Falken Wildpeak AT4W tires installed (LT275/65/20)

[Riviot]

After much deliberation and only 5K miles in my stock AT pirellis, I decided to double down on my overland build and get my rig some more off-road prowess.

Studying all the different threads on here it became clear that choosing new tires was not going to be an easy task. There is simply no perfect answer to this question at the moment. You want to keep stock size? You’re stuck with few options of questionable range and wear implications. Willing to ignore stock size and ratings? More options but still no guarantee on range.

So after months of thinking and researching this, I got to the “F@*k it!” point and decided to royally screw my range expectations.

I ended up deciding to go with the most bad a** AT tire out there (biased opinion) that also happens to be the heaviest one. The Falken Wildpeak AT4Ws are a great all-rounder if winter, mud & water conditions matter equally to you as sand and rocks. If they don’t, and you’re a Baja-all-the-way person then the KO3s will likely be the better choice.

These bad boys weigh a whopping 65lbs each, for an increase over stock of about ~17lbs depending on the source of information. It’s safe to say that if any rotational mass impact on range can be quantified, these ones will be the benchmark for the max impact. But here’s the thing: my life on the road is only changing in positive ways so long as I make my daily charging 80% now instead of the 70% I used to do:
- Despite 3-ply sidewall and E Load rating, these tires ride smooth as heck compared to the Pirelli stock ATs
- Sound and comfort overall are meaningfully improved
- Wet & Snow traction are best in class, the stock tires won’t even compare
- Compared to the glorified all-seasons that Pirelli calls AT tires (or Nitto Recons for that matter), the Falken’s have real off-road capability, perfect for any overlanding ambitions
- They look hell of a lot better than the stock tires too

Overall, I am super happy I made this choice and stopped worrying about the 50 different threads on tire tradeoffs. Needless to say total cost of vehicle operation was not a factor in my decision. If you’re looking to lower your electric bill, these are not for you.

I’ll keep everyone posted on range evolution. My 5K miles average on my PDM Max is 2.38 mi/kwh.

pics below.

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[Tr4ckD4ys]

Small update. I’ve put about 2000 miles on them so far. My efficiency @ 60 psi cold is about 2.11 as compared to previously 2.3. This is not using Rivian’s EPA estimates as a baseline.

Anyway… it basically comes down to this: You are going to lose range. To some, this will be significant, to others, it will be an acceptable toll for how great these tires are.

 

[Meinthe303]

Small update. I’ve put about 2000 miles on them so far. My efficiency @ 60 psi cold is about 2.11 as compared to previously 2.3. This is not using Rivian’s EPA estimates as a baseline.

Anyway… it basically comes down to this: You are going to lose range. To some, this will be significant, to others, it will be an acceptable toll for how great these tires are.

I purchased a set of these last week, and have a little over 600 miles on them. I'd guesstimate usage to be 70% highway (75-85mph), and the rest primarily city streets all stop and go. I have a '22 RIT Adventure Quad, I've run them at 50 psi so far and my usage dipped from 2.14 (life time approximately 30k miles on 2 sets of Pirellis) to 1.9 - 2 on the Falkens. I'm thinking I'll bump them up to 55psi for a few days to test that out, but I'll be bummed if the ride quality goes away. Ha!

I agree with your statement that the minor efficiency loss is worth all of the other upgrades. Much softer ride, quieter, driver assist seems to be much better, and they just look better. I can't wait to get them off road to see how they perform there. I had a set of 38" Falkens on my Jeep and they performed great on rocks.

Now I just have to remind myself to not drive it like an F1 car, and they should last! 18/32 should be a lifetime.

 

[Loelee16]

Anyone with over 10k yet? I’m wondering how’s the noise compared to OEM Pirelli?

 

[Meinthe303]

I purchased a set of these last week, and have a little over 600 miles on them. I'd guesstimate usage to be 70% highway (75-85mph), and the rest primarily city streets all stop and go. I have a '22 RIT Adventure Quad, I've run them at 50 psi so far and my usage dipped from 2.14 (life time approximately 30k miles on 2 sets of Pirellis) to 1.9 - 2 on the Falkens. I'm thinking I'll bump them up to 55psi for a few days to test that out, but I'll be bummed if the ride quality goes away. Ha!

I agree with your statement that the minor efficiency loss is worth all of the other upgrades. Much softer ride, quieter, driver assist seems to be much better, and they just look better. I can't wait to get them off road to see how they perform there. I had a set of 38" Falkens on my Jeep and they performed great on rocks.

Now I just have to remind myself to not drive it like an F1 car, and they should last! 18/32 should be a lifetime.

3,700 Mile update:
I just had the Falkens rotated and balanced at 3700 miles.
So far I have to say they've performed almost flawlessly. They handle great, they offer great traction and stability, they've performed well through 2 snow storms, and they have been fun to drive in a spirited fashion. I will say, they started to get loud around 2500 miles, but I'm wondering if my R1T is having suspension issues, because they have cupped slightly (making a SC appointment). I have kept them at 53-55 psi (cold), that seems to be where they perform the best. I'd guesstimate 50/50 highway vs. surface streets (no offroading this period).

Summary:
Performance driving: Great
Ride: Great
Snow & wet/frozen roads: Really good
Balance: They balanced perfectly when new and didn't require much change this time
Efficiency: Went from 2.14/2.15 on the Pirellis to 1.94/1.95 on the Falkens
Wear: 18/32 new; currently 16/32... 3700 miles resulted in 2/10s wear, assuming nothing changes, they should last 31k miles (and I drive it hard).

So far, I'm impressed. I am looking forward to some offroading and more snow! IMO the decrease in efficiency is worth the trade offs. I was never very happy with the Pirellis, so to say I'm pleased with the Falkens is definitely an upgrade.

 

[onesoil]

I’m sorry - but this is misleading and only partially true. You are making a statement based on your 116 load rating experience in the Rivian ans comparing it to E load in a different vehicle, which is not apples to apples at all. Beyond load rating, a lot of factors change the ride comfort and quality. 116 load rating tires may on average be more comfortable than the Pirellis or Load E tires, but it’s not true in the case of AT4W vs. Pirellis. Did you have AT4Ws or other E Load tires mounted on your Rivian? Are you comparing R1T to R1T or do you mount them to the R1S (which has a vastly different ride to begin with).

As I’ve stated above: My E Load rated, heavy-ass AT4W’s feel amazingly comfortable on the Rivian and way better than the Pirellis. It’s like riding in soft mode when you’re actually in moderate, in terms of a difference. Road imperfections are way better handled too. I’m sure the same is true for your Recon Grapplers, but in both cases that is because of how bad the Pirellis are and not because of how good our tires are.

Aside, whether the e-load rating is overkill for the Rivian is subjective and depends on your use case, so you can’t generalize that “116” is enough. It might be for you and your use case and not for others. The Recon Grapplers might be the right tire for you but not for others. Where you are right for sure is that it does cost efficiency. The point of my tire change was not to optimize efficiency though.

This rings true for me as well (though in my case, I have Nokian Outpost nAT LTs in a 275/65, also E-load rated). They ride and handle better in every way so far—softer/more compliant feeling, WAYYY quieter (nearly silent at most speeds), better grip in mud, wet, snow, and no noticeable decrease in dry pavement traction. The only negative I’ve found so far is range.

The Falkens were on my short list (along with Toyo Open Country A/T III). I finally got sick enough of the howling and droning my stock ATs were making at 18k miles and a little worried about the very uneven/premature wear due to a bad alignment (I got my demo truck in May with just under 10k miles) to feel like I needed to make a decision. After hemming and hawing for months, I finally went with the Outpost nATs based on one strong review from José at Rivian Tracker who claimed zero range loss. Unfortunately that has been far from the case. Though I won’t know until next spring/summer when temps are more comparable to my time with the Pirellis, it seems that I’m losing 10-15% (not quite sure, since temps have been lower for most of the time I’ve had them (at least since I’ve had them broken in with a couple thousand miles), and this is my first fall/winter with the truck.

I live in VT, so most of my driving is very hilly. I think this exacerbates the range loss due to weight. I assumed that José’s experience living in Florida wouldn’t be apples to apples, but I wasn’t expecting quite as much as I’ve seen so far. I’m hoping it’s going to improve as they break in a little more and temps come back up next year.

So far I’m not sure I made the right choice over the Toyos and Falkens… but range reports for all three seem pretty all over the place.

To anyone looking though: don’t be afraid of the higher load rating, as long as you’re willing to pay a bit of a range penalty. It seems like all three of these heavier E-rated tires improve comfort, handling, performance in various ways, and noise (though I’ve heard the Toyos hum between 45-55mph, which was one reason I decided against them given how common a speed that is on our roads around here).

 

[aAlpine]

Any owners have thoughts on the very poor snow performance test results here?

I'm sure the testing wasn't entirely scientific, but that significant a difference is crazy.

 

[joncarter]

Just another data point on efficiency drop. Am running a 2023 R1T Adventure Quad. Pirelli tires wore out at 25K miles. Tire is LT275/65/R20.

I tested on 20 minute interstate drive at 67mph with cruise control on:

Pirelli: 2.01 mi/kwh
Falken AT4W at 48psi: 1.62 mi/kwh. (19% decrease in efficiency)
Falken AT4W at 60 psi: 1.75 mi/kwh (12% decrease in efficiency)

The Falkens have a 60K tread warranty

 

[DenverRiv]

Any owners have thoughts on the very poor snow performance test results here?

I'm sure the testing wasn't entirely scientific, but that significant a difference is crazy.

First post ever on this forum, so hey everyone, awesome community.

My experience so far in the CO snow mirrors this video -- I find them slippery in the snow with poor grip and too much of that "float" feeling, snow or dry roads. So I'm confused about how so many across the internet say these are great in snow. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Two instances I'll share:
1) Driving ~30mph up a somewhat windy snow-packed road to the town of Montezuma past Keystone and drifted right into a snowbank with my family in the car -- real scare.
2) Driving very slowly up and over Loveland pass after the above experience several weeks later and feeling slippage on every single little patch of ice. I have to say these tires sort of scare me. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong as I'm totally new to AT tires but wanted something I could run year-round that would perform decently in snow and allow me to do some light offroading in the summer/fall. I'm running them at the suggested 48 psi. I don't notice a huge difference w All Purpose vs Snow Mode. I know the car is 7000lbs but I thought it would handle better in the snow especially with these tires. Have had much better experiences in snow with our old Outback with Blizzaks and our Mach e with Hakkapeliitta 8s. I'd like to avoid getting dedicated snow tires d/t additional cost, tire store runs for swapping, and lack of storage for another set.

Anyone have suggestions? I'd greatly appreciate it!

 

[Mark_AZR1T]

First post ever on this forum, so hey everyone, awesome community.

My experience so far in the CO snow mirrors this video -- I find them slippery in the snow with poor grip and too much of that "float" feeling, snow or dry roads. So I'm confused about how so many across the internet say these are great in snow. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Two instances I'll share:
1) Driving ~30mph up a somewhat windy snow-packed road to the town of Montezuma past Keystone and drifted right into a snowbank with my family in the car -- real scare.
2) Driving very slowly up and over Loveland pass after the above experience several weeks later and feeling slippage on every single little patch of ice. I have to say these tires sort of scare me. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong as I'm totally new to AT tires but wanted something I could run year-round that would perform decently in snow and allow me to do some light offroading in the summer/fall. I'm running them at the suggested 48 psi. I don't notice a huge difference w All Purpose vs Snow Mode. I know the car is 7000lbs but I thought it would handle better in the snow especially with these tires. Have had much better experiences in snow with our old Outback with Blizzaks and our Mach e with Hakkapeliitta 8s. I'd like to avoid getting dedicated snow tires d/t additional cost, tire store runs for swapping, and lack of storage for another set.

Anyone have suggestions? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I’ve only tackled hard-packed snow with my Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLTs, including some heavy snowfall, and they’ve handled it like champs. Many swear by them for winter performance, and this review helped seal the deal for me.

Now at 40,000 miles, they’re still going strong with 7/32" tread left on all four—almost as quiet as day one. No regrets, I’m getting them again!

Running 62-65 PSI, I’ve seen about 2% efficiency loss in road tests, with perfect wear. Rotated every 8,000 miles, rebalanced once (because Discount Tire insisted).

Rivian review coming soon!

Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT Tire Review Link.

Passenger front tire below (taken today).

 

[RivAW]

First post ever on this forum, so hey everyone, awesome community.

My experience so far in the CO snow mirrors this video -- I find them slippery in the snow with poor grip and too much of that "float" feeling, snow or dry roads. So I'm confused about how so many across the internet say these are great in snow. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Two instances I'll share:
1) Driving ~30mph up a somewhat windy snow-packed road to the town of Montezuma past Keystone and drifted right into a snowbank with my family in the car -- real scare.
2) Driving very slowly up and over Loveland pass after the above experience several weeks later and feeling slippage on every single little patch of ice. I have to say these tires sort of scare me. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong as I'm totally new to AT tires but wanted something I could run year-round that would perform decently in snow and allow me to do some light offroading in the summer/fall. I'm running them at the suggested 48 psi. I don't notice a huge difference w All Purpose vs Snow Mode. I know the car is 7000lbs but I thought it would handle better in the snow especially with these tires. Have had much better experiences in snow with our old Outback with Blizzaks and our Mach e with Hakkapeliitta 8s. I'd like to avoid getting dedicated snow tires d/t additional cost, tire store runs for swapping, and lack of storage for another set.

Anyone have suggestions? I'd greatly appreciate it!

You said you want to avoid dedicated snow tires right after comparing your all terrain tires to not 1 but 2 previous sets of dedicated snow tires. You shouldn’t be surprised that those performed better, and on a vehicle that was about 1/2 the weight, with 1/4 of the torque and no regen braking …

 

[MountainBikeDude]

First post ever on this forum, so hey everyone, awesome community.

My experience so far in the CO snow mirrors this video -- I find them slippery in the snow with poor grip and too much of that "float" feeling, snow or dry roads. So I'm confused about how so many across the internet say these are great in snow. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Two instances I'll share:
1) Driving ~30mph up a somewhat windy snow-packed road to the town of Montezuma past Keystone and drifted right into a snowbank with my family in the car -- real scare.
2) Driving very slowly up and over Loveland pass after the above experience several weeks later and feeling slippage on every single little patch of ice. I have to say these tires sort of scare me. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong as I'm totally new to AT tires but wanted something I could run year-round that would perform decently in snow and allow me to do some light offroading in the summer/fall. I'm running them at the suggested 48 psi. I don't notice a huge difference w All Purpose vs Snow Mode. I know the car is 7000lbs but I thought it would handle better in the snow especially with these tires. Have had much better experiences in snow with our old Outback with Blizzaks and our Mach e with Hakkapeliitta 8s. I'd like to avoid getting dedicated snow tires d/t additional cost, tire store runs for swapping, and lack of storage for another set.

Anyone have suggestions? I'd greatly appreciate it!

I've had a fantastic experience with my Nokian Outpost nAT's. Very durable off road (Aramad aka Kevlar lined) with fantastic grip on loose surfaces. Road noise is really good for an aggressive tire. Handling in the rain is good, not quite as good as the Pirelli's, but about 95%.

This year I found them quite good in the snow, providing more grip than my Wildpeaks did on my Xterra, but nothing will ever beat a dedicated winter tire. All in all, I think the Outpost's achieve a fantastic all around tire no matter the weather or terrain.

 

[ksurfier]

Maybe too general here, but let’s say there are 4 types of tires:
-AT w/ 3PMSF
-Snow
-AS w/ 3PMSF
-AS (LTX MS2)

the worst of these is likely the AT, best is obviously the snow tire…the AS may actually be similar even if it doesn’t have 3PMSF…

Id’d say that avoiding AT in snow/ice is very important…many here know how to drive with AT in snow/ice…

id say the 20” Pirelli is the poster child for a really terrible 3PMSF AT tire….

 

[DenverRiv]

You said you want to avoid dedicated snow tires right after comparing your all terrain tires to not 1 but 2 previous sets of dedicated snow tires. You shouldn’t be surprised that those performed better, and on a vehicle that was about 1/2 the weight, with 1/4 of the torque and no regen braking …

I am still surprised in the context of so many people saying how good the Falkens are in the snow, not that I expected them to be the same as winter tires on other cars. But blindfolded I'd say the Falkens aren't better than the stock 21" Pirelli Scorpions the way they handle so far in snow/ice. I'm gathering this may be more of a function of the car's weight and too high of expectations from an AT tire, so I'll just drive much more conservatively in those conditions which is a disappointment.

I will add a few pros:
-Love the look
-Surprisingly quiet
-Not much of a range hit (~5%) and that's doing a lot of mountain driving

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