Continental TerrainContact A/T vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S: The last time we looked into the all terrain segment, we show how Goodyear’s Wrangler AT Adventure showed clear competency in off-road & dry performances over the highly popular BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO. As these 2 products are more focused on off road properties, we would like to introduce 2 other products which have a more on road focus (60%) compared to off road (40%). Continental’s TerrainContact A/T was launched in 2015 and has been a staple in this segment for many years while its competitor Goodyear’s Discoverer AT3 4S was launched 3 years later in 2018. Without further ado, let’s bring these 2 tires head to head and see who comes out on top!
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from Tire Rack’s Testing On-/Off-Road All-Terrain Tires Designed for Everyday Life test. A total of 4 tires were tested on Tire Rack’s proving ground. The graph below shows the comparison between Continental TerrainContact A/T vs Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S based on the relevant performance category. The TerrainContact A/T was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
As both tires are classified as an all season tire, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were provided. There are however no off road tests this time around and we have to depend on the snow & ice test for hints. The tire size of interest is a 265/70R17 which is a common tire size for Chevrolet Silverado 1500 & Toyota FJ Cruiser. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle is a powerful 2018 Ford F150 4×4.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. In regards to wet braking, TerrainContact A/T managed to out brake Discoverer AT3 4S by 3.8 feet (1.2m) which is a big enough margin not to ignore.
With the advantage gained in wet braking, TerrainContact A/T continued its dominance in wet handling with a 0.54 seconds advantage in lap time against Discoverer AT3 4S. For the subjective wet handling rating, TerrainContact A/T fared better with a subjective score of 7.46/10 compared to 6.6/10 of Discoverer AT3 4S. Overall, TerrainContact A/T is clearly the best performing wet tire.
Discoverer AT3 4S:
- -2.9% in wet braking
- -4.3% in wet handling (subj)
- -2.1% in wet handling (lap time)
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. While things favored TerrainContact A/T in wet, the same holds for dry performances. TerrainContact A/T managed to brake 3.2 feet (1m) earlier compared to Discoverer AT3 4S from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
Discoverer AT3 4S:
- -3.5% in dry braking
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and TerrainContact A/T came out half a node ahead at 7.68/10 rating compared to the 7.14/10 rating of Discoverer AT3 4S with noise & ride quality being the main differences.
Discoverer AT3 4S:
- -2.7% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Snow
As both tires have been rated as an all season tire, we were thrilled when Tire Rack included snow on its testing list. From initial checks, only the Discoverer AT3 4S has a 3 peak mountain label to legally certified the tire as a winter tire. Hence Discoverer AT3 4S will need to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation. From an expectation point of view, we would definitely expect the 3 peak mountain labeled Discoverer AT3 4S to be better in snow compared to the non 3 peak mountain label TerrainContact A/T
As TerrainContact A/T had a clear advantage in wet & dry performances , we saw a big difference in winter performances with Discoverer AT3 4S dominating across all snow tests. It stopped 28.6 feet (8.7m) earlier than TerrainContact A/T from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was also extremely good when it came to snow acceleration as it took 11.6 feet (3.5m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). While it was also quicker in lap time (9.9 seconds !) and also subjectively better in snow handling (+1.2 points). Without a doubt, Discoverer AT3 4S is clearly the better snow tire.
Discoverer AT3 4S:
- +39.8% in snow braking
- +40.7% in snow acceleration
- +6.1% in snow handling (subj)
- +9% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
With such dominating performances in snow, we would expect this to continue in ice. This was fulfilled as Discoverer AT3 4S out-braked TerrainContact A/T by 11.3 feet (3.4m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. It also took Discoverer AT3 4S 0.29 seconds faster to accelerate on ice to 60 feet. Similar to snow, ice was dominated by Discoverer AT3 4S.
Discoverer AT3 4S:
- +19.4% in ice braking
- +7.4% in ice acceleration
UTQG rating
We have previously shown that UTQG tread wear rating can be a good indication of your expected mileage. Below are the UTQG values of both of the tirelines.
| Brand | Tireline | Size | Tread Wear | Traction | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper | Discoverer AT3 4S | All | 620 | A | B |
| Continental | TerrainContact A/T | All | 680 | A | A(B) |
The mileage warranty for Discoverer AT3 4S is at 65,000 miles while for TerrainContact A/T it is at 60,000 miles. Even though TerrainContact A/T has a higher UTQG tread wear rating of 680 compared to 620 of Discoverer AT3 4S, it still provided 5000 miles less warranty than Discoverer AT3 4S. As the differences in mileage warranty and UTQG tread rating are relatively small, we expect both tires to have a similar expected mileage.
For more in depth information about UTQG, please check out this article here. We even have a free download on the latest UTQG values from the leading tire manufacturers.
Price
Discoverer AT3 4S was found to be 43 dollars cheaper than TerrainContact A/T for the size 265/70R17. In our eyes it is an absolute bargain.
Tire size: 265/70R17
Discoverer AT3 4S: $202
TerrainContact A/T: $245
Difference: -20% more cheaper for Discoverer AT3 4S.
Summary
Overall, both tires excel at different performance segments. Discoverer AT3 4S had a big advantage in snow & ice performances while TerrainContact A/T had a dominant wet & dry performance. The main trade off is between winter against summer performance in this case. If you need a winter performance tire, Discoverer AT3 4S would be the choice for you but if you live in places which have only mild winter conditions & summer conditions is your dominant weather, TerrainContact A/T would be your choice.