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Firestone Destination AT vs General Grabber ATX

Firestone Destination AT vs General Grabber ATX: The Firestone Destination AT and General Grabber ATX both belong to the All-Terrain tires family that are made to satisfy the drivers in all types of conditions.

The Firestone Destination AT is designed to provide a higher contact patch that favors on-road drivings, thus, allowing maximum traction on highways where more speed is required.

The General Grabber ATX, on the other hand, comes with a more off-road friendly tread design to provide a good grip on rough surfaces.

Side Note: Make sure you check out all family members of General Grabber AT. This would help things even more.

Overview of both tires:

Firestone Destination A/T

Firestone Destination A/T

General Grabber ATX

General Grabber ATX
firestone destination at

Vs

General Grabber ATX

Firestone Destination AT comes with an overall balanced tread design to meet the requirements of on-road conditions.

It has four main longitudinal grooves that divide the entire tread into four main sections.

This innovative pattern gives it an overall lower void ratio with more contact patch.

As more surface area of the tire is in contact with the road, more traction is delivered, making this tire is reliable on highways and paved roads.

While mud and soft snow traction, the tire underperforms due to its narrow grooves not throwing the mud/snow backward efficiently.

It is, however, preferred on ice due to its higher contact patch, delivering good traction.

The smaller stone ejectors put the tire at a major disadvantage over rocks since they are unable to keep all the stones from getting stuck inside its grooves.

The tire has higher rolling resistance due to a higher contact patch, leading to higher wear which results in a lesser durable tire.

It is less noisy on-roads but is unable to provide better shocks absorption.

General Grabber atx
Grabber ATX Tread Pattern

The tread pattern of Grabber ATX is more on the aggressive side.

Its peculiar tread pattern enables it to provide confident traction in off-road conditions.

It has a unique design as the entire tread is divided by small irregular-shaped blocks with wide spacing between them.

This significantly increases the void ratio of the tire.

Grabber ATX does not have to struggle much while exploring wild areas as the wide grooves of the tire assists in maintaining traction without compromising its handling and stability.

Due to the lower contact patch, it struggles on-road.

Each tread block comes with straight sipes, which improves the efficiency in wet conditions by wiping away the water to resist hydroplaning.

The relatively wide grooves impressively evacuate mud and snow from the tire to maintain its mobility in wild terrains.

The tire comes with stone ejectors over the entire shoulder pattern to throw out any small stone getting stuck between the grooves.

The tire is louder on-road but provides smoother off-road rides.

On-Road Traction of both tires:

On-road traction is mainly dependent on the tire’s surface area in contact with the road.

Firestone AT gives a splendid performance on paved roads.

The grooves divide the tread pattern into five main sections.

The central rib is one big longitudinal block with side ribs shaped into small blocks with deep cuts.

Due to this clever arrangement, the tire gets more contact patch and provides better traction on highways.

The relatively lower void ratio assists in delivering better grip without compromising the handling of the vehicle while going at high speeds.

More surface area reduces the breaking distance of tires and provides better stability on dry roads.

The performance of tires on wet surfaces is adequate as well due to the deep cuts in tread blocks that assist sipes to clean the tire and promote aquaplaning resistance.

The Grabber ATX, on the other side, has a peculiar tread design with irregular tread blocks spreading overall the tread.

This gives the tire a relatively higher void ratio that leads to a reduction in the contact patch.

As the surface area of the tire in contact with the dry road is limited, the grip and handling are compromised to some extent and lead to less traction with a higher braking distance.

However, the broader grooves of ATX are much helpful in navigating through wet surfaces as the massive grooves assist in throwing the water backward and clearing the path for the tire to move forward.

The higher number of sipes also helps flush the water away and maintain sufficient grip with the road.

Mud Traction of these tires:

The tire with wider grooves will perform more efficiently in muddy swamps as more spacing between tread blocks leads to better grip on the rough surfaces.

Firestone Destination AT has a relatively lower void ratio.

This puts the tire at a disadvantage on muddy roads as the tire’s grooves are not wide enough to effectively clear the tire from mud and maintain the required traction.

It is recommended to keep the tire away from deep muddy swamps as the tire could get filled up with dirt which will cause it to lose its grip with the road, causing the tire to get stuck.

General Grabber ATX off road
General Grabber ATX off road

When it comes to traction in mud terrains, the performance of Grabber ATX will not disappoint you.

This tire has significantly wider grooves which remove the mud effectively without losing grip.

The bold shoulder design with prominent lugs promotes mud-clearing from the sides while cornering.

We can say that General ATX has more grooves with relatively wider spacing, so it is preferred in mud terrains.

Traction on Snow:

Similarly, if we talk about soft snow, the wider grooves will favor the condition to maintain sufficient traction.

Destination AT lacks here again due to its narrow tread pattern.

The tire struggles while navigating through soft snow as the minor grooves are not efficient enough to scoop out all the soft snow and maintain maximum traction.

The relatively low void ratio does not favor the tire in soft snow conditions, which leads to a decrease in the handling stability of the vehicle.

However, the efficiency of this tire is improved on ice as more contact patch grips with the surface and provide suitable traction to move forward. 

Grabber ATX does not struggle a lot while navigating through snowy areas.

The spacious grooves promote self-cleaning of the tire by scooping out snow from the tread design and keeping the tire intact with the surface.

The tire has numerous biting edges, which helps crush the snow and increase the grip on the road.

If we talk about ice, the tire performs adequately while maintaining sufficient traction, but its competitor is more efficient on ice.

Traction on rocky terrain

Destination comes with a balanced void ratio in its tread design that helps it propagate well through rocky terrains.

The tire has aggressive shoulders that provide lateral stability and sidewall protection while turning through rough areas.

Firestone AT could be utilized in mild rocky terrains but make sure to not use the tire in extremely rugged places as the tire has deeper grooves, and the stone ejection feature is not efficient enough to remove all the stones.

This makes the tire vulnerable to stone drilling and permanent damage to tread blocks.

The Grabber ATX wins the competition again if we talk about traction in rocky terrains.

The broad scalloped shoulders maintain the vehicle’s stability and keep the wheels intact.

The tire comes with an impressive, bold ejection feature with a continuous pattern stretching through broad shoulders.

These stone ejectors effectively clean the tire by evacuating any stones or pebbles getting stuck between the blocks.

Both the tires give a suitable performance in rocky terrains, but General ATX is more recommended due to its widely spaced tread design and presence of prominent stone ejectors.

Which offers better Driving Comfort?

The comfort of a tire is dependent on its tread pattern and void ratio. The tread pattern of AT is innovatively built to give maximum contact patch. This reduces the void ratio of the tire and makes it comfortable to ride on-road due to lesser noise production. However, it is uncomfortable off-road because of the bumpy ride provided by its narrow grooves.

The comfort of Grabber XT is compromised a little bit due to its higher void ratio and massive groove spacing. Due to this, more air gets entrapped between the grooves and creates resonance thus, making the tire a bit noisy while going at high speeds. On the other hand, while off-roading these similar wider grooves act as a shock absorber to provide a smoother ride.

Are these tires durable?

Firestone AT has circumferential tread grooves that give more contact patch and deliver splendid performance on dry roads.

It has concentric nylon wrap encircling the tire that resists the tire from losing its shape while traveling at high speeds, providing better stability and handling.

Due to its higher contact patch, the treadwear is increased slightly.

The tire gives a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty.

General ATX has a relatively high void ratio with a minor contact patch.

This reduces the tire’s rolling resistance, which leads to reduced treadwear.

This increases the durability of the tire with more mileage delivery.

The bold shoulders and rigid lugs enhance sidewall protection and promote puncture resistance.

The tire gives an impressive mileage of 60,000 miles.

Which ones cheaper?

Both the tires come within almost the same price range, having different performances in varying conditions.

Grabber ATX is a bit costly than Destination AT due to its confident performance in rough terrains.

Quick Summary

  • Both the tires Firestone Destination AT and Grabber ATX belong to the All-terrain family.
  • Destination AT has better performance over paved roads.
  • Grabber ATX dominates in off-road areas due to its wider grooves with more tread spacing 
  • Destination AT provides a more comfortable and smoother ride.
  • Grabber ATX is slightly high priced, justified by its better durability and exceptional off-road performance.
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