Tyre Feedback - Cooper

[Maxhead]

http://www.coopertires.com.au/includes/tyres/8_main_thumb.pnghttp://www.coopertires.com.au/includes/tyres/7_main_thumb.pnghttp://www.coopertires.com.au/includes/tyres/6_main_thumb.pnghttp://www.coopertires.com.au/includes/tyres/1_main_thumb.png

Tyre Feedback threads are designed to give members positive and negative feedback and other information relating to a particular tyre brand.

Please post first hand accounts on the tyre only as this is NOT a tyre bagging thread

Information we are looking for is noise, grip, look, wear, handling, recommended PSI or any other information that members find useful and is relevant to the tyre type.

Please post your comments/feedabck and vote in the poll to show your tyre type preference.

[BillsGU]

I'm on my third lot of Cooper STs. They are a great compromise between ATs and MTs. For the type of driving I do ATs are too tame and MTs are too aggressive. STs are just fine (as per baby bear).

[gec]

On my second set of Cooper's, first set was the STT's loved em but I thought I'd try the ST's this time, very happy with both types of tire and will definatly be buying another set, just not sure which one to get yet, but leaning towards the STT

[marc b]

I have just got my first set of coopers stt 32x11.5x15 and i am happy with them so far. they seem to handle good and they are not as loud on the road as I thought they would be

[RustyNails]

Have the ATR and found them to be really good. Bought them because of the tread depth and reported long life and so far they are wearing well.
When I first got them they did tend to move around a bit if you chucked the Patrol into a corner too fast but either they have adapted to my driving or my driving has adapted to the tyre because I don't notice that now.
They are not the best on wet bitumen, they lose traction easily, but are not noisy at all. They do however pick up and hold the little rocks on the road. These work their way out and I regularly hear little rocks hitting the inner guards or bouncing along the road.
Haven't used them in serious mud or off road terrain, only sand and a few gravel hills, so can't comment on their off road ability.

Paul

P.S Not sure if I will use them, might try something different, will decide when the time comes (a long way off yet).

[Gordy]

31 10.5 15 AT's
I have had these now for some time and i found them to be an extremely effective tyre, if you air them down off road. Running on an FJ60 cruiser at the time fairly heavy travelling over boulder and gravel it is imperative to air down correctly or they will chip and tear lugs, below 20psi I found worked for my situation. Sand driving towing a camper, camper down to around 12psi, vehicle varied between 18 on the high side to 15 on the low side of PSI and they responded excellent to the pressure drop. life of the Coopers is impressive, cant tell you milage, maybe the thief that stole the Blue 60 series could respond! Cost of the Cooper is not impressive at the time I purchased, but you get what you pay for. I would recommend them as I will be placing Coopers on the GQ for next tyre change. note, old AT pattern has changed I believe.

[growler2058]

Sorry all im gunna swear twice now I've had the ST on an xj cherokee and a hilux (washing my mouth out with soap now), excellant in the sand I didnt get stuck where everyone else did in very soft sand down at Southend SA. Not as good in the mud obviously but still a good performer and fine on the road. They did air down really well even on the relatively light cherokee (bagged out with noticable increase in footprint). However on my xj and my hilux they wore very strangely and unevenly this also was the case with a mates troopy. Coopers recommend rotating every 10,000 but from my experience I would rotate every 5k to try evening that wear. It may have been alignment i hear you say but three totally different vehicles just seems strange to me. These were the ST not the ST-C. Also FYI coopers and Mickey thompson come from the same factory.


Sorry i know i swore a few more times than i said i would hahahaha

[macca]

I had a set ot ST's on a '05 hilux I had, the rears wore pretty badly on the Simpson trip, most of the damage done around the Moomba Gas Fields as the tracks were well graded with sharp stones that the fronts spat into or stood up for the rears to cop it. Got over 65000klm with 40% left on the fronts but 15-20% on the rears. Allways rotated them at 5000klm to.
Then got a set of STT's what a difference in off road grip, fantastic, got about 70000klm from them, now worn them out on the Patrol.
As they are worn I have been pushing them a bit harder on a sharp rocky climbs and have ripped a lug off one and staked the side wall on another recently and are being replaced.
Went for MTZ from Micky Thompson only reason was the side biters are massive compared to the Coopers.
Same price and exact same measurements and have a feeling the carcases are identical.
Coopers are good and would use them again, never had a flat in all that driving as well.

[snicko]

We put cooper S/T's on the GU and are very happy with them. Done mostly bitty driving (as we live so far from anything!) and sand driving and they have never let us down. Rotate every 5000km and get a wheel alignment every 10,000 just to get the absolute best out of them. Would buy them again and recommend them.

[Ade]

33x15 Discoverer STT. This is my current and 1st Cooper set. About 60k km on the clock, rotate and balanced every 10k km. Great tires even on a paved road..love them very much. Looks great too. Definetely would recommend them :smiley_thumbs_up:.

[fixer982]

I have 33" Cooper S/Ts on my GU and they have done about 70,000kms. I have only rotated them a couple of times (slack, I know), and they are still fine. I do most driving on bitumen but in mud and sand they have been excellent. I am looking forward to buying my next set and will probably fit 35" since they will apparently go on the stock Ti Alloys. I spoke to a lot of people before I put them on and everybody who had them swore they were great. I had an old 85 Pajero and put them on that and they also were great. No punctures even in the Flinders where the roads are often covered with small razor sharp red shale stones. They have my vote.

They look great, grip bitumen really well and are not much noisier than the original Highway Terrain tyres that came standard. I run mine at 34 psi front and 36 psi rear. I let them down to about 28 when doing a lot of rock as they seem to flex and give a bit more. The strength in the sidewalls seems to be a big factor. On sand I let them down to 15 psi and they work really well.

I was warned by the Coopers agent here that the STT's are a bit noisy on bitumen, and not as good in the wet, so I think I will stick to the S/T for the moment.

[Neil Kendall]

Long time reader and first time participant of this site. I'm onto my 3rd Patrol, two GQ's back in the 90's and currently in a 2004 DX wagon 4.2TDi. I'm a very happy camper. Have had Coopers on my Patrols and had great mileage and hassle free runs. Look forward to members input and comments.

[growler2058]

Gday mate welcome aboard theyre a good mob here full of great info and advice

[canuck]

I just got a set of studded Cooper Discoverer M+S for my Safari. So far they seem to be okay on snow but I have only had one snow day to test them. Tomorrow I am heading up to the interior so should have about 500 kms of more of snow highways to see how they run.

http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk395/AdrenalineAddiction/002-2.jpg

My wife's Safari has my old studded Hakkapeliitta LT. They now have 3 winter season on them and still stick to snow and ice better than most new snow and ice tires. I just could not afford the money for them this time on my Safari.

http://www.tiremedia.com/images/tire-big/nokian-hakkapeliitta-lt.jpg

[BillsGU]

WOW!! Studded tyres. Have driven above the snow line in Oz on many, many occasions - but have never seen a set of these. I guess our conditions are no where near as extreme as in North America. Still ........................ it would be like a chainsaw ripping along the tracks of the outback .................. hmmm. :wink::wink::wink:

[canuck]

Gave the studded Coopers a good test this weekend with a mixed bag of snow, compact snow, slush, black ice and wet roads. They did very well on everything - just about as good as the Nokians. On the black ice through the corners they still held but drifted quite a bit more than the Nokians. On compact snow they were brilliant doing 100 kph through corners posted at 80 kph. I caught up to and passed all the petro powered vehicles that had passed me climbing the hills. :harhar:

[BillsGU]

Hi Canuck - just a question. When the studs wear down do you replace them (do they screw out or something) or do they go all the way down to the belts of the tyre (as in when the studs are worn out, so is the tyre) ?

[canuck]

Hi Canuck - just a question. When the studs wear down do you replace them (do they screw out or something) or do they go all the way down to the belts of the tyre (as in when the studs are worn out, so is the tyre) ?

The studs are shot into the stud hole with a stud gun - basically a nail gun for studs. Some tires come studded from the factory and usally have higher quality studs than most tires shops will have on hand. The studs usually last as long as the tire if they are quality studs. If you are always traveling on snow and ice, there is very little wear on the studs. I have snapped heads off of a few on drive tires with too much skinny pedal on wet pavement. You can get a shop to pull out the broken studs with pliers and put in new studs with a stud gun. If you have allowed debris to enter the stud hole, then most shops will put not put in a replacement stud.

You will note that many MT tires use to have holes for studs - some, like the Kumos, still have stud holes. An MT tire is not a great tire for snow for the same reason they are not great on sand - they tend to excavate too much. But because the rubber is softer than on an AT tire, I have known people who have gotten them studded and used them in the winter. <Some people just sipe them by hand and use them in the winter.> Personally, I think that is a waste of a set of tires because now you have a MT tire that can only be used in winter seasons which really will only be mediocre in winter conditions. You are far better off with a set of MTs for wheeling, ATs for highway and light off-road and studded winter tires for winter. The wife's Safari just has two sets. I know have 3 sets for mine, as I acquired a set of MTs this fall. Yes, it is more cash outlay at first but I won't be wearing out MTs on pavement.

[snicko]

We have Cooper ST's. Rotated every 5,000km and wheel aligned 3 times in their 35,000kms.

At about 15,000 we noticed they had developed cracks all around the edge just below the tread.
The dealer I bought them from had stopped selling Coopers so when I was in the big smoke I took the Troll into a distributor who put me on to the importer.
He looked over the tyres and said we have looked after them and the cracks have no effect on the tread but he wouldn't like to have them on his vehicle so he gave us a deal on the original 6 we had. Two brand new ones (rear wheel carrier tyres) and 4 on the vehicle.

We now have 6 brand new Discover ST Cooper Tyres!
So will see how these go.

Very impressed with the service.


YOU CAN SEE THE CRACKS AND THE MISSING CHUNKS!!
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/Tyres/P1030973.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/Tyres/P1030974.jpg

THE NEW DISCOVER ST
http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/Tyres/P1030978.jpg

[bastardo]

Snicko, what size s/t's did you end up with and how are you feeling about them? Can you post a side view pic. Interested in seeing how they look. Thinking about grabbing a set of these. But not sure about size. I have 06 Patrol with same wheels as yourself. Cant decide wether to go to more offset/bigger tire or go down to 16's and bigger and more offset or just stock wheels with same or larger tires.. aarrghh.

[snicko]

Hi Bastardo
Our tyres are 265/70x17. They are beautiful on the black top. Not noisy at all and I could not believe the difference.
Haven't had a chance yet to try them off road.
Good luck with your decision making!! Know how it feels and tyres are such a contentious issue...everyone has an opinion!!! hahahaha

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/public/P104014999.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/public/P1040148.jpg

[bastardo]

Thanks for the reply mate. Yeah those things look good. Like the reviews they have been getting as well. Was offered some MIckey Thompson MTZ's this morning in 285/70/17, but the price i was given was 475 a tire. Not psyched on that. haha.. Think the Coopers are great and way more reasonable a price..

[rottodiver]

Thanks for the reply mate. Yeah those things look good. Like the reviews they have been getting as well. Was offered some MIckey Thompson MTZ's this morning in 285/70/17, but the price i was given was 475 a tire. Not psyched on that. haha.. Think the Coopers are great and way more reasonable a price..

I put 4 new tyres on last week 305's cooper stt 1400 dollars fitted and a wheel alignment!!
Just a comparison for you

Scotty

[danielhobby]

just got home from melb with lt285/75r 16 stt fitted today,first impressions are,not as noisy as expected and rides really well.paid $340 each fitted and bal by five off.$1700 all up and im happy.build date are june this year.looking forward to sunday to try them out in tallarook.

[fracster]

I have General Grabber AT2`s on my Y61, had them on my Hilux before, great tyre, hard wearing, good on tarmac and good enough off road for me, including mud and snow.

saying that, I don`t do as extreme off roading as a lot of you guys, judging by the vids and photos on here.

[happygu]

Thumbs down from me with Cooper ST's on a Patrol :(

Unless something has changed in the last 5 years, I will never try Cooper ST's ever again. The tread blocks are not suitable for driving on loose rock surfaces and will chip, cut, and delaminate off the carcass....... I feel that they would be OK on a lighter vehicle, and a vehicle that doesn't really go offroad.

I don't like their warranty, I don't like the fact that you 'have ' to rotate them and get a wheel alignment done every 10,000 whether you need it or not. With all the talk of superior long life, which is a bit of a crock anyway, these end up costing you more money with all the added costs for wheel alignments and balances, and you will actually save money buying another brand, and have the same and better levels of performance.

Mic

[happygu]

Hi Bastardo
Our tyres are 265/70x17. They are beautiful on the black top. Not noisy at all and I could not believe the difference.
Haven't had a chance yet to try them off road.
Good luck with your decision making!! Know how it feels and tyres are such a contentious issue...everyone has an opinion!!! hahahaha

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/public/P104014999.jpg

http://i1128.photobucket.com/albums/m481/snicko1/public/P1040148.jpg

If these are the new ST's, then they might actually last a little longer than the old style ones...... the tread blocks look a lot more like a standard tyre from any of the manufacturers, so these might even be OK

[danielhobby]

well have done day safari end to end of mt disa and tallarook,tyre work fine in Gravel and are a very large improvement in handleing over my previous cooper at,s.hill climbs were fine and no chips or knockoffs.no mud to try but will keep lookimg!!Went on day safari over mt leonards(healsville) yesterday and again all great.Am smiling now re price paid and happy to recommend
just got home from melb with lt285/75r 16 stt fitted today,first impressions are,not as noisy as expected and rides really well.paid $340 each fitted and bal by five off.$1700 all up and im happy.build date are june this year.looking forward to sunday to try them out in tallarook.

[exploremore]

Use Coopers on my race car (since sold) and they performed well. Won the Class, anyway.

[emu]

At my work Telstra has been letting us put STT's on our patrol ute's for the pst 3yrs, can't fault them and also the other kind of service dual cabs have Cooper atr's on them when delivered.

Cheers

[FNQGU]

Well, I've now had the Cooper AT3's (285/75/16) on the Patrol for a fraction over 15,000klms and got them rotated and balanced yesterday after starting to notice a bit of shudder in the steering. Both Front tyres needed a lot of weight put on them. 240g on one tyre and 190g on the other. If I hadn't been in such a rush to collect the kids from school the tyre guys wanted to pull the tyres off and physically rotate them around the rims to try and better balance them. They also said that they notice this sort of thing a lot with the Coopers and it is caused by uneven wear from one tread to the next. Otherwise the tyres have performed well to date.

[Cuppa]

Friend & neighbour had Cooper AT’s on his Honda CRV. Has now replaced them. All 4 failed prematurely, each went flat & were unrepairable - internal sidewall problems. Only used on dirt roads & bitumen. He suspects he was unlucky & that they were a bad batch but is not prepared to risk Cooper again.

[the evil twin]

Had a set of Cooper STT's on my Wagon, brilliant tyres never had an issue and agree that they do need regular balancing and rotation.
When they wore out I changed to Kuhmo's and the Coopers beat them by a mile in every aspect 'cept price.

The Ute I bought recently has Cooper ST's in 33's on it and I am running Hankooks as a 2nd set in 35's.
Bit hard to compare in all fairness but the Coopers are performing well on that truck also however I haven't put a lot of miles on it yet

[BillsGU]

I'm on my third lot of Cooper STs. They are a great compromise between ATs and MTs. For the type of driving I do ATs are too tame and MTs are too aggressive. STs are just fine (as per baby bear).

Just an update. These tyres have now done 65,000 km without a problem. I put a new set of Cooper ATs (4th set) on because I had to tow the caravan to Darwin and back (about 15,000 km) and I did not want to be buying tyres along the way - but the STs still have more than 10,000 on them. I have them on a second set of rims and when I go into an area around here (the High Country) where I may damage a tyre I put them back on. Coopers work for me, but I do rotate and balance them regularly.

[timbar]

I had a set of coopers on my last gq the tyre company didn't believe me when he asked how many Km's did I get out of them .. I was only changing them because the rubber has gone hard and in the wet they were dangerous but the tread was still legal ... I grabed the invoice from the glovebox and checked the odometer and worked out I had dove just over 350k km on them tyres and had no problems till it rained !!

[Dazzalco]

I had a set of coopers on my last gq the tyre company didn't believe me when he asked how many Km's did I get out of them .. I was only changing them because the rubber has gone hard and in the wet they were dangerous but the tread was still legal ... I grabed the invoice from the glovebox and checked the odometer and worked out I had dove just over 350k km on them tyres and had no problems till it rained !!

350k on 1 set of tyres I have never seen that how many years were they on the car

[sil3nt_dr3ams]

Long story short, I completely changed jobs just over 6 months from the building industry to Tyre fitting. Not the best job but the offer was there and the money isn't bad. In this time I've seen hell of a lot of tires come in and out. The amount of coopers that we repair, well the small percent we are able to repair rest are rubbish. My boss wont even sell them new. This isn't me forming a op-ion its what I see first hand. The top performers will have to be BFG's all terians , toyo and nitto. In terms of muddies Federals are bang for buck and I still as of yet to see one come in for a repair. Micky T's are brilliant, only see them when its time to replace with new.

[Robo]

x10 .
coopers on wet Rd are a bit slippery.

[FNQGU]

Long story short, I completely changed jobs just over 6 months from the building industry to Tyre fitting. Not the best job but the offer was there and the money isn't bad. In this time I've seen hell of a lot of tires come in and out. The amount of coopers that we repair, well the small percent we are able to repair rest are rubbish. My boss wont even sell them new. This isn't me forming a op-ion its what I see first hand. The top performers will have to be BFG's all terians , toyo and nitto. In terms of muddies Federals are bang for buck and I still as of yet to see one come in for a repair. Micky T's are brilliant, only see them when its time to replace with new.

Good to know mate. This is my first set of Coopers, and I have never had a balancing issue with any other tyre like I just had with the Coopers. They have handled everything I've done with them so far very well, but I'll be keeping a close eye on the rotations and balancing and make more of an informed opinion as the kilometres go by.

[Robo]

Balancing ?, if they are so good, well built as claim to fame.
Why is balancing and rotation such an issue?. "doesn't make sense".

[FNQGU]

A couple of days ago I noticed some slight bulging on the sidewalls of one of the Coopers, and on closer inspection I found slight bulging on three out of five. It isn't very noticeable, but if you run your hand around the tyre you will feel it straight away. I took it straight into Tyre Power, the local Cooper dealer, who inspected them and said it was normal. He said that they have a band in the carcass where there is a join of some sort and that a slight bulge can often occur. Does this seem like a legitimate explanation and are these tyres still safe?

A mechanic mate says hell no. I have just inspected my BFG KM2's and there is nothing of the sort on them.

Any advice?

[Agronaught]

Tomorrow i'll be dropping some of the hard-earned on a set of 285/75R16 ST-Maxx and steel rims to replace the worn out 265/70's currently on the GU. From everything i've seen they should be fine with the standard 2" lift and a good upgrade on the current rubber. Hopefully its all fitted for my trip in a couple of weeks.

Cheers
Jason.