The Toyo Open Country AT3 is an all-terrain tire, designed for a balance of on-road comfort and off-road capability. On the other hand, the Nitto Ridge Grappler falls into the hybrid tire category, often referred to as rugged terrain tires. These hybrids are more aggressive than all-terrain tires but not quite as extreme as mud-terrain tires.
Let’s find a better tire for you here.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaway
So according to my tests, the Toyo Open Country AT3 is better on highways, as it offers a more decent cornering stability, steering response, grip and other on road factors as well, which include, noise, millage and fuel economy.
On the other hand, the Ridge Grappler comes with a more durable design that causes some problems on roads particularly in wet conditions, but the tire really makes up for it off road.
Plus its winter performance is also okay considering its category and the fact that it dosent carry 3 peak rating like the Toyo AT3.
Detailed review of Toyo Open Country AT3
Durability
Let’s start things off with durability. Now when it comes to Toyo Open Country AT3, the tire is not tough enough. It’s internal construction create overall weaker tread that includes the sidewalls as well.
It has 2 ply polyester casing and it’s reinforced with 2 layers of high strength steel belts, but on top of that, there’s only a single ply of nylon (where most of the A/T tires get to have at least 2 layers).
So Toyo AT3 although provides 2 ply sidewalls, the tire is weaker because of less overall number of layers.
In comparison, the Nitto Ridge Grappler is made with 3 ply polyester casing and 2 steel belts reinforced with 2 more layers of polyamide.
So here you get 3 ply sidewalls (tougher of course) and one extra layer on top as well of cap ply.
But with more durability, the tire also comes heavier which dampens on road performance, but at the same time, it’s not wise to test out Toyo AT3 on rugged terrains, especially if you have P rated ones. A better suitable tire here would be LT.
For Your Info: Compared to Nitto Ridge Grappler, the BFG KO2 provides you with better durability, despite being less aggressive.
A Side Note: I worked with these guys to make the following video:
Tread Design
The Toyo Open Country AT3 provide you with a very prominent S and F shaped blocks.
All these blocks have sharp biting edges and reinforced foundations which keep them stable during cornering and braking.
The deep notches on the F shaped blocks face in all directions to provide grip from all sides.
These central blocks get divided from the shoulder blocks with 2 circumferential channels.
If we talk sides, the staggered shoulder blocks come with similar siping, but the blocks don’t feature any biters, they aren’t equipped with any kind of notches, and the sides are very squared off, so they don’t make sharp edges as well.
The lateral gaps between the blocks also include ridges in between which connect the two blocks together.
These connectors aid in overall cornering stability.
Nitto Ridge Grappler on the other side, is made out of sharp triangular blocks, where the two on the sides have deep traction notches while the other two have common features including same siping pattern, and off set edges, except that they also connect with the shoulder blocks.
Together these blocks make Z shaped Grooves, see if you can picture it.
These lateral grooves connect the outer wider longitudinal channels.
If we move towards the shoulder blocks, they are very less aggressive compared to central blocks, as they have none of the notches nor biting edges. Instead each block carry a simple sipe.
But with wider gaps between the shoulder blocks, the tire provides stone ejectors missing in Toyo Open Country AT3.
Sizes Specs and Differences
Starting with Nitto Ridge Grappler, the tire comes in 16 to 24 inches, in speed ratings: T and Q . And load ratings: C to F.
Weight range of the tire is 36 to 91 pounds (greater in comparison). And tread depth goes from 13 to 18/32″, where majority of the sizes carry 16.4/32″.
Toyo Open Country AT3 provides you sizes ranging from, 15 to 22 inches (rim size), where they are available in Q, R, S, T and H speed ratings, and up to F load range ratings.
Weight of the tire ranges due to sizes variations, it goes from 28 to 72 lbs.
And if I talk about tread depth, it goes from 12.7 to 17/32″, averaging to about 15/32″.
For your info: In 19″, Toyo AT3 only has 2 available, 255/55R19 and 255/60R19.
On Road Performance
Where one tire is made more aggressive, it mostly lacks on highways, so it’s not surprising to see Toyo AT3 better here in comparison, in all sub categories, traction, steering responsiveness and stability.
By the way these the three main factors here I’m going to discuss.
Dry Traction
In case of Toyo AT3, the tire is slightly better.
Besides proving smaller spacing between the tread blocks, which provide more rubber to road contact, the tire also features reinforced foundations underneath, which keeps the braking and handling firm and stable.
During cornering, most of the pressure is on shoulder blocks, and Toyo AT3 with ridges in between them, restricts the movement and provides a good combination of softness and stiffness making ride very stable.
The ridges (connectors b/w shoulder blocks) also helps in reducing noise, but more on that later.
On the flip side, the Nitto Ridge Grappler doesn’t offer as much grip as some other tires. Even though it’s a broader tire, its larger block valleys mean it doesn’t make as much contact with the road compared to its competitors.
That said, for such a rugged tire, it’s surprisingly good when it comes to dry handling.
Despite the wider spacing between the shoulder blocks (where the stone ejectors are placed), the Ridge Grappler manages to deliver solid grip.
And this is because its shoulder blocks don’t sacrifice too much rubber space, allowing for a larger contact patch with the pavement. It’s a nice balance for a tire that’s built to handle tougher terrains.
Steering Response & Handling Stability
When it comes to tire responsiveness, a few key factors come into play: tread design, weight, and sidewall construction.
And in these areas, the Toyo AT3 has the upper hand. It’s a lighter tire with fewer internal plies and a more compact tread block arrangement, which translates to better grip and quicker response times.
On the other hand, the Nitto Ridge Grappler struggles to keep up. Its wider grooves, especially between the shoulder blocks, slow down feedback, making it feel less responsive.
And add in its 3-ply polyester construction, and the tire tends to understeer, which compromises overall handling stability.
Now this difference in performance is also reflected in their speed ratings, where the Toyo AT3 goes up to an H rating, while the Nitto maxes out at T.
You can learn all about speed ratings here:
Wet Performance
The wet highway traction of the tire is high dependent on two most important things, the sipes and the tread composition.
Sipes basically suck the water particles, and they shower it out, as the tire sweeps over, that’s how water get cleaned.
So a good tire on wet has to have more number of sipes, and they should be effective enough.
The Toyo Open Country AT3 provides 3D full depth siping, which are also interlocking (meaning on corners they would not stiffen up), so the tire provides better water cleaning which results in traction.
And although it’s better in comparison here, overall it’s not better, for example compared to Falken Wildpeak AT3w, it lacks by a large margin, as it offers a stiffer compound which besides having 3D sipes does not provide enough flexibility to the blocks.
The Nitto Ridge Grappler on the other side, is not good enough as well, and shows deficiency in comparison. It’s tread is although softer, it’s sipes are not interlocking and are not able to provide above average lateral traction.
Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning or Aquaplaning (same thing) is a word for tire floating on water.
And if a tire is better at clearing water off its tread in time, its able to move over water without floating.
And you say the tire has good hydroplaning resistance, which by the way is measured by float speeds (max speed up to which tires can move on standing water without floating).
Now here the Nitto Ridge Grappler with wider channels and greater tread depth, provides efficient channeling of water out of its tread voids, so it does a good enough job.
The Toyo AT3 on the other side, although provides decent interconnected channels, the ridges between the shoulder blocks don’t allow as much water to evacuated quickly, so its performance is not great.
Winter Performance
When it comes to winter performance, there are a few key areas to focus on: grip, acceleration, and handling in both light and deep snow, as well as on ice.
Now the Toyo Open Country AT3 shines here, thanks to its clever design. It features plenty of notches on its S and F-shaped blocks, along with ridges between the shoulder blocks.
And these elements work together to trap snow, providing excellent traction and earning the tire the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) rating.
Just a quick note: The 3PMSF rating only measures acceleration on snow and it doesn’t say anything about braking or handling.
Anyways, the Toyo AT3 also includes interlocking sipes and concave scoops on its staggered shoulder blocks, which help it tackle slightly deeper snow with ease.
On the other hand, the Nitto Ridge Grappler could use some improvement in winter traction.
Its wider grooves and fewer sipes aren’t as effective at trapping snow, which limits its grip in snowy conditions. This is why it doesn’t carry the 3PMSF rating.
By the way, according to my tests, the best off-road tire for winter conditions is the Mickey Baja Boss A/T (review)
Comfort and Noise
Comfort and Noise are basically on road factors, and here the overall construction of the tire highly depends.
Out of these tire in question, the Toyo Open Country AT3 provides you with a quieter ride.
First the tire don’t let the noise to properly enter through the shoulders, as the lateral spacing between the blocks have ridges in between (which block the flow).
For Your Info: Noise is just air flowing in the tread and hitting walls.
When it comes to comfort, the Toyo’s AT benefits from having fewer nylon layers wrapped around its steel belts in its internal construction.
And this makes the tire less stiff overall. So even though the rubber compound on top is relatively harder, it still does a great job of soaking up road imperfections, providing a smoother and more comfortable ride than you might expect from an all-terrain tire.
So in terms of ride quality Toyo AT3 takes the lead.
On the other side, the Nitto Ridge Grappler has a lot of gaps between the shoulder blocks and air freely moves there (and strikes) and this produces more noise.
The tire is also stiffer internally as it has 3 ply polyester and 2 ply caps of nylon, so the tire is not able to soak up the bumps too effectively.
However, these tires provide a good comfort off road when you pressure down these tires, and in comparison, the Toyo AT3s feel stiff (especially on gravel, as the tire has no stone ejectors).
Fuel Efficiency
The Nitto Ridge Grappler has a lot of rolling resistance. The tire has softer rubber on top (which provides the stickiness with the pavement) and it’s not that easier to move.
Moreover, the 3 ply polyester construction of the tire get to have a lot of weight in comparison, so with that more pressure is emphasized on highways, amplifying the rolling resistance.
So it’s not surprising to see such an aggressive, heavy weight tire consuming more fuel.
In comparison, the Toyo AT3 is very light weight. It has 2 ply polyester casing instead of 3, and similarly, the cap ply is also less in number, so naturally the tire reduces a lot of weight.
The weight is also affected by how deep the rubber is (tread depth). More of it means greater weight.
That’s why Toyo AT3 is more fuel efficient overall.
Tread Life
Toyo Open Country AT3 is one of the best tires out there (in all terrain category) when it comes to wear. The tire does everything right here. It has a stiffer compound and reinforced foundations underneath it’s tread blocks which take some time to wear off.
On the other side, the Nitto Ridge Grappler with more weight shows more rolling resistance which translates in to faster tread wear.
And although the tire has the advantage of more tread depth (which takes longer to wear off), it’s softer compound still does not provide it with better life in comparison.
Nitto Ridge Grappler also does not offer any kind of warranty.
For Your Info: General Grabber atx out of all other all terrain tires, provide you with the best tread life.
Off Road Performance
Off road include a lot of terrains, and I’ve already covered on roads, and snow, so what’s left is mud, sand and rocks, let’s discuss them all one by one.
Mud traction
Typically, all-terrain (A/T) tires aren’t great in mud, but that’s where the Nitto Ridge Grappler stands out.
It sits right between all-terrain and mud-terrain tires, blending the best of both worlds.
Its tread features mud-terrain-style shoulder blocks for better off-road traction, while the central area keeps the all-terrain design for on-road comfort and versatility.
So the tire shows better performance on mud in comparison. It’s wider lateral shoulder block’s spacing allow a good volume of mud to escape.
On the other side, the Toyo AT3, with connectors between the shoulder blocks don’t allow the evacuation of mud and it get packed quickly.
Sand Traction
Sand traction requires a lot of rubber footprint. That’s why balloon tires do so good on this terrain.
So here the Toyo AT3 does things a little better. First, the tire is lighter, so on slopes, it shows better grip and less force is required for forward momentum.
Second, it’s shoulder blocks are not aggressive, so they don’t dig in and waste energy that way, again, they try to move forward.
The Nitto Ridge Grappler on the other side, although provides effectiveness with mud scoops on sides and thicker sidewall lugs, which during lowered pressure work great, the tire’s heavier weight let’s it down.
Traction on Rocks
The Nitto Ridge Grappler is the king of rocks. The tire offers everything here which makes a tire perfect for this type of terrain. First off, it’s tread and construction is very confidence inspiring. The 3 ply construction allows you to crawl on rocks carefree.
Moreover, the thicker sidewall lugs (on both sides of the tire) provide great biting abilities,
And yes, thee tire’s stickier rubber compound also plays a big role, giving you the traction you need to stay in control.
Though the Ridge Grappler does have one drawback: it lacks stone ejectors, which can make gravel driving a bit tricky, especially at higher speeds.
However, its chip-resistant rubber helps protect against damage, adding an extra layer of durability for off-road adventures.
Take Home Points
So out of both tires here, the Toyo AT3 is better on roads, as it provides better traction, on both wet and dry, though it’s wet performance can still be improved.
The tire also has 3pmsf rating unlike the Nitto Ridge, and provides ample snow traction.
But it can’t outperform Nitto Ridge Grappler off road, as it’s a weaker tire in comparison that can not handle rugged terrains as confidently.
