Welcome Guest. ( logon | register )   
FAQ Member List Albums Today's Posts Search

PointedThree :  Vans, Trucks, SUVs and Other Forums : G-Class : Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

Page 1 of 1 1
Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions
Topic Tools Message Format
Author
Posted 8/12/2019 7:10 PM
ewalberg
Expert




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
1000
Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

Hello all, I've found what I consider to be a very interesting tire option. I've recently fitted the Cooper A/TW to my car and so far I'm really happy. LT285/70r17 Load Range E, with the Sever Winter Service rating. Basically, these are 33's, equivalent to 285/75r16 or 28554r18. For background, I've put about 150k miles on a couple of sets of the older BFG At/KO, also Load Range E with Severe Winter Service rating. I have not used the newer flashier At/KO2's.

As far as all the looking/researching I can find, these A/TW are intended to be an honest 4 season tire... in particular they've been nudged towards winter service by employing more silicone in the rubber and better sipe design, geared towards environments with more winter weather (thus the "W" in the AT), which is more or less what I've always wanted. It looks like there's a Canada version called the Cooper Discoverer XT4. I can't tell if that's actually a different tire or the same thing re-branded... they look nearly identical. Looking at the sipes here, what sold me was that they actually use the wobbly shape of a true winter tire. I'm expecting them to do better than the BFG's did in the heaviest rain, ice, and slush. There's an online video somewhere, in which they outperformed a respectable dedicated winter tire in some areas.

They look more professional, like a commercial tire than a pimp your ride A/T. The newer versions of a lot of AT tires are starting to look so monster-mash it turned me off a bit. No glamour on the police attracting sidewalls and no weird tread block design that (in my opinion) is more likely to wear poorly at the outer edges. To that point I really like the basic tread shape, simple square blocks with wide-open spacing to pass water/slush through. So far in heavy rain, they were great. It'll be a few months before I can try them on ice/snow. I'm having a hard time deciding if they if any the sidewalls are stiffer or softer than the BFG's were. They feel more predictable. I tend to think they might have a bit more tread noise over 65mph but it's been many years since I had a fresh set of BFG's on the vehicle.

It's actually hard to find specs on the Cooper Discoverer A/TW, but I contacted Cooper and got a (relatively lousy) screenshot showing that there are a variety relevant sizes for the 16" and 18" Mercedes rims. See attached.

(By the way, if anyone is interested in my spare set of 4 rims, 17x8.5" rims ET35. They're for sale. But I'll put that in the for sale section at some point with more info.)



(IMG_20190811_101623 (Medium).jpg)



(IMG_20190811_101704 (Medium).jpg)



(Cooper A-TW - Sizes(Medium).jpg)



(Cooper A-TW - description.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments IMG_20190811_101623 (Medium).jpg (191KB - 1 downloads)
Attachments IMG_20190811_101704 (Medium).jpg (179KB - 0 downloads)
Attachments Cooper A-TW - Sizes(Medium).jpg (118KB - 1 downloads)
Attachments Cooper A-TW - description.jpg (181KB - 0 downloads)
#240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 8/13/2019 4:51 PM
bart1
Member


Date registered: Jun 2017
Location: Tupelo, Mississippi, USA
Vehicle(s): 2000 Europa G500
Posts: 14

Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

Here is the link to the site. Let me know if there are other general questions you have, I might know a guy...

http://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-a-tw-suv

* these are new And I just saw the specs were not on the site yet.

Edited by bart1 8/14/2019 6:49 AM
#240888 - in reply to #240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 8/14/2019 5:58 PM
WEBIII
Extreme Veteran


Date registered: Oct 2010
Location: Inlet Beach, FL
Vehicle(s): 461.318, 463.241
Posts: 315
300
Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

I've got a few thousand miles on a set of 265/75/R16 Cooper AT3 on my 2006. They have been great in snow, ice, rain, mud and sand. Probably goes without saying but they are very comfortable on the road as well.

I'm sure these ATW will not disappoint you in the snow.
#240894 - in reply to #240888
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 8/14/2019 8:30 PM
bart1
Member


Date registered: Jun 2017
Location: Tupelo, Mississippi, USA
Vehicle(s): 2000 Europa G500
Posts: 14

Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

I alternate between the cooper AT3 4S (also mountain snowflake rated) and STT Pro on mine.
#240897 - in reply to #240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 8/15/2019 1:04 AM
Otiswesty
Administrator




Date registered: Jun 2007
Location: Portland, Oregon
Vehicle(s): 463.241, 461.213
Posts: 3002
2000
Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

More info on the rims please.

Not many 17" alloy rims out there besides the Dakar race that I know of.
I was considering a truck with the 17.5" steelies as an aside

Edited by otiswesty 8/15/2019 1:06 AM
#240898 - in reply to #240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 9/13/2019 10:18 AM
vancouverChris
Member


Date registered: Feb 2019
Location: Vancouver
Vehicle(s): 2003 G500
Posts: 15

RE: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

Is your G500 stock, or have you done a lift? Do you have any clearance issues with these tires? Do you have any traction control issues?

Im wanting to put 275/60/20 BFG KO2, or Toyo Open Country AT2. Im worried about clearance issues especially when off roading. Both tire manufactures specify 33" overall diameter, do you think they would fit?
#240986 - in reply to #240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 9/18/2019 6:57 PM
ewalberg
Expert




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
1000
RE: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

there's a small mountain of discussions about what tire sizes can fit. I don't have an internal image of how 20's and 275's add up in comparison. There are tire size comparison calculators online. You should be able to handle my equivalent size offroad if you have ET50 or less. Wider or taller (compared to my size) with ET50 and you could have some mild rubbing issues. I have ET35, which sits out wider, and if I kept the diameter the same, I could go to 305's. So with ET35, I could stuff in 305/65r17 without significant rubbing issues. I think Harald runs up to 295/75r16 and simply deals with the rubbing by being careful (rubbing on the trailing arms).

I have no lift, stock suspension and body mounts, with aftermarket stiffer steering damper.
#240999 - in reply to #240986
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 9/18/2019 7:08 PM
ewalberg
Expert




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
1000
Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

I bought the rims a loooong time ago. I have 8... I bought one set of 4 with the understanding that I could get a 5th. When the dealer couldn't get me a 5th, I opted to buy another set of 5. I think they were originally 400-500 a piece, but I got them for a good deal since they were mistakenly bought for a toureg (also 5x130, but with "wrong" center-bore)

I've got 4 with me now in Germany. I've got 4 sitting in storage back in the San Francisco bay area. They're used, still round. They'll accept Mercedes center caps after making some slight modification to them. There's a slim chance I'll end up having any use for the rims still in CA, so I'll eventually end up wanting to sell them. Maybe 400 for the set...

I wouldn't do steel wheels on a vehicle intended to drive over 50mph, just because they're so damned heavy, and they tend not to be produced to the same tolerances for roundness (as allows). Perhaps only tangentially related, I tried getting custom steel wheels a long time ago, and that was a disaster. They ended up being scrapped for not being round enough. I split the cost of materials with the guy who made them.

I really like the 17" combo with 8.5" width and et35. If I was still in the US, I'd be tempted by 306/65r17... same diameter as my current 285/70r17, just fatter! Tires are also almost always cheaper than for 18's.
#241000 - in reply to #240898
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 9/22/2019 11:46 AM
hipine



Date registered: Jul 2006
Location: US, CO, Bailey
Vehicle(s): 460 1980 280GE w. 617A
5000
Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

WEBIII - 8/14/2019 3:58 PM

I've got a few thousand miles on a set of 265/75/R16 Cooper AT3 on my 2006. They have been great in snow, ice, rain, mud and sand.....


Thanks for that note. I put a set on the Chevy TrailBlazer that is my daughter's car. Thought they'd be a good all-around and winter tire for her. If they handle the G in the northeast, it gives me good confidence in their ability to handle the TrailBlazer in central CO.

All the best,
-Dave G.
#241002 - in reply to #240894
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 10/11/2019 12:18 AM
Omar510
New user


Date registered: Sep 2019
Location: SF Bay Area
Vehicle(s): 2007 G55
Posts: 4

Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

Can you speak more about the comfort compared to the BFG's?
#241088 - in reply to #240878
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Author
Posted 10/16/2019 2:20 PM
ewalberg
Expert




Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Past: San Francisco. Present: Germany
Vehicle(s): 2000 g500
Posts: 1887
1000
Re: Cooper Discoverer A/TW - FIrst Impressions

I was running the older style of BFG's, load range E, and now I'm running the Load Range E version of this tire here. I found I needed to run about 40psi in the BFG's to get them to wear flat (as opposed to at the edges). I'm starting that way with these tires also. My guess is you simply need a bit more pressure in Load Range E tires because they can handle heavy loads, but then you have a bit more security/durability in the sidewalls if/when run low pressures. They both ride stiff. I like it that way. If I wanted more comfort, I wouldn't use the tires to achieve that goal, I'd look into adjustable (or different than stock) shocks.
#241117 - in reply to #241088
Top of the page Bottom of the page
« View previous thread :: View next thread »
Page 1 of 1 1
Forum Jump :
All times are EST.  The time is now 8:25:35 PM.

Execution: 0.375 seconds, 98 cached, 13 executed.