Cooper ST or ATR

Alan we left home in Feb with 2 near new Cooper ST on front and 2 Bridgestone A/T on the rear that were getting down. In Port Augusta I went to change the Bridgestone to Cooper ST but due to a recall the ST were not available and we got STT.
800 km later a new STT had a rock through the tread.
We completed the rest of our trip around the block over 8 months and the front ST's had travelled about 35000 km. One ST had several lugs ripped off the sides showing steel belts. One STT after less than 30,000 km had a centre lug ripped off and both STT were unroadworthy due to lack of tread as well as missing lug and canvas showing.

We changed all tyres to Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armour and after 3000 km of mainly bitumen driving have found them to be an excellent tyre for both dry and wet weather. Yes around Noosa we have had rain.

From my experience with Cooper Tyres, we will never have them again.

Brian

Well mate, I have the ST’s in 31*10.5r15, used to have the AT’s (Old stile)

Will say this the old AT’s were better on the road and in the Wet but the ST’s are a better tyre overall IMO.

I have had them on for around 22,000K and they have seen a fair bit of 4Wding, yes they have chipped but IMO it is F**k all and I am not the least bit worried about it.

My mate has BFG MT’s 33-inch 6000k’s old and they have slight chipping on them too and he is not impressed after everybody telling him go the BFG’s as they don’t chip.

Cheers.

Alan, I've used both.
We had ATRs put on our Hilux before we picked it up new. They are an excellent on road tyre. No noise and very good in the wet. Also good on sand and dirt roads, but not so great 'off road' in mud and rocks.

Before we went on a 16,000 trip to Kimberley, NT and the Gulf early this year, I changed over to STs. Reasons were:
I wanted to standardise between vehicle and trailer and carry 3 identical spares, which meant at least 4 new tyres anyway, including replacing one with damaged side wall (see below).
I wanted a more aggressive tyre better suited to mud and 'off road' as we planned to do about 6,000 KM off bitumen.
I wanted to slightly increase the size of our tyres for better clearance.
I was happy to stick with Cooper and was offered a pretty good change over price.

My experience with the STs is that they are much noiser on bitumen than the ATRs and not quite as good in the wet on bitumen. But they are much better off road and have pretty good self cleaning capability in mud. We hve had none of the chipping problems that some others have reported.

I'm happy with Cooper tyres. It is really a choice based on intended and likely use. If you will predominantly do bitumen, good dirt roads and some sand, the ATRs are probably good. The more 'rough' work you are likely to do, the more you might consider moving to the STs, but they will be noisier on bitumen.

You will get lots of views on any brand of tyres, but I suspect most of the 'top' brands are pretty good. The run you have will have a lot to do with how you treat them (load, tyre pressure, speed) and luck.

In our time with Coopers, we staked one side wall on an ATR while on a trip with the 4WD Club (bad luck), otherwise we have not had a puncture with either the ATR or ST over about 50,000 KM including some pretty rough roads.

Hi Alan,
I have 2 sets of Cooper tyres, I run the ATR for normal day to day when not travelling outback, and change over to ST'C when off road. The first thing that you should do is check your insurance company and your state laws. On my Pajero, the standard tyre size is 265/70/16.

As you know, the LT are not available in this size, and the tyre companies would not put the 265/75/16 on my vehicle for legal reasons (against the law). The only way they could legally put the LT's on my vehicle was to go for 245/75/16, same rolling diameter.

The only way to stop chipping in to lower your tyre pressure.

With the tyre of work that you intend to do, I would go for the ATR's. They will get you to all the places that you intend to travel to, with no problems.

Cheers

Stephen

Do yourself a favour, buy neither, look at other brands.

We have ST's and they are pretty noisy on the bitumen. I would go for ATRs next time as we dont do a lot of off road stuff.

G'day Alan
Just mentioning Cooper tyres starts an arguement every time with those for and against usually quite adamant as to their point of view being the right one. I reckon one tyre is much the same as the next and whether you get punctures is in the lap of the gods.
Going on what you've posted you have decided on Coopers so we won't dicuss brand. I think that, based on what you've described your likely travels to be, the ATRs will be the better option. I can't see why you'd need STs. BTW if you do decide on STs you'll have to choose between STC and ST. The STC is softer to supposedly prevent chipping however that will invariably mean less mileage out of them.
As to your last query I can't see that there'd be any major issues running 275/70 and 265/75 (I assume that's what you mean't by 75s) on front in an emergency situation.
I hope you have a fantastic, safe and tyre trouble free trip.
Cheers from the Moose

Don't do it Alan! I've got ATRs 265/70/17 on my Sahara and after only two trips in the high country here in Vic all my tyres are chipped badly and the two rears have tore tread lugs off at the base.
Every trip adds 50% more damage, they have only done 24000klms. I am an experienced 4wdriver and do all the right things with tyre pressures and driving conditions. I got the Coopers Rep to have alook and he was not interested, he said we'll have alook after 40000klms and then maybe do a changeover at prorata on a new set.
He said maybe I should fit Light Truck tyres next time and I said what does the LT265/70/17 mean then thats writtern on the tyre then? Then the next excuse was maybe a mud tyre would be better for a vehicle of that wait, to which I replied that I have 4 mates with the same vehicles in the same conditions that don't have coopers and they don't have the same problems.
In the end the conversation ended with me saying that I'll have to suck it and see to which he agreed, I then told him I wasn't happy and that they have been the worst tyres out of all the tyres I've had over the years .
I wouldn't touch another Cooper tyre for as long as I live.

Interesting footnote about their Prorata system is they give you 40% back on a new set which only cost them 60% of retail price so they sell another and make money and you get stung twice. Great warranty!

G'Day Shaker, the clowns name is Peter. Good to hear that I'm not the only one! Yanks hey! What's the catch cry "The Only Tyres Build To Last". Built to outlast your patience mate!