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New shoes for the 2016 Toyota Prado GX: General Grabber AT3
Words Robert Crack Pics Robert Crack, Saxon Templeton and Supplied
Are you looking for a new set of tyres that offer all-round performance, year-round traction and a quiet ride, equally at home as highway tyres or offroad tyres? Then be sure to include the Grabber AT3 from General Tire in your consideration set!
In my second last year of school in the 1980s, print advertisements and TV commercials featuring electronic circuitry being worked on, with a tool and a man’s two fingers visible, exhorted me to join the Australian Army.
“Not everyone who joins the Army wants to drive a Leopard tank”, read the ad copy. And the voiceover in the TVC said the same.
Well, that advertising campaign did have an impact on me, I guess. Seven years later I was, indeed, driving a Leopard tank. A Leopard AS1, more specifically (being the 1A3 variant), earning my ‘driver’s licence’ as a tank driver, being a component of my ROBC (Regimental Officer Basic Course) for the RAAC (Royal Australian Armoured Corps) to become a Tank Troop Leader in the Australian Army, in command of three Leopard tanks and their crews.
Oh, how I miss the Leopard’s fording capacity of up to 2.25 metres and its deep wading capacity of up to 4m. Above all, I miss its traction. Tracked vehicles have loads more traction on rough and soft terrain than wheeled vehicles, each time, every time.
But ... all this talk of tracked armoured vehicles has taken me off… track.
Well, just as ‘Not everyone who joins the Army wants to drive a Leopard tank’, so too does it hold true that, ‘Not everyone who owns a four-wheel drive wants to drive the Anne Beadell Highway, Climies Track, Billy Goat Bluff Track or Cape York’s Old Telegraph Track’.
I certainly don’t.
For my part, whilst I’ve travelled to every official tourism region in Australia (there are 76 of them, incidentally), I’ve consciously avoided the ‘hardcore’ 4WD routes. Each to their own, right?
However, included in these travel experiences have been several middle- to longer distance four-wheel drives trips (of easy to medium to challenging rating) including:
- Queensland — Peninsula Development Road, Gregory Downs – Camooweal Road / Riversleigh Road / Gregory – Lawn Hill Road, Cloncurry – Dajarra Road, Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) Loop, Bloomfield Track, Mount Lewis Road, the Great Beach Drive from Noosa to Double Island Point and K’gari’s Eastern (75 Mile) Beach, Southern Lakes and Central Lakes — Lake Wabby Scenic Drives and Northern Forests and Lake Garawongera Scenic Drives.
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New South Wales — Darling River Run, Jump-Up Loop Road (Sturt National Park) and the Dowling Track (NSW and Queensland).
- South Australia — Oodnadatta Track, Strzelecki Track, Tea Tree Road, Gammon Ranges Road and Coorong Beach Drive.
- Northern Territory — Central Arnhem Road, the Gibbie and Wickham Tracks, Old Ghan Track, Bullita Stock Route, Mereenie Loop, Marrakai Track and Reynolds River Track.
- Victoria — Grampians Drive, Otways Drive, Wonnangatta Icon Drive and a little under half of the Mallee Drive’s 620km or so.
But I’ve left the hardcore 4WD tracks such as the CREB Track, the Old Telegraph Track, the Old Coach Road, the Madigan Line, Blue Rag Range Track and the Anne Beadell Highway to drivers who are way, way more experienced and capable than I.
So, there you have it; my offroad travel tendencies, in a nutshell. I don’t go offroad every weekend, but nor do I spend every day on the bitumen either.
In combination, these considerations mean that I have always been ‘an AT person’ rather than ‘an MT person’ or an ‘RT person’.
Old shoes
The old ‘shoes’ on my 2016 Toyota Prado GX — Cooper AT3 LT Discoverer tyres — served me well. Living in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Outback Queensland and Western Victoria for seven of the past nine years have meant that the Coopers have done a lot more outback, bush and backroads kilometres than city ones.
I couldn’t fault them. The Cooper AT3 LT Discover is a real tyre. It should be in any ‘Top 10’.
In almost 90,000km, I only ever had one puncture, which was sustained on the Dargo High Plains Road in January last year. I’d venture that I’m not the first person to pop a tyre on this road.
With that high mileage on the one set of Coopers, I knew that I’d need to ditch them sooner rather than later. That was never in question. What was in question, however, was what tyres to replace them with.
The previous tyres (Dunlop Grand Trek AT20), which came stock with the new Prado in 2016, let me down (literally!) on three occasions, punctured. One was in the East MacDonnell Ranges, so thankfully, it was a relatively painless task to buy a replacement one in Alice Springs. Another was in Darwin. Again, easy enough to replace.
The third happened on either the Borefield Road or Andamooka Road, when I was taking a detour off the Oodnadatta Track to visit a friend who lives in Andamooka. It was a slow leak, so I don’t know exactly where it happened. What I do know, is that I didn’t particularly enjoy replacing it with one of my spares in the middle of a day well above 30°C, with flies in my eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Meanwhile, my friend and his mate were under the verandah in the shade, drinking ice cold stubbies, watching me.
Determined not to have to deal with any more punctures, I made the decision to buy the Coopers as soon as I could afford them. I knew that I wanted Coopers, having run them on my 1999 Jeep Wrangler TJ Sport many years earlier.
Other AT tyres I’ve run are Goodyear Wrangler, which took 60,000km in their stride before I sold the 2010 Jeep Wrangler JK Sport CRD that wore them. I really rated the Goodyear Wranglers for their on-road ability as well as staying true to being an offroad tyre. I only ever sustained one puncture with these tyres, and that was on the Gimbat Road in Kakadu National Park between Yurmikmik Walks and Kambolgie Campground, on the way back to Pine Creek from a day of swimming and birdwatching at Gunlom. The Gimbat Road is notorious for shaking bits and bobs from caravans, and these objects such as bolts and rivets end up going through other vehicles’ tyres. Accordingly, I blamed the road, not the tyre.
The only other AT tyre I’ve run on a vehicle I’ve owned was Firestone Town & Country, on a 1964 Jeep CJ5.
So that’s seven different types of AT tyres over a period of almost 40 years. Unhesitatingly, I can say that the Grabber AT3 tyres are the quietest AT tyre of them all.
New shoes
I got the ‘new shoes’ fitted by the fabulous team at Jax Tyres Bayswater, not long before Christmas.
Key features of the Grabber AT3 include reinforced tread blocks, stone bumpers in the grooves and sidewall lugs to defend against gibber and road debris. A rim protection rib shields the tyre and wheel bead from damage caused by kerbstones and offroad obstacles.
The Grabber AT3 features three advanced technologies from General Tire for enhanced grip, quieter acoustics and improved mileage:
TracGen Technology — this technology incorporates an open shoulder design, traction ridges and strategically placed sipes to improve grip on various surfaces.
DuraGen Technology — a rubber compound that offers excellent rip resistance and improved mileage on rough terrain, boosting self-cleaning and interlocking with loose surfaces for better traction.
Comfort Balance Technology — designed to balance offroad grip with on-road comfort, it features low stiffness and modified block arrangements to reduce vibration and ensure a smoother ride.
It’s early days yet, however, to date I’ve driven with the ‘new shoes’ in the Otways, Greater Bendigo National Park and Tallarook State Forest, as well as an ‘at least thrice weekly’ 80km round-trip commute from home to the Hema Group office in Braeside in everything from baking heat to flash flooding. I can attest that with their specially designed edges for loose surfaces, an open tread shoulder and angled sipes that clear away dirt and stones for better traction, these tyres deliver exceptional grip. Their interlocking edges enhance traction on loose surfaces in particular.
I have experienced these tyres’ performance on bitumen, dirt and gravel, not only without a tow, but also with my CUB Daintree camper trailer, fully laden, bouncing along dutifully behind the Prado. On offroad terrain, the Grabbers maintain great grip even on slippery surfaces. Quiet on bitumen, thus far they have excelled in wet conditions, and they don’t seem to have adversely affected my fuel economy.
Winter cred
The Grabber AT3 has the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol on the sidewall. This symbol means that the tyre is certified as having met strict European Union regulations (European ECE regulation 117.02) for performance in demanding snow conditions. Tyres sporting the 3PMSF symbol are specifically designed to provide superior traction, acceleration and braking on snow, slush and wet roads, and to remain flexible when the temperature drops below 7°C, thus ensuring grip is not compromised. The tread design of the Grabber AT3 is quite aggressive, and this tread construction plus the siping effectively displaces water and slush, and they provide stability and grip in snow.
This doesn’t mean that they are as good as a dedicated 3PMSF-rated winter MT tyre in all winter conditions. They aren’t. All-terrain tyres with the 3PMSF symbol simply cannot match the performance of 3PMSF-accredited, dedicated winter tyres in harsh winter conditions.
The 3PMSF rating should be seen as the imprimatur that gives casual winter/snow drivers more confidence than traditional AT/MT tyres which are not 3PMSF rated.
So, if you live or work above the snowline in Australia, perhaps Grabber AT3 tyres aren’t for you. There are better Rugged Terrain (RT) and Mud Terrain (MT) options out there, if you spend more time in the snow, ice, mud and slush than you do in warmer, drier climes.
But if you live or work anywhere else in Australia, and you spend more of your driving time on bitumen, dirt, gravel or sand and less of it on snow and ice, the Grabbers are for you. And if you do head up to the snow occasionally, the AT3 Grabbers’ 3PMSF rating should give you the confidence to do so.
It is arguably not the best choice if you’re spending all your time, effort, money and kilometres offroad, but if — like me — you’re spending 70% of your driving time on the bitumen and 30% beyond it, the Grabber AT3 is the perfect tyre for you. I’d venture that it’s the perfect tyre for ‘Big Lappers’, too.
Pedigree
General Tire was established in 1915 in Akron, Ohio, as The General Tire & Rubber Company, initially specialising in premium truck tyres. The company grew rapidly, creating innovations such as the General Jumbo tyre for the Ford Model T. During the Great Depression, General Tire expanded by acquiring Yale Tire and India Tire, solidifying its presence in the truck and automotive tyre sectors.
In the mid-20th century, the company broadened its focus to other industries, including aerospace, chemicals and broadcasting. In the 1980s, a restructuring led to the formation of GenCorp, Inc., and in 1987 its tyre division was sold to Continental AG. This transition marked the start of a new chapter for the brand, which was rebranded as Continental General Tire and later became Continental Tire North America.
Currently, General Tire continues to manufacture a variety of tyres for passenger cars, commercial trucks and offroad vehicles. As part of Continental Aktiengesellschaft, it remains a leader in offroad and all-terrain tyre innovation, with a commitment to sustainable practices and cutting-edge advancements in tyre technology.
And as part of Germany-headquartered Continental AG, the third-largest automotive supplier and the fourth-largest tyre manufacturer in the world, it should come as no surprise that the 3PMSF certification would be a focus for a European tyre manufacturer.
But it’s not just Germany and Australia where Grabber AT3 tyres are sold. They are also distributed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden, Slovenia, Romania, Portugal, Latvia, Iceland, Greece and Finland, among other places. They are widely available in Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil, and they are sold in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana too.
Four years ago, new Ford Ranger Raptor vehicles came equipped with the General Grabber AT3 all-terrain tyre as ‘standard from the showroom’ in South Africa. The Ranger Raptor, designed for high-speed offroad performance, benefits from the tyre’s excellent compatibility with the vehicle’s advanced suspension and dynamic features.
Following extensive testing and its acknowledged ability to meet the Ranger Raptor’s rigorous performance expectations across the gamut of durability, noise and grip, the Grabber AT3’s TracGen technology for superior grip and the aforementioned DuraGen technology for a robust rubber compound, impressed Ford’s engineers. They selected Grabber AT3 for the South African market, confident that its exceptional traction on loose surfaces, long-lasting durability and low levels of road (and offroad) noise was the perfect combination for the roads, rocks, ranges, ridges and rugged terrains of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
Dirt, sand and gravel
At time of writing, it’s autumn in Victoria, and I’m yet to put the Grabber AT3 through their ‘snow and slush paces’, however, I can vouch for the fact that the 3PMSF ‘snowflake’ symbol is your ticket to enjoy an ‘official’ winter tyre in the bits of Victoria, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania that don’t get closed off during winter.
But what I can say is that on dry grass, dirt and Mallee country sand, they have shone. They also have excellent gravel performance (both wet and dry), with traction being not only really good, but also really constant and really consistent. My assessment is that they are protean tyres that would be able to tackle almost any driving surface.
The verdict
Am I going to drive the Birdsville Track on these tyres? Absolutely.
Am I going to drive up Big Red on these tyres? Absolutely not. But that’s nothing to do with the tyres. I have no doubt that if I dropped the Grabbers down to 15–20 psi, my 150 Series Toyota Prado would tackle the sand with the traction of a Thorny Devil.
The reason why I don’t intend to drive up Big Red is because most of my offroad driving is in pursuit of my birdwatching and landscape photography hobbies, and any place that draws a crowd is generally not conducive to either.
What the General Tire Grabber AT3 tyres afford me is excellent 70/30 AT ‘all-rounder’ performance, year-round traction, a quiet ride and great braking. And they punch out of dirt road corners like a champion boxer.
The Grabber AT3 is available in nine sizes ranging from LT225/75R16 to LT265/65R18 and can be purchased at many Australian tyre retailers. These are equally at home as highway tyres or offroad tyres. Whether on the beaten track or off it, they offer a comfortable ride in various weather and surface conditions, and great on-road comfort blended with offroad capability. Its resistance to chips and cuts makes this a great tyre for the Australian bush and outback.
So, if you are in the market for a set of new shoes for your 4WD vehicle, do yourself a favour and grab a set of Grabber AT3 tyres.
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