The Cooper ZEON XST-A is a reliable all-season tire. Provides excellent handling and a quiet comfortable ride for a wide range of CUVs and SUVs. It is characterized by high wear resistance and long service life.
The Cooper ZEON XST-A is a tire that stands out for its long durability, high levels of comfort, and good grip on asphalt roads. Due to the extensive size range, the owner of almost any modern SUV or crossover can take advantage of these advantages, not only in summer but also in winter.
The premium Cooper ZEON XST-A has visual wear indicators at six control points on the inside and outside, which, as they wear, allow car owners to quickly assess residual tread depth, warn of uneven wear and possible toe problems.
During operation, these indicators change their shape in five stages, notes a Shina.Guide technician. On new tires, the indicator is square, and with a residual tread depth of 0.15 mm (2/32 inches) - the minimum value allowed in most countries, it turns into an exclamation mark.
Close-up of ZEON XST-A tread design
The optimized 5-rib tread evenly distributes the load over the entire contact patch of the tire, resulting in increased tire durability, responsiveness to steering commands, and handling.
The ZEON XST-A also boasts a new generation of a silicone rubber compound that provides low rolling resistance and reliable contact with the road surface. Combined with Cooper's patented Stabiledge technology and proprietary 3D micro-slats, the rubber compound enhances traction in rainy weather and light snow, resulting in excellent handling and short braking distances.
Cooper ZEON XST-A Tire Inner Out
Numerous catching and cutting edges are responsible for increasing grip on snow. And on wet pavement, the role of the first violin is assigned to the Cooper ZEON XST-A drainage system - wide longitudinal channels and a network of auxiliary transverse and diagonal grooves. Taken together, all the elements complement each other perfectly, ensuring a smooth and confident movement during everyday travel.
While the market for crossover and SUV tires is growing steadily, Cooper is slowly changing its range of CUV / SUV tires. The ZEON XST-A tires were also introduced this year, among other new additions to the Cooper range.
The Cooper ZEON XST-A is an all-wheel-drive road tire that replaces the Cooper Discoverer CTS touring tire in the range.
Reliable grip on all roads
The versatility of this model is largely due to the features in the design of its tread. It is distinguished by an increased number of coupling edges, formed not only by blocks but also by sipes. Thanks to the three-dimensional design, these elements are arranged at a very high density, which provides the tire with a good grip on winter roads. In summer, its effectiveness is due to the large area of the contact patch and the presence of five longitudinal ribs.
Fast and accurate steering response
Thanks to its fairly open design, the tread of this model contains a large number of drainage grooves. They are located not only longitudinally, but also transversely, which, in combination with their large capacity, allows the tire to maintain grip, both in rain and snow or during thaws.
Main features of Cooper ZEON XST-A
- the protector with sipes and five longitudinal ribs is effective both in summer and in winter;
- capacious drainage grooves prevent both aquaplaning and slash planning.
The Cooper ZEON XST-A tires, in comparison with the Discoverer CTS model, have a more reliable grip on wet and dry asphalt, less noise, and are less "voracious". Low rolling resistance with high grip properties may sound like an oxymoron, but one secret to achieving this seemingly unattainable goal is silica, an amazing rubber compound additive.
A fourfold (versus the silica content of other touring SUV tires) increase in the silica concentration in the ZEON XST-A compound resulted in a significant improvement in the performance of the model. Skid grip has improved, friction has been reduced during normal operation, resulting in more reliable grip and reduced rolling resistance.
In addition, Cooper used a more curved tread design. Looking at the front of the tire, you can see that the upper tread of the ZEON XST-A is more arched than normal tires. This engineering move reduced the weight and rolling resistance of the model. However, under load, the contact patch becomes flat and the tread wears out evenly.
The wavy sipes on the tread surface work like miniature scrapers wiping off water to give the tire a better grip in the rain. Cooper uses 3D micro-slats cut to 1.6mm depth, which means the ZEON XST-A tires will stay in contact with the road right up to the replacement. Overall, the Cooper ZEON XST-A has 185% more sipes than the retired Discoverer CTS.
The ZEON XST-A model is considered an all-season model, so some winter technologies have been applied to it. For example, "snow pockets" recessed in the depths of the tread. Acting like tiny buckets, they grab the snow and keep it inside the tread. Trapped snow, in contact with a snow-covered road, provides much better traction than with the usual contact of rubber with snow.
To prove that all these technologies work, it was decided to compare the performance of the Cooper ZEON XST-A and the Goodyear Wrangler SR-A universal tire for CUV and SUV. To do this, the same Chevrolet Tahoe drove out onto the wet circular track, which had to go through a route that included both drivings in a straight line and S-shaped bends.
Cooper ZEON XST-A tires also dominate lateral grip at high speeds, although in straight-line driving, both test subjects provide the same information content, consistently losing contact with the road, which makes them very predictable. Cooper claims the ZEON XST-A should provide more steering feel, but Mike didn't notice. The ZEON XST-A's braking performance was better, especially in an emergency, but not significantly.
“Cooper set out to dominate the tire niche for CUV and SUV vehicles that not only outperformed the brand's previous models but also be cut head and shoulders above the best tires in the segment. Although we have conducted only minor comparative tests from a select few competitors, we still feel that Cooper has achieved his goal. "