Swiss Army Knife of All-Terrain Tires

Like a tool for every occasion, ready at a moment's notice, the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W were asked to be an instant performer through constantly changing weather and terrain.

3Wstands for "wear, wet and winter." It seems the Falken engineers were targeting the northern states and Canada with this tire. But can this really be the Swiss Army Knife of All-Terrain Tires, able to tackle dry and wet pavement, plus mud, dirt and snow?

All-terrain tires are designed to be the daily driver for off-road trucks and SUV’s, perfect for the weekend warriors and the guys on job sites where traction in loose rock, sand, snow and mud is just as important as good road manners on dry and wet pavement. The M&S rating will get you through the winter on these tires, unfortunately four season driving also means you rack up a lot of miles. We need traction, and a tire that wears well to protect our pocket book.

If you are into off-road driving, including events like King of the Hammers, you’ll recognize the Falken Wildpeak A/T name as it won the 2012 KOH Everyman mounted on a buggy. The Falken engineers were determined to provide everyman (you and me) with similar off-road prowess in a tire that we can drive every day and everywhere.

The folks at Falken seem to think they have it nailed. Some of the tires’ features are going to sound familiar. These are A/T tire design features that are proven to work. An aggressive upper sidewall and staggered, offset shoulder blocks protect the sidewall from rocks and curb damage, and provide extra traction while aired down, clawing out of ruts. The silica tread compound reduces rolling resistance and improves traction on ice and wet surfaces, as does the angulated siping. The siping provides suction to the pavement and the angles provide stability to the tread block to reduce the wear that cutting sipes

creates. It’s important to note that the LT tires don’t have the same silica compound as the other tire sizes. The silica decreases the wet performance of the LT tires, but the lack of it improves durability.

Speaking of tread blocks, the voids between the blocks are a mixed blessing. Movement of the blocks on pavement reduces handling but we need them for traction off-road to claw through dirt and mud, we also we need them to clear themselves of the debris every rotation so they continue to work. Steps like a Mayan pyramid are built into the sides of some of the A/T3W blocks, helping to stiffen the block, and still eject material to keep a large opening to grab ground on every rotation.

Falken engineers also spent some time and money on the A/T3W sidewalls, specifically close to the bead. Internally, they built a secondary bead apex to reinforce the sidewall. This makes the tire tougher in this area and it acts as a heat shield. Falken engineers say this has a net effect of improved durability and handling. Additional cooling comes from their heat diffuser technology, located externally in the same section of the lower sidewall. Keeping the tire cooler provides more stability, especially when carrying a payload or towing heavy loads.

LT tire sizes have the deepest tread in the segment at 10/16” so you get the most consistent performance throughout the life of the tire. They back the tire up with an 55,000 mi limited tread life warranty.

Our test tires are LT285/75R17 E/10, weighing in at 29.5 kg (65 lb) a piece, and wrapped around a set of Deegan 38 Pro 2, 17x9 wheels on our 2015 Wrangler JK Unlimited Sahara with a Teraflex 3” lift.

Early April in the Okanagan is usually a warm pleasant affair with flocks of tourists arriving for Easter vacation. This year, especially at higher elevations, it was a crap storm of fog, rain, sleet and snow, capping off an unusually high and deadly accident season on the upper highways.

With the tires mounted, we set out to test Falken’s claims.

We had a couple weeks on dry pavement and the tires held the road well

and were on the quiet side for A/T tires. Cornering was solid and controlled and braking distance and time uncompromised. The ‘ugly’ weather test day provided a lovely combination of rain and wet snow. Cornering on winding, wet mountain roads felt the same as dry pavement and driving at speeds of 100 kph was solid. A stock 3.6L Pentastar is never going to be a drag racer, nevertheless, the tires didn’t slip when I mashed the accelerator to the floor from a dead stop in 2WD. Checking the rear-view mirror and finding no one behind me, I said a short prayer and slammed on the brakes from 80 kph. The truck came to a fast complete stop travelling in a straight line.

We continued to climb heading up to Big White Ski Resort. With the hill still open, and the snow pack at record highs, I knew we would find snow.

The Falken A/T3W are good, almost take-the-fun-out of-driving-on-snow good. Traction is solid and the treads cleared the wet snow really well. The staggered sidewalls provided extra traction to side-climb snow banks, proving that there is no rut you can’t get out of.

Back in town we spotted some very large piles of broken concrete (4 m high, 20 m long) and decided these hard, harsh, sharp-edged chunks would provide a great durability test. While the tires did get some cosmetic marks, they did not get shredded.

As a caveat, a designated mud tire like the Yokohama M/T G003 will be a better mud terrain tire, and a dedicated winter-only tire will be better on ice. But specialization means you have to make compromises in other areas of tire performance, making them less desirable on a daily driver and weekend adventure vehicle.

The Falken Wildpeak All-Terrain A/T3W proved to be a great performer in snow, wet and dry pavement, mud, sand and loose rock. For us, it was a hero tire we could count on, and a top choice for an all-terrain tire on a 4WD. Check out our YouTube video at https://youtu.be/l_P-YDro0io