NOTE: This article has been edited and amended since its original post date in March of 2019. This review is current as of the tires being removed and replaced in April of 2019.



In November of 2017, I had a set of 315/75-16 Cooper STT Pros mounted up to my FJ Cruiser. Just a few weeks afterwards, I broke them in on a 6 day trip through Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Shortly thereafter, I wrote up my initial impressions with the tires, which can be found here. Since then, I’ve put 40K miles on the tires, and have gotten a chance to see them work in every condition imaginable. My original plan was to write the follow up after a year, but better late than never, right? Let’s begin.





ROAD PERFORMANCE

I noted previously that these are aggressive tires, and that silence should not be expected. While they made a noticeable amount of road noise from the get-go, that level did not go up significantly. In many tires, the road noise increases exponentially as the tire continues to wear, whereas the STT Pros seem to have maintained a consistent hum. You can have a conversation over them, and light music drowns their noise out. So that’s a plus.

Over the last 16 months, I have noticed a tendency for these tires to wander on the highway. To be fair, it’s almost impossible for any set of rubber this wide and with these kinds of lugs and treadblocks not to in some capacity. So it’s somewhat to be expected. However, for those who have never driven mudders or knobby-inspired tires, it will take some getting used to. Especially those who are slapping the STT Pros on as their first set of upsized rubber after a lift. As much as I hate California’s concrete highways, Oregon’s pavement is even worse, as the constant moisture and heavy traffic puts visible ruts into the asphalt. The Coopers constantly catch the lip of the ruts and want to pull the truck one way or the other. That frequency of correction is just downright annoying, and even dangerous if the driver isn’t paying full attention to the wheel. Again, it’s hard to say how much of that onus is strictly on these tires, and how much of it falls onto ODOT. Mark it as ‘food for thought’.

In the last 7K or so miles, I found a tendency for these tires to break free a bit on asphalt in wet conditions. This is something that comes as a bit of surprise, as they didn’t seem to have any sort of deficiencies in adverse conditions at first. The Toyota traction system and transmission setup don’t exactly encourage peel-outs, so to be able to make the tires chirp when pulling off from a dead stop into a turn or a quick jump across a street when the asphalt is moist is curious when you’ve got 11/32” of tread left.

Overall, I’d rate the road performance as a 6/10. They hold a straight line on good asphalt and concrete, and don’t make enough noise to be a nuisance. But they have a few vulnerabilities that seem to grow with time.

OFF ROAD PERFORMANCE

Now then, the meat and potatoes. We’ll start by following up on what I mentioned last time: they are tremendous over rocks, dirt, and sand. I’ve aired them down as low as 11 PSI with no beadlocks, and they haven’t lost a bead or complained one bit along the way. Aired down, they soak up every rut and bump in the trail so well, it feels like the shocks got bypasses added to them. Whether they’re kicking shale rocks around, chugging through dune sand, or climbing up soil and tree roots, they absolutely love to tackle sediment. These ain’t “mudders”, they’re rock stompers that yearn for ledges and climbs. They simply get it done, and get it done with ease.

In ‘17, I lamented about the lack of snow at the time of the first write up. Good news: I’ve gotten the Pros into enough of the white stuff to last a lifetime since; in many instances combining their love of rocks and sand into the process. In February of ‘18 for example, we tackled Top of the World east of Arches NP in snow conditions, and these tires only had to fight with one large ledge covered in slush and ice in the process. After a few attempts, the Coopers were victorious and made their way up the last snowy hill climb to the famous overlook no problem.

But that snow was child’s play compared to the uncharacteristic onslaught on the WA/OR border in February of this year. I took this opportunity to really see what they could handle in powder and ice. In short, quite a bit. I cut path through fresh powder with no resistance, sat in prior tracks in hard-packed conditions, and snowbashed through slush and pack. Aired down, the Pros were up to the task, even if it became clear that it was not exactly their strong suit. I must say that they are practically impervious to being dead stuck (short of me dropping the whole passenger side into a ditch misjudging a shoulder).

As much as I trust them to get the job done in snow, they’re still not great in it. Namely, on tight trails and switchbacks, where mere inches can be the catalyst for a serious recovery. On multiple occasions in the PNW, I’ve gotten a bit of a rush trying to keep the truck on a tight line near drop offs and waterways. They have a tendency to slide a bit before biting and correcting, and practically refuse to let you cut your own new track when you’re in someone else’s, even when it’s shallow. That all being said, I just made path up a pretty healthy hill covered in about 10” of hardpacked bottom and melting slush on top yesterday. The best way to summarize the STT Pro in the snow is that it’s serviceable. The lack of true snow/ice sipes or ability to add studs holds them back in this category. Remember, while they are an aggressive tire, they’re not a true “mud” tire, and so one expects a bit better performance there. This snow performance only worsens as the tread deteriorates (naturally). But much like the wet road performance, this is a result of an inherent design flaw, which I will touch on next.

I’d rate the offroad performance as a whole as an 8.5/10. They are my favorite rock or mud condition tire I’ve ever had, but compared to some of the competition in snow, they simply don’t excel, and that takes a bit of their luster.