Cooper Wayfarer Review
A mid-range all-season tire designed for trucks, SUVs and crossovers, the Cooper Wayfarer attempts to be all things to everyone and actually does a pretty decent job at delivering on this promise.
PROS
- Well-rounded performance
- Attractive pricing
- All-season grip that lasts the full length of the tire’s life
CONS
- Tread life could definitely be longer
- Don’t love the raised white lettering on some versions
- Limited sizes
Critically, the Wayfarer is built to offer both handling and all-season grip. In the handling department one of the biggest features is the extra wide and long shoulder tread blocks that do a solid job at offering cornering grip on larger vehicles. A moderately sticky tread compound is also designed to give some natural traction.
The larger tread blocks are surprisingly robust and don’t flex too much under cornering.
But the biggest impact to handling performance is the R-tech sidewall. Cooper’s design involves a reinforced sidewall, particularly at the base of the tread, helping limit flex under cornering and improving at-the-limit cornering capabilities. The impact here is particularly noticeable on larger SUVs and trucks with tall sidewalls and it definitely helps give the tire a sportier feeling even in daily driving.
Grip in different seasons is amplified by the use of Cooper’s 3D Micro-Gauge sipes. Running width-wise on the tread blocks they offer more edges in the wet to added traction. Critically, these are full-depth sipes, meaning they help maintain the tire’s wet weather grip over the full life of the tire.
Larger water-evacuation duties are handled by the large circumferential grooves that easily clear standing water.
As for winter traction, the sipes do an admirable job, but we’d rate these tires as mediocre in winter grip.
Build with trucks in mind, the larger tread blocks with more space between them allows for some light grip off-road. These tire’s aren’t designed for off-roading but they also won’t leave you stranded.
Despite those larger tread blocks, tread noise is no different than a conventional all-season.
As for any drawbacks with this tire, overall tread life has to be the biggest flaw. A 50,000 mile warranty is quite low and reduces some of the value proposition of these tires.
Apart from that, there are limited sizes and, oddly, different sizes some with different sidewall designs. Some versions come with all-black lettering on the sidewall (which we quite like) while some versions come with raised white lettering. The white letting often just looks old fashioned and while it can suit the style of a lot of pickup trucks, it just looks out of place on most crossovers or SUVs – so shop accordingly.
Overall, the Cooper Wayfarer presents a solid value with good all-season traction over the full life of the tire, combined with a reasonably sporty performance.
Cooper Wayfarer Price
Regardless of which Wayfarer tire you select, pricing stays quite similar as there are limited sizes. The total range starts at just under $150 per tire and goes up to around $175 per tire.
Cooper Wayfarer Warranty
The Wayfarer is backed by a 50,000 mile tread life warranty. In addition, all Cooper tires come with a standard limited warranty that protects you against defects in materials and workmanship.
Cooper Wayfarer Sizes
17-inch sizes
245/70/17
265/70/17
19-inch sizes
245/55/19