Falken Wildpeak Winter & Off Road Performance

Nor was friction coefficient or tires below 44°.

 

I would much rather run wild peaks or something similar than mess with two sets of tires/wheels unless I was somewhere I absolutely needed them for daily driving.

 

@OMGitsme - You win. I’m out. Sorry, I didn’t bring my crayons to explain this to you. My bad.

 

Thanks. Bring your friction coefficient next time too. I'll bring the common sense.

 

Your answer was a direct answer to his direct question haha. The unintelligent majority would be hilarious if they didn’t have a say in how things are run haha.

Predictably, every single time someone answers questions with the absolute factual evidence needed to make the decision all of the feelings and opinions come out.

 

I have 40,000 miles on my P245/75-16 Wildpeaks. They are great in ice and snow. I recently saw a video where they pitted against dedicated winter tires and they winter tires blew them away. The video is in the Wildpeak thread. This winter I’m running dedicated winter tires

 

There are some problems with having 2 sets of tires. The rubber in any tire is going to start deteriorating over time and go bad. They should be replaced after about 5-6 years regardless of the remaining tread. Two sets of tires won't necessarily last any longer than 1. It isn't uncommon for decent tires to last 60,000-70,000 miles anymore. And that is going to be a lot more than 5 years for most people if they're only on the truck 1/2 the year.

And in most places, Colorado included, the roads are plowed soon enough after the occasional snow that you'll spend very little time actually driving in snow. If you live in rural parts of Canada, Alaska, or a handful of other places where the roads are not plowed then a true snow tire starts making sense. I don't see it in Colorado.

I'd go with a decent AT tire and add chains or cables for those rare occasions where more traction is needed.

 

https://youtu.be/DWGLMqUSm0U

 

My daily driver is a Subaru WRX. I drive more miles per day than my wife so I take the more fuel efficient car and leave the Tacoma to my wife. I always have switched the WRX tires seasonally as it is typically our driver to go skiing. My WRX with the snow tires will do circles around the Tacoma (quite literally) until it gets more than 3" deep. I fully agree with the posts and videos about the dedicated winter tires performing on a totally different level in adverse weather. I am leaning toward the Blizzaks for my upcoming purchase then switching to the Wildpeaks in the spring. The thought of driving over some of the winter passes at night with tires that have the "adequate" winter rating is a bit unnerving.

One last question or consideration. I am currently running the factory tires at a size of 265/70/16. I would like to go up to the 265/75/16's. For those of you that switch to dedicated winter tires, what do you do with your spare? My initial thought is to put the upsized Blizzaks on the truck in a few more weeks and put a Wildpeak on the spare. Generally I think I am more likely to blow out a tire on a trail over summer than I am street driving in winter and I dont really want to have to switch 5 tires seasonally. Thoughts?

 

Personally I've only ever switched out the 4 tires for winters. Come to think of it, I don't think Ive ever had a flat in the winter. To me, that would be an acceptable risk being that the probability is so low. Plus it's not like you're doomed...just drive even more conservatively until the flat is fixed.

 

Went to Discount Tire today to get everything squared away for the Blizzaks. However, they couldn't get any of the Blizzak DMV2 tires in the 265/75/16. I ended up getting four Cooper Discoverer M&S winter tires and one Wildpeak for the spare.

Any experience with the Cooper Discoverer M&S (non-studded)? The Coopers were $200 less than a set of the Blizzaks so I do like the cost savings.

 

As long as the spare is the same size, good to go.

I have Toyo Open Country ATIIs in 265-75-16 with a matching spare for summer and Toyo Observe winters in 265-70-16 with the same size OE Wrangle for a spare. Once I wear out the 265-70 winters I'll go to the 265-75

The only time I got a flat with winters was screwing around and sidewall sliced one on a rock I didn't see.

 

I have LT285/75/16 Wildpeak AT3/W E rated and they have the 3 peak rating still. Does Falken advertise that the C rated tires have a different compound than E rated?

 

Bud with proper winter tires I'd bomb through 2 feet of snow in my Honda Civic. It's not that difficult to understand that winter tires are better performing and safer.

OP, get dedicated winters. If you want something with more tread depth the General Grabber Arctic LT look great. I'm running Nokians for the northern BC winters, and Cooper ST MAXX for the summers. If you're worried about cost and convenience of switching tires every winter buy a set of used steel rims and sensors for winter, and/or buy from a place that will do free changeovers for your tires based on first time purchase. Lots of places offer that service either for free or a minimal price.

 

This is what I went off of, but I was grabbing SLs no matter what:



From: https://www.falkentire.com/tires/light-truck-suv-cuv-tires/wildpeaka/t3w-tire

 

Yes, sir. Both have the 3 Peak Sybmol. However the standard load is advertised as having a better compound for cold/wet and the LT is advertised as having deeper treat for better wear life and off road prowess.

 

Stop. Your 5" off the ground Civic would be lifted off the ground and you would be spinning those fancy tires.

 

Weird. I never noticed that when I bought them.

Anyways. I've had my AT3/W's for 20k miles and they have performed amazingly well in the snow/dry/wet/offroad. I'll be getting another set when I wear these out for sure.

I'm also getting a set of P275/70/17 for my fiance's 4runner when they come off of backorder.

 

I guess there's just a difference between knowing how to drive in snow and being prepared versus being someone who spouts BS on the internet. Sorry dude, winter tires are better than all seasons or all terrains.

 

Had the SL Wildpeaks on my truck for about a year and a half, great all around tire and dramatically better in the wet than the factory Goodyear's.