Cooper AT/R's vs Silent Armors

Hi Viv.
Not sure about the Armours, but I have Eldorado ZTR Sport LT's on my 80 series which are very similar to the Cooper ATR's. They have the same 80000km warranty in the USA as the Coopers as well. I cannot fault them onroad or gravel roads being quiet and smooth on both. Also have a very good load rating in my size as well (265/75/R16). Also about $50-$60 less per tyre than Coopers.
Now I know there are alot of guys who swear by BF Goodrich and Coopers as the main tyres to go with, but I have tried something different and I am more than happy with my purchase.
Hope this helps
Regards
Tim.

Don't know the silent armours, but I got Cooper ATRs on my Hilux before I picked it up new. They are a very good on road tyre. No road noise and surprisingly good in the wet. Off road they were good on dirt and sand, but lacked a fair bit in mud and on rocks, but that's true of all ATs to a greater or lesser degree.

I changed over to Cooper STs before a recent trip as we planned to do over 6,000 KM off bitumen. Also we do a bit off off roading with the 4WD Club and wanted a more agressive tyre.

From my experience as an '80/20 tyre that won't be used for a lot of aggressive off roading, they are pretty good. But there's lots of tyres I haven't tried, so can't say how close they are to 'the best'.

As for the STs, we are very happy, particularly with their off road capability, but they are much noisier that the ATRs.

Hi Viv,
have AT/R's on my Rodeo. Done about 10,000km with a few weekend trips. I had no problems the other weekend in wet coditions over rocky ground. Before the Coopers I had Goodyear Wrangler AT's they were no where near as good as the Coopers are.
Hope some of this info helps.
Cheers Andrew

Don't know about the ATRs :-))
Done 10,000k on the Silent Armours with no sign of wear, and no chipping - look like they will go for the long haul.

Gday viv ok firstly i need to admit i run a tyre shop in the pilbra therefore some may consider my opinion biast
however ill give it anyway i reckon the silent armors are the best thing to come out of the goodyear factory for a long time and the customer feedback has been excellent with several even saying that they reckon the s/a has better off road handling than the Bfg
ive been able to compare tread cuts and abrasions from that nasty pilbara rock on the s/a to my patrols bfg`s and the s/a was the winner
As for tread life well like anything new only time will tell
As for the Coopers im buggered if i know i dont sell em but many a fourby owner wouldnt run anything else but coopers clear as mud now eh
Cheers

Viv,
My brother in law is a boss for an explosives company which services some of the open cut coal mines in Central Queensland. They have tried a lot of different tyres and were always chopping and changing until they tried the goodyear mtr's.
He went to get another set but the dealer had none in stock and suggested they try the silent armor. They are now putting these on their entire fleet of vehicles. They are obviously not as good grip wise in the wet as the mtr , but because they travel from Rockhampton and out to the mines via bitumen, they are a better compromise. He reckons they have had very little chipping compared to the other brands and nowhere near the punctures.
The shaley crap which is removed whilst mining is a good test for a tyre as it splinters and a lot of tyres can not handle it.

Cheers
Dave.

Hi Viv,

I've got Cooper ATRs on the Patrol (LT265/75R16) with 25,000 kms on them. They are wearing very well, with plenty of tread left. Great on the sand and I think better on gravel than the ATs I had previously. Overall I think they are better than the ATs and I'm confident they'll out last them as well.

Regards,
Hugh

Go the silent armours just put them to the test up the flinders and oodnadatta they where great no chipping at all compared to the BFG's AT on the trailers good tyres!!!!

Regards
Dave T

I have just had silent armours fitted to my 120 (cheers for the tip PhilG). Only done afew kms around town and on gravel but my limited obs so far are:
-nearly as quiet as the dunlops
-improved handling around corners
-look good!
-tyre shop did nice job of spacing the rear tyre off the door, and even repaired on e of my half worn dunlops for me, without telling me.

Got them for $306 each, and $75 discount.

Jon

Viv
A firend's Patrol has ATR 10ply LT265/75R16's. About 18 months old. Runs about 40 PSI off road (too high I reckon). From Adelaide, done Oonadatta Track / Ghan Track to Alice and back (bitumen??), been to Birdsville via Birdville Track and then back via Strezlecki, few other smaller trips. Always fairly well loaded up and towing camper trailer. Drives about 25km in town each week day etc. The reason I give you all this information is that his ATR's are shot. Whole tread-blocks are missing and otherwise tread is chewed away something awful. This was all after about 12 months. Personally I wonder if tyre is to rigid i.e. LT, 10ply, 40psi - no give, and driving through gibber just might have been too much. Stil I was shocked and wouldnt want them after seeing the tyres.
Good luck with your choice.
JD

I have a TD 120 Prado and had it delivered with Cooper A/T's. After 37,000km I took them off and they were half worn and destined for camper trailer use. Nothing wrong with them but I needed camper trailer tyres and also the new Cooper ATR had just been released.

Had the ATRs put on Prado in LT265/70R17 and immediately noticed a drop in road noise as well as better grip and handling on-road. These are great road tyres that can handle medium rough stuff if they have too.

Much the same off road performance as the A/T's. Not too bad, particularly in sand. I had no punctures with either tyres and no complaints.

These days I am lucky enough to have a second set of ROH RTX alloy rims that I got at a pretty good price and I am running Goodyear MTR's in LT265/70R17. Fantastic off-road tyres that seem to turn gravel roads into bitumen in terms of noise and grip. They are very noisy on-road though and for longer tarmac trips I will be putting the factory rims with the ATR's back on the vehicle.

Sounds like you would not go wrong with either tyre but I can only relay positive feedback for the ATRs.

Cheers
Muddy

I'll stand corrected, but I am currently going through the same question with my GU Patrol. The Goodyear dealer has advised they do not supply the tyres in 17" sizes. I am looking at silent armor and muddies. ???? If I watn to fit either tyre I have to go to 16" rims.

For anyone contemplating buying tyres between now & Dec.23, K-Mart Tyre & Auto Service are offering a 30c p/L fuel voucher for every 2 Goodyear or Dunlop tyres purchased.. (buy 4 tyres, get 2 vouchers etc.)...

Not only that, but their price on the Silent Armours ($258 for 265/75R16) is substantially less than than the quote I got from Bo's ($306 for the same tyre)..
(I have no idea if these prices are good, bad or indifferent, but they are the prices I was quoted)...

Couple this with the 30c p/L off 150L of fuel ($45 discount), and you have an effective $22.50 per tyre discount..

I for one will be takin' advantage of this offer;-))