good practice imo.
And now with rear view cameras mandatory on new cars drivers are just going to get even worse.
You need to work on your audio. The volume changes drastically between each scene and it's annoying
“Up next...........I’ll try climbing this hill with drag slicks to see if they are better than the COOPER tires that I tried in this climb, and I’ll keep trying them in the same packed down snow that I’ve tried the previous tires on. What could go wrong?”
Why keep going back to the start ? It just makes the test 10 x longer
Good video but that sound volume difference makes it pretty bad to watch on TV.
Great video, loved the attention to detail. Would be great to see the same tires tested on ice, including breaking test
Wear them down 50% and try again. Cooper will have lost just about all its sipe by them.
I'm sure the same goes for the KO2. Or any tire really, thats why I typically sell my tires and pickup new ones before then.
The cooper's have full depth sipes.
Dude that door sound is really anoying
I think the bfgoodrich are probably a little bit better than the copper
In snow you do not air down your tires. I have no idea why people still do this. The only time you are down your tires is mud and rock crawling and sand. You want the smallest contact patch between your tire and the road surface in the instance of snow or ice you want the weight of the vehicle to work for you
Spoken like someone that clearly hasn't tried it. I'm definitely NOT saying it's something you always want or need to do but in a lot of snow conditions off-road I can assure you from personal experience it makes a big difference.
@@OkanaganOverland and I can assure you that you're not an engineer and you're just going off of gut feeling. What I said is true it is based in science and engineering in snowy conditions you want the smallest contact patch. You're an anecdotal test do not qualify fact they're anecdotal.
good tyre test hideous noise links. volume control for the next please.
whats the antenna up front
For my ham radio. Jeeps dont have an inherent 'good' place to mount it. The bumper has holes for an antenna so I put it there.
Would have liked to have also seen the extras you need to finish the ascent with each tyre, e.g. 4x4, low range, diff lock
I'm pretty sure both tires aired down similarly would have got up the hill should I have been in 4 wheel drive.
A narrower taller tire should do better in the snow so replacing your summer tire with a wider winter tire seems kinda counterintuitive to me.
As much as I keep hearing that and under stand it, I think there are situations when wider is better. Certainly when you really up the tire size and width and go down to really low pressures for flotation. That being said I sold the Cooper's since the KO2s seem sufficient for what I do now during the winter months.
Good video
Honestly without keeping your speed the same this is more or less pointless. If you get lots of momentum you will make it the farthest. That said, i think your opinions of their strengths and weaknesses would be valid input.
good video but volume low
Ohh no Ninty Nine, thee Ol "DON'T WATCH" scenario!...
...Shhhhut thhaaah blloddy DwhorreHH!!!!!!!
Seems like a pretty decent guy. But I was unclear on which tire he like better . and I don't understand why people keep letting the air out of the tires. are designed to work the best at the manufacturer PSI .
Airing down when going over sandy terrain or rocks gives a wider footprint to spread the weight over sand and increase traction while climbing rocks. Airing down on snow is next to useless and completely stupid. Not sure why anyone would think about doing this in snow. Or mud for that matter.
Airing down does very little for the width of a tires footprint. Airing down primary gives a longer footprint. I'm not claiming that there are scenarios where airing down would be irrelevant or detrimental but more often than not it makes a huge difference, including in most snow. I'd suggest trying it while offroading in the snow before discounting it!
@@OkanaganOverland I should have said larger footprint , but one thing I do know if you want screw up your winter traction drive on under inflated winter tires. I livie in Winnipeg and drive on winters for six months. Nobody airs down here. But we don't have the type of snow you get. Here the snow is dry and not nearly as much. It packs hard and never seems to go away. Ever. Ever. God I miss summer already.
@@numbnutz9398 ya on road I run stock pressure and wouldn't air down.
Offroad especially setting fresh tracks, airing down has been very beneficial. Around here people are running down to 2 psi with beadlock and big floatation tires. My lowest without beadlocks is 6 trying to keep up to much more capable vehicles, the higher in the mountains we got the quicker I'd get stuck and the lower I would have to go.
VA7BPR, VA7PTZ here. Where abouts the okanagan is this? Looks familiar, but snow definitely changes the scenery.
I’m usually around Philpott to beaver lk Rd area.
Hey thanks for the comment. This was just up behind La Casa on the west side of the lake. But very similar terrain.
Okanagan Overland Oh yeah.. I’ve never been behind La casa. I have worked up in the Dunwaters Rd area tho.
I always put my jeep into 4 wheel drive even if I could proceed with out it.
Who does an off-road snow test in 2WD?
Really almost didn’t watch just because it said don’t watch, but I can’t help myself with all terrains in the snow. Love some snow driving
Why airing down so much on snow??????
Typically the lower the better. increases mechanical grip, as well as increases floatation. I've incrementally decreased pressure as needed all the way down to 6 psi and it makes a world of difference offroad.
@@OkanaganOverland You don't want flotation, it is pounds per square inch that gives the most amount of traction, that is why front wheel drive with snow tires are practically unstoppable and why we carried weight in the back of our 50's rear dr. car's back in the day .
@@deanreynolds7825 Depends on the situation, cutting through snow and slush to a solid base you may want full inflation, however I've been in Wyoming going over deep snow drifts in early spring, aired down for grip and flotation. Had we broken through we would have been stuck up to our door sills!
Airing down would depend on conditions of snow depth & what you need to accomplish, either trying to stay on top of deep snow or trying to bite through to the light snow. Generally remember that airing down increases your tire profile to the ground, but it also increases the resistance to ground, meaning aired down makes the tires more prone to losing grip because you've now increased the tire surface resistance, plus airing down allows snow to not be ejected from the treads which would cause loss of traction. As before mentioned depends on conditions deep snow it might be more beneficial to air down to stay on top of snow pack. Personally in normal snow driving I'd split the difference & air down to about 28 psi just to help increase stoping resistance if I even bothered at all. Also ice & snow are 2 completely different situations, lol break out the tire chains.
@@kathyarmstrong649 Bullshit, if there are high drifts you better put your chains on and snow is not beach sand. I plow [ my driveway} with my 2 wheel dr. 2007 Tacoma with mastercraft snow trekers and 300 lbs of weight in the bed and will say it again …..Snow road traction is all about pounds per square inch. Been driving many types of vehicles for over 61 years in the hills and mountains of NEPA and letting air out of tires for snow traction is the most ridiculous response ever!
I've owned both tires,sorry BF Goodrich tires are actually better I lived in Appalachian mountains,snow hills dirt trails,never been stuck never had a flat, people thought I had chains, no just the tires and experience, Cooper tires at3,4 tires are good but there not BF Goodrich tires,my opinion that's all.
What do think about bf KM3 on snow??
You don’t air down in snow. Only mud, rock, and sand.
Have you ever tried? Im sure it's effectiveness all comes down to the type of snow and conditions but airing down makes a huge difference on most snow that I have been on.
i never heard "airing down" for snow. SKINNY FOR SNOW. The less tread area the better. airing down is just the opposite. should air up, not down .
Tire is still skinny if it starts skinny they don't typically expand much in width but they do increase in length. I can't say that there aren't situations where you are better off at higher pressure but from real word experience in crummy snow airing down has always made a noticeable difference.
I had atws and they were fantastic the first year, then they went for a shit. Cracking between tread blocks first winter and they didn't have nearly the traction next season. Maybe have 20000k on them and out of service. Wouldn't buy them again
I want to drive around there
Gr8 vid
need a separate mic
Queue KO2 fanboys in 3..2..1..
Can't even remember what was said lol. But nothing wrong with being a KO2 fanboy they are great well rounded tires.
seriously, dont be so lazy. if the door is open and beeping like that, cut the video, fix the door and start again. i didnt even watch the rest of the video because of that annoying dinging
Don’t watch:? Okay
It's a terrible video, but has so many views I can't possibly delete it. If people do waste their time watching it and leave a smart ass comment I can point them back to that title 🤣
Damn, this was a struggle to get through
Thanks for the comment! I tried to save your time by tagging the video as Don't Watch.
Same
mirrors don't lie!
Both those tires are junk anyway. Especially for a jeep wrangler.
I'd argue that tire selection should be based on how the vehicle is/will be used as opposed to what vehicle is used. Would have been nice if you had put some thought into your comment so we could have understood where you are coming from.
I only came on here to pause the video immediately, click dislike, type this comment, and leave. Because this video was suggested to me, and the title starts off saying " Dont watch". That's just ..... 💥🤯 .. 😔 SMH.
Saaad.
Some peoples children....
I love ko2s but they are not good on wet slick pavement at all.
Tbh i don't think any tire is good on wet slick pavement. I have expensive Michelin Defenders that came stock on my '17 Chevy Diesel and I slide on slick wet pavement all the time.
Bridgestone duelers...
Tyson Collier I’m going back to using stone wheels, maybe coat them in bed liner.
Tyson Collier I agree with you! I’ve had both Duelers and KOs on my 4Runner and I will say that the KOs are slippery on wet pavement compared to the Duelers.
Shut your dam doors dammit.
why even try it in 2wd? nobody in their right mind would ever try that hill in 2wd. useless test unless in 4wd
I tried it in 2wd for the purposes of making a review and needing to potentially find the tires limit.
The real question is why someone would watch a video that has "Do not watch" in the title. Nobody in their right mind would do that...
I would go higer with simple fwd hatchback with new snow tyres
Till the floor bottomed out :) those hills were probably a lot steeper then they appeared. Pictures and videos make hills look like less of a grade then they really are. I have driven cars and trucks. No car I have ever owned would I ever drive off a maintained road
Sure you would.
Your coopers should be your summer tires.
Nah not aggressive enough looking. I'm very pleased with the tires overall however!
As per title, didn’t watch it lol
Haha thanks! Can't get rid of it, draws too much volume. But when I get shitty comments I can point people to the title that says not to watch
Okanagan Overland lol brilliant
Stupid test, completely different tyres but maybe you said that? I couldn't hear what you were saying because i had to turn the volume up and down, your video has to high music in between "Yeah, my wife yelled at me to put my headphones on. Oh, something else, shut the F door :P Thumbs up for testing and your effort but it has to be pretty fair atleast in the tests too! Cheers!
Appreciate the effort, but one of the worst reviews on tires I’ve seen. Most people aren’t crawling a mountain trail with their KO2s.
Keep up the work though.
Edit: credit for putting DON’T WATCH in the title.
Yeah, i must say that i only watched this video for the title at first LOL!
what are they doing with them then?