Pro Comp’s A/T Sport Tire

Photography: Craig Perronne

Life would be much easier for tire companies if we only wanted maximum puncture-resistance and traction. They could easily fill those needs by designing extremely aggressive tires with huge voids, sticky compounds, and lots of sidewall plies. While that might be great for a dedicated trail rig, for anybody who uses their vehicle on pavement as well, the massive amount of road noise and extreme lack of tread life would be less than ideal.

If you split your time between the pavement and the dirt, you need more than puncture resistance and traction. A good tire ought to be relatively quiet, and deliver a long tread life. While mud terrain tires offer aggressive looks and traction, they often fall short in other areas. As tread voids open up, and blocks become bigger, road noise increases, while tread life goes down.

That’s why we often suggest all-terrain tires for off-roaders who also use their vehicle on the highway. While all-terrains won’t match the self-cleaning characteristics of a more open mud-terrain tire in nasty slop, they can still handle a bit of mud. They can offer up the same amount of puncture resistance as a more aggressive tire, a good amount of traction, minimal road noise, and a much longer tread life.

One all-terrain to hit the market is the new Pro Comp A/T Sport tire, offering a host of unique features. Sweeping Groove Technology is utilized with the tire “in-motion,” for added traction off-road, and in all-weather conditions. This technology helps with removing dirt, debris, snow, and water from the tire. A staggered design is used in the outside shoulder blocks, and all channel groves. This provides more biting edges, and aids in ejection of debris and build up.

In a trend we first saw on mud tires, the Pro Comp A/T Sport continues the tread down the sidewall in what is called Side Holder Technology. This adds more rubber to the vulnerable sidewall area, increasing puncture resistance. It also aids in traction allowing the sidewall and the tread area to grab at terrain to help the tire pull through.

Another advanced feature used by the Pro Comp A/T Sport is All-Terrain Compound Technology, a unique rubber compound specially formulated for theperfect balance of on- and off-road use. Designed to be chip- and cut-resistant, it helps provide a smoother ride. The compound works with the tread design of the tire to produce very little noise on the pavement.

Backing the Pro Comp A/T Sport is one of the most extensive sets of warranties we’ve ever seen on a tire. First, the A/T Sport is covered by the Pro Comp Forever Warranty, protecting against any factory workmanship or materials defect, for the life of the tire. This is not a pro-ratedwarranty; Pro Comp will replace the tire, for free, for the life of the tire. An industry-leading 60,000-mile tread wear warranty also covers the tire. Finally, a very unique 60-Day Purchase Assurance warranty is included. If the purchaser is not 100% satisfied with the tires, they can bring them back for a full refund or credit towards another tire, with no questions asked.

To get an idea of how the new Pro Comp tires work, we grabbed a 2015 Chevy 1500 4×4 shod with a set of 35×12.50R20 A/T Sports, and headed out to find some dirt. Getting out of the urban sprawl that is Los Angeles and actually getting to something other than pavement requires lots of time on the freeway. The very first thing we noticed was a lack of noise. Having become accustomed to the drone of mud tires, the silence was extremely refreshing. Even compared to other all-terrains we’ve used, the A/T Sports were noticeably quiet. In fact, we couldn’t hear them above the soothing noise of our V8 with an aftermarket exhaust, and the radio played at a normal volume. Even when aired down to a more reasonable 35 psi for the dirt, they remained quiet on the pavement. For those with quiet vehicles who’d like to keep them that way, the A/T Sport is an excellent choice.

Once in the dirt, we tried to replicate how those with all-terrain tires might use them. We didn’t run up the Hammer Trails or attack crazy technical terrain, but rather stuck to more moderate trails and dirt roads. After all, we were in a full-size truck without any lockers. On these trails, the A/T Sports were in their element, providing traction on all but steeper climbs, where the more open voids of a mud terrain would have more bite. We even climbed some lesser hills, in two-wheel drive with the A/T Sports at a slower speed, to test their grip. They went up with a decent amount of wheel spin to overcome a lack of momentum. At higher speeds, the staggered shoulders and center channels provided lateral traction, keeping us planted around corners until we got well into the throttle.

We’ve always liked all-terrain tires for their unique ability to combine off-road performance with much longer tread life, and low road noise. While they might give up some traction in nasty mud and technical terrain to a more aggressive mud-terrain tire, they more than make up for it with their pleasing highway manners and better tread wear. The A/T Sports score a good balance, with good trail traction, and an extremely quiet ride. Plus they are backed by a very extensive set of warranties separating them from other all-terrains making the A/T Sports well worth a look.