Sumitomo Tires manufactures a comprehensive range of car tires in the United States and around the world.

The Sumitomo Encounter AT is an all-terrain tire for CUVs, SUVs, and light trucks, and sets a new benchmark for all-season driving comfort and all-terrain toughness. Along with on- and off-road performance, the Encounter AT gives customers a 60,000 mile limited tread life warranty.

But is the Sumitomo Encounter AT the right all-terrain tire for your car? To find out, let's take a look at a Simple Tire review of the Sumitomo Encounter AT.

Features and Benefits

If you frequently travel on paved, gravel, or dirt roads, all-terrain tires may be the best option. All-terrain tires are a cross between highway tires and mud tires. This indicates that these tires are suitable for everyday driving, most weather situations, and some dirt or mud. Is Sumitomo Encounter AT a perfect all-terrain tire? Let’s learn their features and benefits.

• Enhanced all-terrain traction: The Encounter AT has an all-terrain tread that offers traction on paved roads and on dirt, gravel, and rock. Additionally, it features 3D wave sipes which expand to boost traction in snow, mud, and other terrains.

• Better all-season drivability: The tire has deep circumferential grooves to improve wet traction. In addition, it is also Three Peak Mountain snowflake certified and M+ S rated which means it has great winter traction and all-season drivability.

• Reduced risk of hydroplaning: Deep circumferential grooves remove water from the tread to reduce the risk of hydroplaning.

• Optimized handling: A non-directional, five-rib tread pattern to boost stability, handling, and steering response.

• Self-cleaning ability: To ensure consistent traction and prevent damage to the casing, the tire's shoulder lugs are designed with varied widths to push debris like mud, rocks, sand and other materials out of the tire.

• Smooth ride: Tires’ optimized tread pattern reduces road noise and vibrations to offer a quiet and comfortable ride.

Pros and Cons

Have you found your all-terrain tire? Weigh the pros and cons of these tires before choosing.

• All-terrain tread offers on- and off-road traction.
• Backed by 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for Metric and LT sizes
• Sturdy sidewalls to enhance carrying and towing.
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified, ensuring traction and performance in harsh winter weather traction.
• Mud + Snow rated.
• Five rib tread patterns to prevent irregular wear.
• Shoulder lugs to protect the casing from damage.
• Solid traction and handling on packed snow.
• Affordable.
• Quiet drive.

Despite these pros and cons, the Encounter AT tire could be improved in a few areas, such as:

• Not the best on difficult terrain, such as mud and rocks
• When off-roading, the traction on unpacked snow is average.
• May not be fuel efficient

SimpleTire’s view on Sumitomo Encounter AT tires

The Sumitomo Encounter AT is a medium-duty all-terrain tire that’s designed primarily for smooth, quiet, and four-season driveability. Pickup trucks, SUVs and CUVs can all use this tire. People adore this tire because of its low cost.

When comparing the Sumitomo Encounter AT tires to the Kenda Klever R/T KR 601 and Mastercraft Courser Trail HD, the Sumitomo Encounter AT tires provide superior tread life, traction, and handling. Because of their similar handling and traction, the Kenda Klever R/T KR 601 and Mastercraft Courser Trail HD have the same Simple score.

While the Courser Trail HD outperforms in terms of tread life, the Sumitomo Encounter AT tires outperform the Mastercraft Courser Trail HD in terms of handling and traction. The Kenda Klever is more expensive than the Sumitomo Encounter AT, while the Mastercraft Courser Trail HD is less expensive.

Overall, the Sumitomo Encounter AT is a good all-terrain tire with great handling, good traction and tread life.

Vehicles the Sumitomo Encounter AT is a good replacement tire for

Although Sumitomo Encounter AT is not used as any original equipment it can be used as a replacement tire for vehicles like:

• Dodge Ram 2500 Laramie
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Honda Ridgeline AWD
• Ford F-150
• GMC Canyon
• Nissan Titan
• Toyota 4Runner
• Jeep Gladiator