Toyo Open Country AT3 Review

Toyo Open Country AT3 is an all terrain tire which is a recent update to it’s previous model AT2 where significant improvements were made. The tire is now 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rated, offers better traction on dry roads and provides good wear life. And even though it looks slightly less aggressive (then before), it still does not disappoint at all off road with it’s several biters.

Being a tire engineer, and owning this tire a couple of times, I think Toyo Open Country AT3 really provides a decent overall experience. Its gripping off road with it’s notches everywhere and staggered shoulder blocks where its lugs comes in handy, with low bars/psi pressure. On snow, the tire’s full depth sipes interlock with each other and enhances traction earning this tire severe winter rating. And on road, with its stiffer compound the tire provides one of the best on road grip and handling out there.

The tire basically changing a lot of things in the market. I think with Toyo Open Country AT3 around, the BF Goodrich KO2 is going to loose it’s customers by some.

What I like about this tire:

• Thicker sidewalls which provides better off road contact.
• Very impressive snow traction, outperforming a lot of other All Terrain tires.
• Great Dry on road handling and smaller breaking distances.
• Satisfactory tread life.

What can be improved about it:

• Sidewalls are only 2 ply and they seem weak. It’s P metric sides scare me to be honest.
• Average wet traction, where the tire does not communicate too well with the steering.

Tread Design

The tire provides very explicit shaped blocks, where the ones in the dead center are S shaped.

These have sharp biters and have supporting tread under them which helps them keep their stability on road.

The surrounding blocks look like F and C shaped. Actually, it’s the deep notches which gives them this letter like shapes.

These help a lot off-road, giving this tire longitudinal and sideways traction.

The off set sipes are full depth and interlock as the blocks flex and they also aid in wet traction.

Overall 2 circumferential channels are made interconnected with central grooves, separating sides.

On the shoulder blocks on each side, they form staggered pattern with similar siping but here no aggressive biters are seen.

And if you look close enough, you’ll also see connectors in between them, Ill explain them more below, discussing their on road traction.

Compare Toyo Open Country AT3 with others

• Falken Wildpeak AT3w
• BF Goodrich KO2
• Goodyear DuraTrac
• Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT
• Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T
• Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus
• Nitto Ridge Grappler
• Nitto Recon Grappler
• Nitto Terra Grappler
• Yokohama Geolandar AT G015
• Firestone Destination X/T
• Firestone Destination AT2
• Kenda Klever AT2
• Goodyear Wrangler Ultraterrain AT
• Hankook Dynapro AT2 Xtreme
• Nitto Nomad Grappler
• Cooper Discoverer ST Maxx
• Pro Comp AT Sport
• Hankook Dynapro ATM
• Kumho Road Venture AT52
• Toyo RT Trail

On Road Performance

When it comes to all terrain tires, pavement and highway performance is not usually their strongest suit. But things changed when Toyo Open Country AT3 arrived.

The tire gives a very alert steering response, because of it’s polymer rubber composition where the blocks are already firm and with foundations underneath they get even more stable.

The shoulder blocks with connectors in between, does 2 things, one it provides Whisper Groove Technology initially introduced by Cooper Tires.

And second, with larger spacing between the blocks, it does not allow blocks to move too much, keeping them firm on road during braking and cornering.

Although, sometimes it feels as if the tire is pushing up front on corners, but given the tire’s aggressive design that can be overlooked.

However, wet grip is something you should keep in mind with this tire.

While extreme cornering, the tire on wet feels as if it’s very eager to turn, and this is aggravated with speed.

Without traction control on, the tire always over-steers on the wet roads.

Wet traction does not meet the expectation, even with the tire’s multiple full depth sipes and winter rating.

But the tire is still good enough performer in both straight and curved aqua tests showing pretty decent resistance to hydroplaning.

Durability

Durability on Toyo Open Country AT3 is not going to impress. The tire has 2 layers of polyester which is wrapped with cords making steel belts (2 layers), which is a norm with all terrain tires.

But all these layers are then covered with just 1 layer of nylon (where most of the top tier all terrain tires offer 2 ply nylon covering).

So it’s sidewalls are very weak.

Overall, I’d say its better to avoid P metric sizes, if you are mostly going off road. The tire does not provide enough nylon wrapping on the sidewalls.

The better choice would be to go for LT sizes which would be slightly tougher.

Although if you are wondering, out of all tires, the toughest one out there has to be BF Goodrich KO2 where Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T (review) is close second, both having 3 ply sidewalls.

Fuel Efficiency

Toyo Open Country AT3 being an off roader can not be expected to give too good a fuel economy, but the tire provides even better consumption than the manufacturer stats.

The tire although provides lesser durability with less no. of layers of nylon in it’s inner construction, it helps the tire with weight.

So with less overall weight and being a slightly stiffer tire, it provides low values of rolling resistance, giving decent MPG which saves you some dough in the long run.

If you are wondering: Out of all AT tires I’ve reviewed so far, the Firestone Destination AT2 provides the best fuel efficiency compared with the rest. The tire’s literally pay for themselves in no time.

Comfort and Noise

Toyo made some significant changes in the comfort department with Open Country AT3, the noise levels are greatly reduced due to it’s stiffer compound and Whisper Groove Technology I talked about in the on road performance section above.

But the stiffer compound does not take impacts too well.

But still the tire is softer enough, to give you an idea, its softer than Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus and also than Kumho’s AT.

In terms of noise, when you go above 50 mph, you are going to feel a slightly pitched and wobbling sound. The app I used to measure the levels showed 75 dBs, on average.

But overall given the tire’s dry traction and cornering abilities, it provides you with a pretty decent ride quality.

Also if you have a heavy ride, these boys would do just fine there.

Mileage

Toyo Open Country AT3 provides a pretty decent resistance to wear. It has a UTQG rating of 600 (almost similar to Falken Wildpeak).

It’s previous generations wasn’t good in this area and Toyo did a lot of things to fix this issue with the newer tire.

First they made it’s width slightly narrower, so that less rubber could meet and rub with the road.

Second, they also provided its compound with different polymers including silica and now the tire provides a good balance between wear and traction.

In other words, the tire is not too stiff or soft.

Overall, if I can recall my last set lasted about 40,000 miles which stayed half the time on highways and half the time on off road incline tests (I’ll reveal that data in the upcoming articles).

Snow Traction Performance

The two factors I just discussed above also affects snow traction.

But keep in mind, snow is a very different terrain and you need to understand what goes on there.

In order to achieve good numbers on snow, an all terrian tire:

• Has to be capable enough to make sufficient snow to snow contact.
• Should be well rounded and narrow.
• Should have a compound which is softer.
• Of course, should provide multiple biters.

Toyo Open Country AT3 checks all boxes as it provides with several biters and notches on all blocks, and these don’t let the snow escape too easily from its grooves.

So this way more snow meets the snow, enhancing the tire’s friction.

The tire’s 3D interlocking sipes also help holding on to the snow particles.

And being a narrower tire than before with a softer compound, the tire does not freeze with winter temperature and provide better pressure on snow.

But the tire is not good with ice, where the most important factor is sipes. And it’s siping is still less especially if compared to a dedicated winter tire.

Off Road Performance

Off road performance is very important for any all terrain tire. It’s because of this, that they have to compromise on so many other on road factors.

So they really have to shine on this area. Good news is, Toyo’s boy does not disappoint too much here except for muddy terrains, where all others struggle too.

Muddy Terrain Performance

Mud is pretty scary if you are on all terrain tires. They usually don’t hold up too well and Toyo AT3 is also not an exception.

The tire does not provide wide enough gaps for the thick mud to move around.

The tire only provide two outer channels and even those are not wide enough. And the central interconnecting channels simply becomes a pool party for mud, and it does not leave the tire from there that easy.

The tire’s tread depth is also not something to brag about, so that’s not helping this tire either.

But the tire with staggered shoulders which act as mud scoops to a little extent, allows it to fight till the last breath.

If you are planing to taking these boys on mud, always have a backup plan.

Rocky Areas Traction

Compared to it’s previous model, the Toyo Open Country AT3 now offers slightly longer sidewall lugs.

So when you lower down the pressure levels of the tire, these lugs would add to the existing footprint of the tire, enhancing traction on rocky areas.

It’s central blocks also have biters which face in all directions, and because of this, it’s able to firmly latch on the surface.

On gravel, although the tire offers a good chip protective rubber, you are going to feel your ride a lot. The tire is very susceptible to stones getting stuck in it’s tread voids, and it does not offer any kind of stone ejectors to expel them.

Instead of ejectors the tire puts connectors in between as I showed in the image above.

But to be honest, this is nothing compared to how much its sidewalls scare me as they are very weak for a aggressive looking tire.

Sand Performance

It took me some time to understand how a tire on sand works. It requires a lot of skills to move on it especially when things get deeper.

Here the Toyo Open Country AT3 has a slight advantage of weight. The tire with less layers underneath makes it weigh very less, and this helps a lot.

The tire’s staggered shoulders with scoops are really helpful by the way, they are not going to dig in too much and keep the forward momentum going.

And that’s exactly what you need on sand.

Actually, it’s shoulders act as paddles and move the sand back and throw the tires forward.

But if you have never driven on sand, you are going to get stuck with these tires.

Take Home Point

The Toyo Open Country AT3 is simply a great overall all rounder tire. It comes on my list of best all terrain tires. You can find that article from the search bar.

These tires are going to impress on dry roads. They are great to handle and they are going to feel quite sporty even if you take sharp turns with them.

Off road, the tire with 3 peak mountain snowflake rating is going to give you ample traction and on other terrains, it offers enough biters to give you a satisfactory ride.

But keep in mind, the tire is not so good in the wet department. And yes, it’s durability is not impressive at all, if not disappointing.

Tread wear is okay (it comes with 65k miles warranty, which is at the high end when you look at other all terrain tires).