AT Tires – Chosen by Our Land Cruiser

Our Toyota Land Cruiser, fully loaded for multi-week expeditions - bikes, gear, and of course Mrok inside - weighs close to 3 tons. That’s a lot. Such a heavy vehicle demands an efficient, reliable braking system. But for the brakes to work properly, you also need excellent contact with the ground - meaning the right tires.

To explain it simply: Imagine walking downhill with a heavy backpack in sneakers. All is fine until it starts raining heavily, and you try to move faster. You could easily slip - not because the asphalt or your shoes are slippery, but because a thin layer of water appears between them. If you slow down and place your steps carefully, the risk of slipping drops significantly.

Your car has four wheels, each touching the ground over an area about the size of your shoe. You might say: "But that's four points of contact!"The car could reply: "True. But you with your backpack weigh 100 kg - I weigh 3 tons!"

Properly selected tires are crucial for safety.

In our travels and daily life, we avoid so-called all-season tires. They work everywhere but excel nowhere. Check out some YouTube videos comparing rain-optimized tires to standard or all-season ones. Look at braking distances. With the right tires, you might stop before a pedestrian. With worse tires, you could still be braking while already across the crosswalk - and that could end tragically.

We use three sets of tires:

1. Summer rain tires when driving locally, with bikes but without the rooftop tent.

2. Winter tires when temperatures stay around 7°C or lower.

3. AT (all-terrain) tires for expeditions involving asphalt, rain, gravel, grass, sand, and rocky terrain.

How do we choose our summer and winter tires? We rely on independent tests by ADAC, Europe’s largest drivers' association.

We look at:

• Grip and braking on dry and wet surfaces

• Noise levels (important over long distances)

• Fuel consumption (can differ by up to 25%)

Do we recommend specific brands? No. We avoid unknown brands, but also overpriced tires from famous names if performance doesn’t match. Not all manufacturers offer tires suited for heavy 4x4 vehicles and heavy rain.

Choosing expedition tires: AT tires are reinforced summer tires, designed for greater load and rough terrain. They have deeper tread patterns extending onto the sidewalls, which are reinforced to resist cuts - important near sharp rocks.

AT tires also perform well at low pressure. When driving on sand, we reduce tire pressure by about half (from 2 atm to 1–1.2 atm in our Land Cruiser).This makes it easier to handle sandy tracks. If you get stuck, lowering the pressure might be all you need to get moving again.

Of course, you need a compressor to reinflate the tires once back on firm ground.(We'll tell the story of how our compressor burned out in another article.)

The downsides of AT tires:

• Longer braking distances on hard surfaces

• Worse braking in rain

• Poorer braking in cold and snow

• Louder than standard tires

• Higher rolling resistance and fuel consumption

• Faster wear if driven fast on asphalt

• Higher purchase price

So, with all these downsides, are they worth it? Absolutely.

We've ruined summer tires just by briefly entering rocky areas. Since switching to AT tires, no such problems.

Why did we choose Cooper Discoverer tires? Mainly practical reasons: Most of our trips are on asphalt or hardened roads, not deep off-road. We needed long-lasting, relatively quiet tires that only slightly increase fuel use (about 1-1.5 liters/100 km). They balance well, too.

The other reason? I just like how they look. 😉

Things to watch out for with AT tires:

• They’re often slightly larger, which can cause rubbing in wheel wells at full steering lock.

• They always increase fuel consumption.

• Their rugged look tempts you to install even bigger tires, but that usually means modifying the wheel arches.

• They are not true all-season tires. Despite some symbols suggesting otherwise, simple brake tests in rain or snow reveal much longer stopping distances.

• They're not ideal for fast driving: harder to balance, and vehicle behavior in corners is noticeably different compared to standard tires.

How do we drive during expeditions? Slowly 😊. Because of the tires, and because of the weight.

"Slowly" means: We see more😉. Highway speeds for us are usually 100–120 km/h. We slow down even more on wet or snowy roads.

We experienced all these scenarios during a midsummer.

Are AT tires easy to puncture? On rough ground - much harder than regular tires. But ironically, we punctured one at home - thanks to a long, sharp steel screw.

Have your own experiences? Driven your whole life on bald tires and nothing bad happened 😊? Share your thoughts - maybe someone will learn from them.