The folks over at Discount Tire asked us to put a set of Falken Rocky Mountain ATS to the test and then be brutally honest in our review. It’s a tough job but somebody has to do it!
Every tire carries a wealth of information… the industry’s own version of truth in manufacturing. To make informed tire choices you need to understand the ABCs of the tire industry. A quick read of Discount Tire’s tire dictionary will give you a big leg up when comparing tires.
Some tire facts of the Falken Rocky Mountain ATS we tested: LT285/70R17D1 121S B
- type- light truck
- size – 285/70/17
- construction – radial
- plies – D (8 plies)
- load – 121 (3,197 lbs)
- speed rating – S (up to 112mph {don’t try to test this one})
- temperature grade – B
In order to run these tires through a real world situation we opted to have the guys at Discount Tires mount up our 285/70/17 on stock rims with traditional lead weight balancing. Our rig is part hard core 4×4 trail rig, part overland explorer and come Monday, daily driver. That means these Rocky Mountain all terrains need to balance performance across all sorts of driving conditions. The first thing we noticed is these tires look good on the rig. Rugged, multi-angled grooves and blocked tread with a 50,000 mile warranty… But can they dance when the when things get a little dirty.
To us, all terrain means dirt, rocks, mud, hills, washboard gravel and water. In order to tackle all these conditions we aired them down to 25 psi and hit the trails of the northwest. On loose dirt and rocks where gravity pulls downhill, the tires maintained a grip on the ground without sliding, allowing our gears to work their magic and keep the rig motoring under control down the hills.
One of our favorite thing is to bomb down the old logging road (not so closed course and definitely not a professional driver). Opening it up on the gravel, the Rocky Mountain ATS’ felt confident as we zipped through the corners and raised a little dust.
When you think 4×4 adventures and off-road driving, climbing over stuff in the way is usually what comes to mind. We motored over to the rock garden in order to see how the Falken tires held up to the boulders. Even with mud all around, the all terrains grabbed and climbed up rocks as they contoured to the obstacles allowing us to keep a controlled forward momentum.
With all the dirt it was only a matter of time before we looked to wash off the rig and the north west has plenty of puddles to “clean up” in. The tire’s aggressive tread design shed water and found traction in the mud below letting us make a big splash on the trail.
After a day of wheeling trails, we can honestly say Falken’s Rocky Mountain ATS are a strong tire capable of living up to its all terrain designation.
And what about daily driving? We put 2,000 miles on these tires in a short two weeks. Think four trips from Seattle WA. to Eugene OR… Hula Betty just started university. The rig covered wet high ways, worn down city streets and pot hole filled back roads. With that much travel, we appreciated the smooth quiet ride and sure footed grip, especially at 70+ mph on the wet pavement… Have you driven I5? It’s a high speed trucking route where cars are allowed as long as they stay out of the way.
Balanced on and off road performance along with daily driver comfort makes Falken’s Rocky Mountain ATS a good choice for anyone interested in a tire that will play hard on the weekend and show up for work come Monday.
Guess our first impressions of the Falken Rocky Mountain ATS were right… Who Knew.
