For this test I have taken five of the most popular snow-rated all-terrain tyres in LT 265/70 R17 and tested them in snow and ice to find out which one is best for the upcoming winter!
In order to give you the complete picture, each tyre has been tested and rated in snow handling, snow circle, snow traction and braking, and ice traction and braking!
2 categories (7 tests)
Snow
The snow handling tests did not go as I expected. I thought we'd have quite a lot of differences between the five sets, and in handling at least, I was wrong! Well, sort of.
The Falken Wildpeak AT4W was, once again, down on its rivals. All these tyres are three-peak marked, which means they're severe snow rated, and the Falken will get you moving in a pinch, but it was 9 seconds off the best which is quite a lot. Subjectively that is quite a big drop too—the tyre broke into slides earlier, you had to be very delicate on the throttle, and when you were past the limit of grip it took a long time to recover. Falken has told me that the LT version of the tyre has less snow grip than the P-metric version. One day I hope to test that version.
Then in a near tie, we had the Nokian Outpost nAT, Toyo Open Country AT, and BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO3.
The Nokian and Toyo were lovely and rounded to drive, meaning the grip circle felt even and it was predictable and easy to place. The BFGoodrich felt like it was great in traction, but didn't quite have the initial bite of the best when turning. However, as traction is very important on a truck like this, it produced the lap time. We knew the KO2 was very good in the snow, and the KO3 is too—we've now proven that.
The surprise of the group for me was the Mickey Thompson. Coming out of the garage, this tyre felt heavy and industrial. Even on snow it felt like a blunt instrument—it was slow to respond on the front axle and didn't give much feedback, so you didn't feel that confident turning. This means that when, at the end of the first lap, it posted a time 9 seconds faster than the previous tyre I'd just run, which turned out was the Falken, I was gobsmacked. Naturally I did some more laps, and it really held that pace so it wasn't a fluky one-off lap. The Baja Boss AT might not look or act the most graceful, but damn it has some grip.
Finally, how do these stack up against a real winter tyre? You've probably heard of the Nokian Hakkapeliitta range—at least at time of testing it's widely considered to be the best winter tyre in the snow, so it's a tough benchmark. The F-150 had some used Nokian winter tyres on it, so I ran them too. Even in their used state, they were still way faster than any of the all-terrains, but the controllability was even more impressive. You went from being nervous to thinking you were the Alabama version of Colin McRae. There really is quite a difference—a snow-rated all-terrain tyre is no substitute for a real winter tyre if you live in a severe winter climate.
The Mickey Thompson was again the best in snow braking with the Nokian a close second, then a small gap to BFGoodrich in third, and then the Falken and Toyo not performing particularly well.
The traction test had the BFGoodrich back at the front, which confirms my theory that BFGoodrich have really focused on traction with the KO3, with the Nokian again in second, this time tied with Toyo. We're starting to see that the Nokian is strong in all snow tests, and sadly for the Falken, it is weak in all the snow tests.
Ice
I also performed smooth ice traction and braking. I've said it before—even with an indoor ice tunnel for consistent surface conditions and repeated runs for averaging, ice is still a hard test, especially when none of the tyres have been designed for smooth ice use. I almost didn't do the test, but I know you'll want it.
The Nokian proved to be on average the best, with the best braking and reasonable traction, though the Mickey Thompson was again also strong, and the Toyo had good traction.
Interestingly, the BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO3, which I've always thought of as the benchmark for an all-terrain tyre in winter conditions, could NOT get it together on ice and was firmly last in both traction and braking. This is really interesting, and I don't have an explanation for it yet. Follow Tyre Reviews on Instagram and if I get the answer I'll post it there.
Results
- 3PMSF: yes
- Tread: 14.3 mm
- Price: 286.99
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Braking | 2nd | 21.79 M | 98.39% |
| Snow Traction | 2nd | 3.64 s | 97.53% |
| Snow Handling | 4th | 101.78 s | 97.09% |
| Subj. Snow Handling | 1st | 10 Points | 100% |
| Snow Circle | 3rd | 33.69 S | 98.19% |
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Braking | 1st | 11.33 M | 100% |
| Ice Traction | 3rd | 2.03 s | 88.67% |
- 3PMSF: yes
- Tread: 14.3 mm
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Braking | 1st | 21.44 M | 100% |
| Snow Traction | 4th | 3.77 s | 94.16% |
| Snow Handling | 1st | 98.82 s | 100% |
| Subj. Snow Handling | 4th | 9.25 Points | 92.5% |
| Snow Circle | 2nd | 33.55 S | 98.6% |
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Braking | 2nd | 12.8 M | 88.52% |
| Ice Traction | 2nd | 1.89 s | 95.24% |
- 3PMSF: yes
- Tread: 12.5 mm
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Braking | 5th | 23.74 M | 90.31% |
| Snow Traction | 2nd | 3.64 s | 97.53% |
| Snow Handling | 3rd | 101.5 s | 97.36% |
| Subj. Snow Handling | 1st | 10 Points | 100% |
| Snow Circle | 1st | 33.08 S | 100% |
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Braking | 4th | 12.94 M | 87.56% |
| Ice Traction | 1st | 1.8 s | 100% |
- 3PMSF: yes
- Tread: 12.5 mm
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Braking | 3rd | 22.63 M | 94.74% |
| Snow Traction | 1st | 3.55 s | 100% |
| Snow Handling | 2nd | 101.09 s | 97.75% |
| Subj. Snow Handling | 1st | 10 Points | 100% |
| Snow Circle | 4th | 34.27 S | 96.53% |
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Braking | 5th | 13.14 M | 86.23% |
| Ice Traction | 5th | 2.11 s | 85.31% |
- 3PMSF: yes
- Tread: 13 mm
- Price: 281.99
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snow Braking | 4th | 23.57 M | 90.96% |
| Snow Traction | 5th | 3.98 s | 89.2% |
| Snow Handling | 5th | 107.93 s | 91.56% |
| Subj. Snow Handling | 5th | 8.75 Points | 87.5% |
| Snow Circle | 5th | 35.96 S | 91.99% |
| Test | # | Result | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ice Braking | 3rd | 12.89 M | 87.9% |
| Ice Traction | 4th | 2.06 s | 87.38% |