Cooper ST-Maxx all-terrain tyres
What they are
Light-truck tyres with a pattern on the aggressive side of all-terrain, in a 265/70/17 size.
What we did
Run them on a Ford Ranger PX for 37,000km covering everything from bitumen to snow, deep mud, sand and rocks. Tread depth new was 15mm, and they were replaced at 7mm tread depth – that’s about 4600km per mm of tread loss. It is a good idea to replace offroad tyres well above the minimum legal depth, as tyres designed to work with 15mm of tread will be hopeless at 1.5mm. The tyres were rotated except for the spare which I like to leave out of the rotation pattern so it has maximum tread when it’s needed, and therefore minimal chance of a puncture.
We like…
No complaints about grip in any surface. They air down quite well too, no need to drop tyres very low to get some contact patch length increase. No issues with overall damage, some minor chips around the lugs but nothing that is unexpected given the use which included shaley rocks with the rear locker engaged. No punctures and no damage such as carcass bulges. Cooper talk about the extra strength in these tyres, and it seems the claims are true. On-road handling is good too. No problems with debris getting in between the bead and rim.
Not so good…
Could be quieter at suburban speeds, but quite liveable especially with the music up. Tyre life is acceptable but not outstanding, they definitely needed replacing at 37,00km / 7mm as performance was dropping off. No “wow” moments with grip, they just did the job.
The bottom line
A good, reliable, all-terrain, all-round tyre.
Further reading
This gallery shows the four driven tyres so you can see what they’re like after their use:
