Falken's Wildpeak A/T4W apparently suck in snow

[Ratbert]

@TFL did a snow-based comparison of BFG KO3s, Falken Wildpeak A/T4Ws, and Firestone Destination XTs. It's surprising how poorly the Wildpeaks did. I was considering those since 37" KO3s won't be out for "a while", but maybe not since being able to play / drive in snow is somewhat important to me.

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[RaddDad]

They did fine for me when I had them on my Gladiator Mojave, granted I wasn’t out in the CO mountains.

*edit, Gladiator came with the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires, not the A/T4W featured in the video.

 

[azwjowner]

I’m telling you, just buy a used set of 37s off craigslist for $500 or so to last you a year more. Until you can get the KO3s. I always regret when I give up on buying what I really wanted.

 

[Ratbert]

They did fine for me when I had them on my Gladiator Mojave, granted I wasn’t out in the CO mountains.

They may have done fine for you, but they perform pretty damn poorly in snow when directly compared to a small subset of their competition.

 

[Dusty Dude]

I’m telling you, just buy a used set of 37s off craigslist for $500 or so to last you a year more. Until you can get the KO3s. I always regret when I give up on buying what I really wanted.

Agreed. I’m hoping the KO3’s will be out by the time I need a new set. Hang in there @Ratbert!!!

 

[Jeffy56]

It would have been nice to have tire pressure verified for each brand set. Interesting the Falkens were so different. I am looking for a new set of tires early next year.

 

[Panda Mafia]

dammit you spoiled my watch. Was gonna watch that video tomorrow.

 

[JesseT]

They did fine for me when I had them on my Gladiator Mojave, granted I wasn’t out in the CO mountains.

Did the A/T4W's ever come on the Mojave, or are you talking about the A/T3W's? CompareTheTire found the A/T4W's to be worse on both wet and icy surfaces than the A/T3W's.

 

[Old Dogger]

As I have said before, the Falken Wildpeak A/T's, are by far my favorite tires. We are running both the A/T3'S and A/T4's on our Family vehicles. I am not going to say, that they are the best snow tire available. But I will say from our Families experience, they are one of the best all around tires available. So what does that mean: More tread depth, when new, very quiet, smooth riding, excellent on wet roads, snow rated, excellent handling characteristics, and they don't pick-up rocks and stones like the KO2's do. Two of my Grand-son are running them, up in the snow in Flagstaff, while at NAU. They are getting around just fine in them in the snow.. But my question to the OP is, if snow is your major concern, then why not purchase a set of snow tires, which are totally designed for snow?

 

[Ratbert]

As I have said before, the Falken Wildpeak A/T's, are by far my favorite tires. We are running both the A/T3'S and A/T4's on our Family vehicles. I am not going to say, that they are the best snow tire available. But I will say from our Families experience, they are one of the best all around tires available. So what does that mean: More tread depth, when new, very quiet, smooth riding, excellent on wet roads, snow rated, excellent handling characteristics, and they don't pick-up rocks and stones like the KO2's do. Two of my Grand-son are running them, up in the snow in Flagstaff, while at NAU. They are getting around just fine in them in the snow.. But my question to the OP is, if snow is your major concern, then why not purchase a set of snow tires, which are totally designed for snow?

Because I don't have infinite funding. Nor do I have a big chunk of space to dedicate to an extra set of tires in my garage. Nor do I want to have to swap out tires / wheels whenever a storm happens to move in.

And, of course, they don't make 37" / 17" snow tires. Note that rock crawling in snow is a blast.

 

[Asuriyan]

They went with load range E in 33s… that is one stiff tire. Not the choice I would make, and most likely part of their problem…

 

[clayps]

The Falkens do weigh considerably more. The C rated versions that come on the Gladiators weigh nearly as much as any other E rated tire from other brands. I’d hate to know what the E rated Falken weighed on their rig.

 

[CO2Wrangler]

I have thoughts.

The AT3 was a beast in the snow so to have the newer tire perform worse is not good.

If you look at the outside lug design on the 3 vs the 4 you can see distinct differences. The 4 uses an alternating block pattern (one recessed, one raised) that the 3 doesn't have. Additionally the pattern on the sidewall itself appears reversed between the two. The 4 has an hourglass shape that starts wide on the leading end and narrows on the trailing end. The 3 uses almost an upside down "7" that starts small and is wide on the trailing end.

I was going to also note that it appears the BFGs were driven to the testing site which allows that slick initial coating on the tire to wear off a bit, but then the Firestone's didn't seem to have that issue.

Very interesting test. Really liked the AT3s so this is disappointing for the 4s.

 

[Fast-n-Furious]

Thanks for posting the video! I've heard good things about the 37" Baja Boss AT tires, not much feedback on snow driving. My JL is my daily driver, I've been running the stock BFG KO2 315 for nearly 3 years, was not very confident on wet surface nor snow days.

I'm also looking for the AT tires that do a great job on rainy and snowy days since in PA we get lots rains and a few decent snows a year. I'm patiently waiting for the 37" BFG KO3 to be released in 2026.

Related to tires, I wanted to post this video.

 

[autotragic]

Thanks for posting the video! I've heard good things about the 37" Baja Boss AT tires, not much feedback on snow driving.

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