These All-Terrain Tires Outperform Goodyear Wranglers

You're spoiled for choice when it comes to all-terrain tires these days, which is certainly no bad thing. After all, the term "all-terrain" implies just that — many different kinds of terrain, ranging from pavement, rain, snow, dirt, mud, and beyond. No tire is perfect, obviously; certain ones are better in some conditions than others. But there are a few go-to tires that everyone recognizes, chief among them being Goodyear Wranglers. It's practically a household name, and for good reason — they scored second place in almost every single test that Tire Rack threw at it in the site's latest survey. But second place against whom?

Enter our star child: the Continental TerrainContact A/T, which beat out the Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT2 in every respect. The test, conducted in a variety of conditions, is designed to generate a cumulative average, as well as ranking each tire based on its individual performance in certain situations. These include tests in dry and wet conditions, emergency lane changes, and snow driving. Off-road applications weren't considered; this is merely for on-road performance. Instead, Tire Rack offered an alternative test with more aggressive tires, which you can watch here. If you're curious, their favorite off-road A/T tire was the BFGoodrich T/A KO3, a direct descendant of the tire that changed off-roading forever.

All that out of the way, let's talk numbers. How did the Continental TerrainContact A/T perform in contrast to the Wrangler alternative? Was it a close battle? Actually, yes — the rankings list a 6.88 of 10 for the Continental against 6.81 for the Wrangler. Let's break it down more and discuss each tire's pros and cons.

Tire Rack tested the Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT2 fitted to an unmodified Toyota Tundra, representing a fairly generalized picture of what we'd expect for your average American commercial pickup driver. Bear in mind these tires still finished a highly respectable second place overall.

Obviously all-terrain tires must drive on the road — though they're not always perfect for highway driving. In its on-road test, Tire Rack stated the Goodyears were "cushioned, taking the edge off both big impacts and smaller undulations. It felt like that compliance also helped keep the chassis from shaking, adding to the sense of overall comfort." Moreover, it praised the tire's steering response in dry conditions. Good news so far. On the downside, Tire Rack had complaints about the incessant road noise.

Similarly, Tire Rack described the Wrangler exemplary when it came to wet weather tests, thanks to its excellent steering response and handling characteristics in the slalom. Other high points include its braking performance and exceptional balance, offering a predictable and engaging experience to the driver. Sadly, this tight responsiveness didn't extend to emergency lane changes, with Tire Rack describing them as requiring "large, decisive steering inputs" to execute with confidence. It was a learning curve, but ended up making successful runs in the end.

Where this tire falls off, however, is the winter test. The Wranglers provided unresponsive steering inputs on a simulated snow-laden off-ramp at 30 mph, requiring lift-off throttle to steer. Braking was also ineffective to help bring it under control. However, the general handling on flat roads was adequate, with neither the front nor rear behaving unpredictably. Moreover, Tire Rack praised its performance on ice, citing it as one of the better options in the test.

This is a case of anything the Goodyear did, the Continental could simply do it better. Well, almost anything; in general the TerrainContact A/T sets the new standard as far as Tire Rack's concerned — it was also Consumer Reports' top pick as well, incidentally.

On-road performance lacked the noise issue of the Goodyear while retaining the sharp steering input. Tire Rack's sole complaint here was a somewhat rough ride over small bumps and undulations, but the tire easily absorbed larger bumps. However, wet weather is where it truly shined, with Tire Rack citing it as "capable and responsive." The tires boasted exceptional braking and steering performance, offering what they call "objectively one of the strongest tires in the test."

The emergency lane change offered a different handling profile to the Wranglers, with a sharp opening followed by a plateau of grip in the follow-through and exit. That means an initial hard evasion may be straightforward, but there's a more demanding learning curve beyond that. That said, Tire Rack claims the tire still passed with minimal fuss and was one of the "best experiences" yet again.

Lastly, the winter test is where the Continental performed head and shoulders over the Goodyear. There were no complaints about losing steering compliance or braking, and though the rear tended to step out when pushed, it was also forgiving and easy to control, even on inclines. The only place it suffered is on the ice, where it performed average in comparison to the other tires in general.

Overall, the Continental outperformed the Goodyear by 0.08 points in dry road tests and 0.12 points in emergency lane changes. It also outperformed by 0.33 points in snow/ice testing, leading to its 0.07 point overall lead.