It would be very nice if you bought tires for your all-wheel drive car with a high center of gravity, you would be one hundred percent sure of their reliability both on asphalt and on rough terrain. However, we still only have to dream about it, because the progress achieved so far in the tire industry does not allow us to produce such universal tires.

A group of experts of the German publication Auto Bild Allrad, in confirmation of this state of affairs, tested four SUV models of the American brand Cooper in the same size (which, unfortunately, was not indicated).

Cooper Zeon 4XS Sport road tires , Cooper Discoverer S / T Maxx off-road tires and two mixed-use models between these two extremes came to the attention of the testers : more road-oriented Cooper Discoverer SRX and Cooper Discoverer A / T3 with a large slope on rough terrain.

An off-road tire test conducted in 2018 at the Goodyear test site in Texas, USA, was designed to identify the degree of difference between the four models, and also to answer the question of whether the all-terrain tires offer the perfect compromise between road performance and performance on off-road, according to manufacturers.

Test results

The 2018 Auto Bild Allrad test of Cooper SUV tires showed that the difference between road and off-road tires in asphalt tests is simply glaring. And proof of this is the ten-meter difference in the length of the wet braking distance between the highway and off-road models. On a dry surface, the difference is not much less - 7.7 meters.

The only road discipline in which off-road tires were able to stand out somehow was resistance to aquaplaning. Due to the depth of the profile and the wide drainage grooves, the Cooper Discoverer S / T Maxx tires quickly drain water from the contact area, so on wet asphalt they break into the slip later than anyone else.

What about all-terrain tires? During the “field” tests, the testers revealed some properties that were not quite expected from them: the traction of Cooper Discoverer SRX and Cooper Discoverer A / T3 tires on wet grass exceeds the performance of tires for complete off-road performance, and in traction on gravel they are inferior to the highway model.

A surprising discovery for testers was the results of a test in which tire traction was measured in mud. Cooper Discoverer A / T3 more off-road oriented “off-road” tires turned out to be worse than road tires.

In tests on dry and wet surfaces, all-terrain models of surprises were not presented.

Traction on the grass

It is believed that tires with aggressive large-block design on wet grass can not boast of the best traction. Auto Bild Allrad test confirms this. In this discipline, off-road tires were inferior to two all-terrain models. To know more, check out: cooper discoverer st maxx reviews

Gravel Thrust

The fact that on gravel the highest traction on off-road tires is not surprising. However, a big surprise for the expert group was the second result of a highway tire that overtook tires for mixed operating conditions.

Traction in the sand

Based on my experience, the test group of road tires on loose sand, since they usually work surprisingly well under such conditions. However, the off-road tire became the leader of the discipline.

Traction in the mud

There is no doubt that the best traction in mud is the best off-road tires. But it often happens, says a technical specialist , that not all all-terrain tires have advantages over road tires in the mud. The test is a confirmation of this.