Both the Atturo Trail Blade XT and the Falken Wildpeak AT3w are highly tuned version of light truck all-terrain tires where their versatile tread design allow you to go on multiple types of surfaces. Though still, lets pick a better one out of them for you.
As a tire engineer, I consider the Falken Wildpeak AT3 to be a better tire on dry and wet roads, fuel economy and comfort, and off-road it does great on rocky terrains (while climbing), but generally the Atturo Trail Blade comes out better in almost all section on all types of rugged terrains. Though with a smaller margin. And even this tire is not 3pmsf rated like the Wildpeak AT3w, it’s also good enough with deeper terrains.
Table of Contents
Dry Performance
A/T tires don’t have too much of an issue on smooth pavements, as with their excessive biters they do pretty well in handling, braking and responsiveness. Though its only applicable to when things are dry.
I’ve explained all these factors below.
Dry Grip
Dry grip gets measure with how much the tire’s tread rubber meets up with the road.
Now both tires have pretty closed up lugs arrangement, as I showed you in the design section above. But still, the balls in the court of Falken AT3w, as it features a better longitudinal alignment of the blocks.
Atturo Trail Blade XT basically has slightly wider (slanted) lateral grooves, and they come in the way of allowing the tire to have a consistent connection with the surface (while rolling straight). So you get to see a shorter braking distance on Wildpeak AT3w.
Dry Handling
During cornering, the whole weight of the tire gets shifted towards the shoulders. So how much contact these outer shoulder lugs make with the ground is significant in determining the lateral traction.
That’s why looking at the shoulder lugs of both tires, it can be seen why Atturo Trail Blade XT is lacking more in comparison. The tire has much more wider grooves between the lugs and although it offers a decent lateral cleaning off-road, on pavements, the cornering abilities suffer a little bit.
Falken Wildpeak AT3w on the other hand has much more closed up lugs arrangement here, and even though you don’t get to have stone ejectors as a result, you do have a better handling times, no doubt.
Though keep in mind, that as both tires have similar weight (across all sizes), they both show similar steering response performance.
Recommended Read: Are all-terrain tires good for daily driving?
Fuel and Tread Usage
Both the fuel and tread consumption depends on the overall rolling resistance in general, though there are a few more factors to consider.
And considering both it can be seen why Falken Wildpeak AT3w offers better efficacy overall.
The tire although has similar weight in comparison (on average), it’s closed up lugs arrangement, still get to bear less pressure on them, as that weight gets divided evenly across a larger surface area.
So the lugs don’t get to rub off against the surface with as much forces, providing better fuel economy and greater tread life.
Moreover, enhancing the tread life further is it’s tread’s depth which goes up to 19/32″, so even though you get a softer compound composition, the tire still takes longer to burn off completely. That’s why you get 55k miles warranty with this tire.
Atturo Trail Blade XT on the other side, gives you 45k miles warranty, and it’s slightly lacking performance has to do with its lateral orientation of lugs. These don’t allow the tire to have a consistent/smooth contact with the road, and since overall weight gets divided on a smaller surface area of lugs, they burn off the surface with a greater force, consuming more fuel, and tread as a result.
Wet Traction
On wet roads, you need efficient water removal capabilities. And this provides the two elements of overall wet performance, grip and hydroplaning.
Wet Grip
Speaking about grip first, there are two main things to consider besides no. of sipes, and that’s tread flexibility and overall siping structure. And looking at both tires, it can seen by Falken AT3w provides better efficacy.
The tire provides you with dual siping design with interlocking pattern on the shoulder lugs. And with this pattern, the sipes don’t get stiff while cornering. Moreover, you also get a much softer rubber composition of the tread as well. So sipes remain flexible to bend/move providing the needed suction to suck water particles off.
Atturo Trail Blade XT on the other hand, although features a lot of sipes, they are all rectilinear, and despite having full depth, they get stiffer in comparison, so they don’t get to have as much of the water wiping capabilities as the tire’s competitor.
Moreover, superior wet traction on Wildpeak AT3w can also be explained with hydroplaning.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning happens when a layer of water forms between the tread and the road. And this occurs only when tread isn’t able to clean off itself from water in time.
But with deeper tread voids (going up to 19/32″), and the interlinked network of grooves, the Falken Wildpeak AT3w gets to provide superior water evacuation in comparison.
And the faster the water leaves out, the less water is left behind for the sipes to clean.
Atturo Trail Blade XT on the other hand features a more compacted design and not as much tread depth, so less volume of water is able to escape in its case.
Winter Traction
The factors affecting winter traction include grip, acceleration, lateral traction, stability, and the type of snow and ice on the road.
And in all of the factors above, the main thing that helps is the tire’s snow grabbing abilities. This is because snow sticks better on snow.
Now although the Atturo Trail Blade XT is not branded with 3 peak mountain snowflake (3pmsf) rating, the tire is still good enough when it comes to deep snow, with it’s lateral orientation of the tread blocks, which help in scooping up the snow as it rolls.
Falken Wildpeak AT3w on the other hand is better on hard packed snow and even a little bit of ice because of it’s C shaped notches stepped edges and dual siping.
Off Road Traction
Off-road there are a lot of different terrain challenges, some are pretty tough like the mud, while other are handled well even with less aggressive tires.
Let’s investigate all terrain types.
Muddy Trails
Mud is the toughest of all terrains, and here self cleaning grooves are crucial. That’s because mud easily packs up the tire and invites more mud to stick in (which brings in more packing).
And unlike snow, mud to mud contact is the worst for the traction there.
But in terms of Atturo Trail Blade XT, things are much better. The tire offers a network of channels where mud can easily pass through, and with lateral orientation of lugs forming symmetric paddles, they easily pick up the thick mud to throw it backwards and generating forward momentum with it.
Though Falken Wildpeak AT3w on the other hand, is also not too far off. It has tread depth to it’s advantage, and its interconnected grooves also keep the tread clean enough.
Moreover, it’s outer lugs are not that biting and provide better scooping in comparison (instead of digging, which you don’t want).
Recommended Read: Are all-terrain tires good on mud?
Rocky Terrains
In order to navigate through rocky terrains you need a tire that has a soft tread compound to allow for bendable blocks/lugs that can provide traction and a strong grip in all directions to avoid slipping.
Additionally, sidewall build is also very important as it protects against sharp puncturing encounters, and the lugs on top yields improved traction with lowered aired down pressure.
That’s why in comparison, you see a better performance on Falken Wildpeak AT3w. With a lot of angled biters in all directions, the tire provides gripping from all sides, and it’s outer edges and U shaped sidewall lugs are designed in a way to provide ample traction with lowered PSI.
The Atturo Trail Blade XT on the other side, does not features as many biters, though with horizontal orientation of lugs, you do get sightly better directional climbing abilities.
Sand
When it comes to improved performance on sand, lowering the tire’s air pressure is necessary, as it creates a “floating” effect, making the tire well-suited for soft terrain.
So the main thing is ensure tire would not dig in, as that’s the worst for the traction. That’s why tires’ weight, tread composition and sidewall lugs along with width are important factors here.
But since both tires weigh similarly (across all sizes), let look at other factors.
In case of Atturo Trail Blade XT, as you get a lateral orientation of lugs, they provide the paddling effect with the sand. Basically this type of design is not prone to digging.
Whereas the Falken Wildpeak AT3w although has sharper sides, it’s sidewall lugs provides it with enhanced section width and keeps it afloat.
On Gravely Roads
The self-cleaning grooves on off-road tires are an essential component for a successful off-roading experience on gravely roads.
That’s why tires without stone ejectors, can become clogged with dirt and stones, hindering traction and potentially causing harm (even with a cut-resistant rubber composition).
And since Wildpeak AT3w is missing up with these ejectors, it invites more stone to settle in its tread whereas the Atturo XT provides better efficacy.
To Sum Up
So overall, we have learned here that on dry and wet roads you get a clear winner, the Falken Wildpeak AT3w. The tire is also very quite on roads, and in terms of fuel and tread wear, let’s just say it’s better in comparison.
On the other side, the Atturo Trail Blade X/T features paddling grooves that do great on sand and mud, and provide longitudinal climbing on rocks as well.
