Cooper Discoverer A/T (Walmart Special) vs. Firestone Destination A/T2

john_pifer

john_pifer

Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Messages
5,318
Location
Dickson, TN.
Well, the Yokohamas are down to 3/32" - 4/32" after about 50,000 miles (installed Feb. 2022), and one of them has a plug in it, so it's about time for some new ones.

Honestly I'd run them a bit further, but they're shaking pretty good, and Discount Tire won't balance them for free once they're below 5/32".

Man, tires have sure gotten expensive!

Considering the Cooper Discoverer A/T (Walmart version - not exactly sure what the differences are between this and the "AT3 4S") and the Firestone Destination A/T.

Set of 4 of the Coopers would be $723 installed at Walmart 4 miles away, including road hazard.

For the Firestones, I'd have to drive to Costco (35 miles away), and it would be $852 installed. I believe that includes road hazard as well.

Anyone have experience with either of these?

Another thing is, I've never had tires mounted at either Walmart or Costco, so I'm interested in y'alls experience with them.

Also open to suggestions on other brands.
 
I had my current set of Nokia Rotiivas installed at Walmart. Delivered to my house and I brought them to the store at opening time on a Sunday morning. In and out with zero issues or drama. I would do it again, but understand that my store and your store could be far different experiences... I would expect about the same caliber employees at Costco/BJs type places. (Many tires installed at BJs over the years, but I have not Costco experience myself)
 
It seems like cost is the driver for you, which is fine. So because of that I suggest the cheaper of the two, as they will likely last similarly, and both of reputable makers.

As to other suggestions, the BFG All Terrain.
 
john_pifer said:
Well, the Yokohamas are down to 3/32" - 4/32" after about 50,000 miles (installed Feb. 2022), and one of them has a plug in it, so it's about time for some new ones.

Honestly I'd run them a bit further, but they're shaking pretty good, and Discount Tire won't balance them for free once they're below 5/32".

Man, tires have sure gotten expensive!

Considering the Cooper Discoverer A/T (Walmart version - not exactly sure what the differences are between this and the "AT3 4S") and the Firestone Destination A/T.

Set of 4 of the Coopers would be $723 installed at Walmart 4 miles away, including road hazard.

For the Firestones, I'd have to drive to Costco (35 miles away), and it would be $852 installed. I believe that includes road hazard as well.

Anyone have experience with either of these?

Another thing is, I've never had tires mounted at either Walmart or Costco, so I'm interested in y'alls experience with them.

Also open to suggestions on other brands.
Click to expand...
Had a good run with the 275/18 Cooper Evolution on the ‘17 Tahoe - so just changed with the Cooper Discoverer SRX … Awesome tire …

IMG_2219.jpg
 
4WD said:
Had a good run with the 275/18 Cooper Evolution on the ‘17 Tahoe - so just changed with the Cooper Discoverer SRX … Awesome tire …

View attachment 225664
Click to expand...
Looks good.

That tire did not show up when I searched Walmart and Costco for the size that I run (265/75-16).

That is what I do – highway miles. My daily commute is over 90 miles of mostly interstate. 4 days a week.
 
john_pifer said:
Considering the Cooper Discoverer A/T (Walmart version - not exactly sure what the differences are between this and the "AT3 4S") and the Firestone Destination A/T.

Set of 4 of the Coopers would be $723 installed at Walmart 4 miles away, including road hazard.

For the Firestones, I'd have to drive to Costco (35 miles away), and it would be $852 installed. I believe that includes road hazard as well.

Anyone have experience with either of these?

Another thing is, I've never had tires mounted at either Walmart or Costco, so I'm interested in y'alls experience with them.
Click to expand...
I highly endorse the Cooper Discoverer A/T (or identical AT3 4S) tire over the Firestone Destination A/T2. I had the Firestone A/T2 on a Ford Ranger for several years and while they were decent when new, they started losing wet traction and braking capabilities after ~2 years (20,000 miles). Wore evenly, but the rubber compound seemed to harden as it aged.

I've had the Cooper AT 3 tires on my Jeep Wrangler for 4 years and they are amazing not just for wet/dry traction, but the ride comfort and low noise scores about 8.5 on a 10 scale. Overall, the Cooper AT3 is the most surprisingly impressive tire that I have purchased in nearly 5 decades of driving. I will be replacing them with identical tires before winter.

My Costco tire mounting experiences have all been positive. The experience at WalMart can be hit or miss (mostly due to long turnaround time) depending on the specific location.
 
I've had another positive walmart mounting experience. Went out the next day and one tire was flat, they handled that for free as well under the tire manufacturer warranty... didn't have road hazard.

Cooper Discoverer is a great tire and once you own some you'll start seeing a bunch in parking lots everywhere.

I buy most of my tires through WM now, though I mount them myself.

If you're on a real budget these Starfire Solarus are made by Cooper too.
 
eljefino said:
I've had another positive walmart mounting experience. Went out the next day and one tire was flat, they handled that for free as well under the tire manufacturer warranty... didn't have road hazard.

Cooper Discoverer is a great tire and once you own some you'll start seeing a bunch in parking lots everywhere.

I buy most of my tires through WM now, though I mount them myself.

If you're on a real budget these Starfire Solarus are made by Cooper too.
Click to expand...
Not on THAT much of a budget.

Just want a good, 7/10 tire for a good price.

I’ve had 2 sets of Michelin LTX M/S and 1 set of Defender LTX M/S on this truck. The Defenders don’t last as long as the old LTX.

Had 1 set of Yokohama Geolandar G015, and they were just OK. Lasted about 50,000 miles, and after about 30,000 miles, wet traction degraded quite a bit for me. And didn’t stay balanced like a Michelin through to the end.

But the Michelins have just gotten so expensive.

Now I’m going to be paying almost what I used to pay for Michelins, for a 2nd-tier brand.

I will say, I think the Firestones look better than the Coopers, which are pretty generic looking.
 
@john_pifer, I’m not sure you can go wrong with either. The Firestone is a well-loved tire by many and they seem to have very consistent build quality and predictable life. I agree that the brand in general hardens with age, gets good lifespan but starts to drive like Fred flintstone rocks in the rain. Ok some exaggeration there but Firestone and Bridgestone used to be my goto brands. I’ve never had weird wear patterns or sloppy handling from the brand.

OTOH, cooper makes some neat tires. My one ownership experience was the discoverer RTX. It has a heavy-lugged truck AT, and was built like what you’d want on a city work truck. The noise was white, not a hum. The rubber was soft and gripped like a crouched cat, and they absorbed road cracks and rocks well. Where they struggled was even wear - all of them cupped, and I rotated regularly and the suspension was tight with new shocks. They handled loads and towed Very well. They just started making noises by 20k miles with cupping. I didn’t keep them past 30k for some reason or another - oh - the noise was atrocious but I later discovered that some of the noise was a rear axle wheel bearing, so I replaced them sooner than was needed.

I don’t think you’ll go wrong with either. Cooper did have some recalls not long ago on the discoverer line, but they seemed great about handling it.
 
Nukeman7 said:
I highly endorse the Cooper Discoverer A/T (or identical AT3 4S) tire over the Firestone Destination A/T2. I had the Firestone A/T2 on a Ford Ranger for several years and while they were decent when new, they started losing wet traction and braking capabilities after ~2 years (20,000 miles). Wore evenly, but the rubber compound seemed to harden as it aged.

I've had the Cooper AT 3 tires on my Jeep Wrangler for 4 years and they are amazing not just for wet/dry traction, but the ride comfort and low noise scores about 8.5 on a 10 scale. Overall, the Cooper AT3 is the most surprisingly impressive tire that I have purchased in nearly 5 decades of driving. I will be replacing them with identical tires before winter.

My Costco tire mounting experiences have all been positive. The experience at WalMart can be hit or miss (mostly due to long turnaround time) depending on the specific location.
Click to expand...

The AT3 is getting up in the years, but when it came out it was tops across the charts for testing and user reviews. I would still consider the AT3 as a very good tire to run. It did so many things well.
 
dadto2 said:
I had my current set of Nokia Rotiivas installed at Walmart. Delivered to my house and I brought them to the store at opening time on a Sunday morning. In and out with zero issues or drama. I would do it again, but understand that my store and your store could be far different experiences... I would expect about the same caliber employees at Costco/BJs type places. (Many tires installed at BJs over the years, but I have not Costco experience myself)
Click to expand...
I remember seeing some excellent reviews on the Nokia offerings recently.
 
Both are good ATs on the milder side. The Firestones are one of the best in class in the snow, if you can believe it. If that matters to you, then I’d go with them.

The Coopers will be a well-rounded AT: not excelling at anything but also good at everything.
 
meep said:
I remember seeing some excellent reviews on the Nokia offerings recently.
Click to expand...
NOKIA is cellphones, NOKIAN is tires. They were once the same company, but are now separate.

If snow performance matters, NOKIAN is a good choice. Have them on my BMW.

Otherwise, SUMITOMO is a brand that produces very good tires at a good price point for what you get.

I am an old timer who remembers all the problems with Firestone tires in the past. They are now a division of Bridgestone.

And I also like NItto tires. Have them on my Corvette.
 
john_pifer said:
Well, the Yokohamas are down to 3/32" - 4/32" after about 50,000 miles (installed Feb. 2022), and one of them has a plug in it, so it's about time for some new ones.

Honestly I'd run them a bit further, but they're shaking pretty good, and Discount Tire won't balance them for free once they're below 5/32".

Man, tires have sure gotten expensive!

Considering the Cooper Discoverer A/T (Walmart version - not exactly sure what the differences are between this and the "AT3 4S") and the Firestone Destination A/T.

Set of 4 of the Coopers would be $723 installed at Walmart 4 miles away, including road hazard.

For the Firestones, I'd have to drive to Costco (35 miles away), and it would be $852 installed. I believe that includes road hazard as well.

Anyone have experience with either of these?

Another thing is, I've never had tires mounted at either Walmart or Costco, so I'm interested in y'alls experience with them.

Also open to suggestions on other brands.
Click to expand...
My parents have had a number of sets from Walmart over the years and just about every set had a tire blowout when traveling. Their most recent set a couple of years back was from discount tire and no more blowouts. I'd go with the Firestone. And yeah I have a neon and have Continentals and they went up since last time
 
k1xv said:
NOKIA is cellphones, NOKIAN is tires. They were once the same company, but are now separate.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know that. I guess I was more focused on spelling Rotiiva correctly. I've had 5 sets of various Nokians over the years, and have become a big fan of their all weather offerings.
 
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