Comparison Test: Best All-Terrain A/T Tires For Winter, Snow & Ice

[Administrator]

Good All-Terrain A/T tire test for winter performance in snow & ice.

Each tire was tested and rated in:​

Snow Handling​

🧊 Snow Circle​

Snow Traction & Braking​

🧊 Ice Traction & Braking​

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In this in-depth test, you’ll see how the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT, BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO3, Toyo Open Country AT III, Nokian Outpost nAT, and Falken Wildpeak AT4W perform in extreme winter conditions — and how they compare to a proper Nokian Hakkapeliitta winter tire benchmark.​

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Surprising results, real-world lap times, and some serious grip differences you’ll want to see before buying your next set of tires!​

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Tires Tested:​

Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT​

Nokian Outpost nAT​

Toyo Open Country AT III​

BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO3​

Falken Wildpeak AT4W​

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Test Size: LT 265/70 R17​

Temperature Range: -7°C to -13°C​

Location: Controlled snow and ice testing facility​

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[Master Blaster]

Totally inadequate testing. Anybody who lives in snow and ice regularly would know that you buy 1-peak tires for winter, not offroad tires. Offroad tires have harder rubber that is worse at cornering and stopping that real winter tires, and the larger lug spacing means that they are not even as good as the factory 3-season tires for normal traction. Where are the results for real winter tires, like X-ice and Blizzaks?

 

[icegradner]

Totally inadequate testing. Anybody who lives in snow and ice regularly would know that you buy 1-peak tires for winter, not offroad tires. Offroad tires have harder rubber that is worse at cornering and stopping that real winter tires, and the larger lug spacing means that they are not even as good as the factory 3-season tires for normal traction. Where are the results for real winter tires, like X-ice and Blizzaks?

This guy has videos for all tire types, all he does is test tires. I wouldnt use his tests anyways, he tests the European versions, which in some cases are different from the versions sold in North America.

 

[twntyfive2life]

Totally inadequate testing. Anybody who lives in snow and ice regularly would know that you buy 1-peak tires for winter, not offroad tires. Offroad tires have harder rubber that is worse at cornering and stopping that real winter tires, and the larger lug spacing means that they are not even as good as the factory 3-season tires for normal traction. Where are the results for real winter tires, like X-ice and Blizzaks?

I'm in Minnesota and deal with a lot of snow and I think all-weather (not all-season) tires have gotten so good that I haven't run dedicated winter tires on any of my vehicles for a few years now. Tire technology has come a long way. Then again it is pretty flat here even with all the snow we get; if I were in the mountains I'd probably still want a dedicated winter tire.

 

[Deleted member 7089]

TLDW; (from official transcript)

Conclusion

Based on my own score weighting, the Nokian Outpost NAT is on average the best all-terrain
tire for winter conditions. While its only standout test was ice breaking, it was just well rounded and consistent across all the tests without any huge flaws, which leads it to a solid first place. I like consistency, and it works in testing. The second place went to the Mickey Thompson Baja Boss AT, which was a very impressive product. I was really surprised by this tire's performance. Third place with this score waiting goes to the Toyo Open Country 83. I have always enjoyed driving this tire, whatever conditions, and it has good traction in all the tests, but it did seem to give up a little bit of braking performance to get that traction. So, that's the offset with the Toyo. Then, we have the BF Goodyear All-Terrain KO3. Now, this is one of those results where score weighting really matters. The KO3 is a very strong all-terrain tire in the snow, essentially drawing with the Nokian. So, if you really don't care about ice, it's top two. And if all you care about is snow traction, it is the best all-terrain tire. But with my score waiting, which includes ice at 25% versus snow at 75%, it does drop it down in this group. Lastly, it's the Falcon Wild Peak 84W. Now, we've now seen in multiple tests that the LT version, at least of this tire, has given up some snow performance to get that improved wear resistance over the AT3W. Lastly, and just to drive the point home once more, the lap on the old used winter tire just confirms that if you live in a region that sees significant snow and ice, just get a winter tire. Even the best all-terrain tires in the snow are still no match for a good winter product.

 

[dhaskit]

Based on My scoring criteria:
I just stay inside where it’s warm and drink hot chocy when the weather is crap outside. If I really need to travel during those conditions I take my Hummer H3 while my Maverick with Pirelli Scorpions stays parked in my nice warm garage. A Maverick with little ground clearance and a delicate unibody chassis is not my first choice for slick road conditions. If I slide into anything or if anything slides into me, it’s totaled. Doesn’t matter what tires it wears. Glad I’m not a single vehicle family.
Love my Maverick though.

 

[Cherokee]

I’ve driven ice and snow on bias ply non radial street tires long before traction control and all wheel drive, no front wheel drive back then either,
We did just fine,
But we were men with real driving skills back then. Some of the She beasts were better than the average male driver, lower insurance rates for the girls show that.
:’P

 

[Surly Old Bill]

I don't drive in winter conditions much anymore now that I live in coastal California. When I lived at 10,000' in Colorado, tires with the new winter-specific rubber compounds didn't exist. You used AS or MS or studded tires in Winter. And/or chains.
That said, from everything I've read on forums for different vehicles, the new Winter Tires are better than studs on packed snow and ice.

I had a set of Toyo HT that were siped at the tire shop on my Sprinter, and they were monsters on snow and ice. Also very long lived, they would have gone 100k if not for a misaligned front tire wearing faster than the others (yes, I rotated them, and still got over 80k). I don't know if aftermarket siping is still a "thing", but I highly recommend it if you drive places with mixed conditions. However, I suspect there are many off-the-shelf tires that are equal to the Toyos I had 15 years ago.

It should also be mentioned for the purpose of Winter driving, there is a big difference between plowed roads with packed snow or ice, and 3+ inches of fresh snow. The tires with big chonky knobby tread will likely do "better" on deep fresh snow than tires designed for icy conditions. Conversely, the tires with softer Winter compound and siping will do a lot better on packed snow and ice, which is what the majority of drivers will experience.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

.

I’ve driven ice and snow on bias ply non radial street tires long before traction control and all wheel drive, no front wheel drive back then either,
We did just fine,
But we were men with real driving skills back then. Some of the She beasts were better than the average male driver, lower insurance rates for the girls show that.
:’P

Your post brings up memories
My first front wheel drive car was a Ford Taurus station wagon bought it in January Upper Midwest.
First time for me driving a front wheel drive car in snow, even without snow tires. I thought I felt like I was driving an enclosed snowmobile. Learned how to add a little gas when you're in a slide. Biggest problem was getting in the snow that was too deep.

I always liked station wagons and minivans.

I guess I was an old soul even when I was young. I never smoked or drank. EVERYONE Father, Mother, Sister, aunt's, uncle's, great aunts and uncles smoked in my family. Some have quit, others have turned to vaping.
Only one traffic ticket in my life, for making an illegal u-turn back in 1977 driving my 72 Chrysler Newport same color as my 72 Coronet custom Wagon in the picture.
An Eruption Green 25 Maverick would certainly be my choice, if I didn't have my 23 Maverick the way I want it.

 

[Cherokee]

I hear ya Glen the snow mobile thing.
1976 I think it was. A Honda CVCC
Ittty bitty FWD snowmobile Civic.
Let that rear end hang out somewhere behind you, mattered little as long as you kept the gas flowing.

The thing I remember most it was a fast little go cart and with a carburetor it got 45 mpg around town with my lead foot and 54 at 75 mph on the Super Slab.
But when a tractor trailer rig passed me the suck was scary.
We used to use curb/driveway ramps and ride around the neighborhood on two wheels.
Um two wheels on the same side of the car.
Handled pretty much like any bicycle.
Yeah for real. We had good weed back then.
:’P

Mine was this same yellow.

All weekend, ALL over town, bar hopping, errands, beach runs, Liquor store runs, $5 in gas.

I put a killer stereo in it, all Radio Shack gear.
High tech stuff of the day.

Eight inch woofers, piezoelectric tweeters, five inch mid rangers. We made our own crossover circuits, cost was about $3 each plus a half hour of bench time, some soldering, it was easy peasy to set your crossover right where the speakers needed them. Shall I say, tuned for Rock & Roll.
A 100 watts of power at no more than 2.0% THD. We were pushing overload, 10 band EQ under the dash next to the cassette player.
I thought, Yeah we bad.

 

[kidshelleen]

...well... I just ordered AT Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF)-rated 225/65R17 Toyo Open Country A/T III tires on 17x7.5 Black Enkei Performance Adventurer wheels to share my 2025 Lariat AWD hybrid with the OEM wheels/tires. I wanted off-road AT tires that are 3PMSF-rated (required for travel without chains at times/places in Canada and US mountain states).

I'll make their acquaintance and get used to driving on them. Getting used to what you're driving on and making good use of it is a lot more important than debating some reviewer's opinions of tires he's only known briefly through a series of one-night stands...

 

[710-oil-614]

I can tell you what is total garbage in any wet weather, let alone ice or snow and that are the Goodyear Territory HT that come with the 25 Lariat - they are junk.

I only have 10,500 miles on mine and I am about to bite the $1,200 bullet to get a set of BFG Trail-Terrain TAs put on.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

I hear ya Glen the snow mobile thing.
1976 I think it was. A Honda CVCC
Ittty bitty FWD snowmobile Civic.
Let that rear end hang out somewhere behind you, mattered little as long as you kept the gas flowing.

The thing I remember most it was a fast little go cart and with a carburetor it got 45 mpg around town with my lead foot and 54 at 75 mph on the Super Slab.
But when a tractor trailer rig passed my the suck was scary.
We used to use curb/driveway ramps and ride around the neighborhood on two wheels.
Um two wheels on the same side of the car.
Handled pretty much like any bicycle.
Yeah for real. We had good weed back then.
:’P

Mine was this same yellow.

All weekend, ALL over town, bar hopping, errands, beach runs, Liquor store runs, $5 in gas.

Best snow car I ever had was my first car, a '74 Fiat 128 four door. Just like the one in this pic. Pulled my roomate's lifted Blazer 4x4 out of the driveway after it snowed more than a foot overnight. Drove it through the woods with NO TRAIL, just straight off through the brush between the trees. FWD and weighed about as much as a golf cart, so that helped. It was a hardy SOB.

 

[kidshelleen]

I had a 131 in the '70s, and had a 128 loaner when it went in for service. Both were that same green, although I recall it looking a little more garrish. The 131 was sort of a poor man's BMW. I had a lot of fun in the snow with my RWD BMW 1600, too...

 

[Nw_adventure]

Toyo Open Country III - Solid in snow, off-road, dirt, mud, slush, whatever you can throw at it- I might like something with a more aggressive looking sidewall though- Need tire bling -)

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