Cooper Discoverer AT3 LT vs XLT - Which Is #1? [Test Data]

Fuel Efficiency

The US Department of Energy estimates that around 25% of the fuel consumption of a vehicle is attributable to the tyres. That's a lot, and it means that choosing fuel efficient tyres can save you quite a bit of money.

The Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres rank a E on a scale of A to E in the official fuel efficiency tests carried out by the EU (they call these rolling resistance tests).

The Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres also get a grade of E.

As their fuel efficiency grade is the same, expect negligible differences in fuel consumption between them.

Here's a graph comparing the Discoverer AT3 XLT and Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres for fuel efficiency (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Grip & Handling

We'll now take a look at how these tyres compare in terms of grip and handling.

A good measure of this is 'wet grip', which is an indication of how well the tyres will allow the vehicle to come to a stop in wet conditions.

The Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres rank a D on a scale of A to E in the official fuel tests carried out by the EU.

The Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres, on the other hand, get a grade of D.

As their wet grip grade is the same, expect negligible differences in terms of braking distance.

Here's a graph comparing the Discoverer AT3 XLT and Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres for wet grip (1 = Grade E, 5 = Grade A).

Noise

Another key factor to consider when choosing a tyre is road noise. Once you're over about 40 km/h, the dominant source of noise you hear is from the contact of your tyres on the road.

There is a surprisingly wide variation in the amount of noise each tyre makes.

The Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres produce 73.0 dB of road noise, which corresponds to a rank of B on a scale of A to C in the standardised testing done by the EU.

On the other hand, the Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres produce 73.0 dB of road noise, which means a grade of B.

As their noise grade is the same, don't expect many differences in terms of cabin noise.

Here's a visual representation of how the Discoverer AT3 XLT and Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres stack up for noise (1 = Grade C, 3 = Grade A).

Based on the results of a number of tyre benchmarks, the Discoverer AT3 XLT scores 5 out of 5 for comfort and the Discoverer AT3 XLT scores 5 out of 5.

As per the UTQG guidelines, the Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres have a treadwear rating of 620, whereas the Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres have a rating of 620. This means that the Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres will theoretically last 1.0 times as long as the Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres.

As per the, the Discoverer AT3 XLT and Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres both have a traction grading of A.

As per the UTQG system of tyre grading, the Discoverer AT3 XLT and Discoverer AT3 XLT tyres both have a temperature resistance grading of B.

For fuel efficiency, Discoverer AT3 XLT score a grade of E, which is very poor. Discoverer AT3 XLT end up with a grade of E, which is very poor.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, both the Discoverer AT3 XLT and the Discoverer AT3 XLT get a score of D, which is below average.

More important is the wet grip, which gives you an indication of their traction and handling. In this regard, Discoverer AT3 XLT get a score of B, which is about typical. Discoverer AT3 XLT end up with a grade of B, which is about typical.