Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 vs Continental TerrainContact A/T tires

Modern premium all-terrain tires are designed to match the weight, power, torque, handling, and braking performance of today’s 4WD light trucks, SUVs, and crossovers. They’re also designed for performance that’s just as capable on the pavement as off-road, with low noise, long wear, composed road manners, handling that’s sharp and precise, and refined ride quality.

The Dueler A/T Revo 3 from Bridgestone and the Continental TerrainContact A/T are both great examples of what a next-generation all-terrain tire should be like. Both tires are around the same price and have a comparable set of features and performance as well as similar treadwear warranty coverage. In this head-to-head comparison, we’re going to match these two tires up against each other and take a closer look at what they’re about, including similarities and contrasts, and hopefully give you a little better idea of which set of tires would be the best call for you and your vehicle.

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 tires

The Bridgestone Dueler family of tires has been around for quite some time, and the Dueler Revo 3 is a great update to the Dueler line. According to our SimpleScore system, the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 gets a score of 8.2 for longevity; it’s covered by a 60,000 mile warranty from Bridgestone and boasts a tough, cut-and-chip resistant tread formulation that’s engineered specifically for the demands of all-terrain driving. Underneath the tread, there’s a 2-ply polyester casing and a high-tensile twin steel belt package with a spiral wound nylon reinforcement ply for ride comfort and high-speed stability.

When it comes to the traction category, the Dueler A/T Revo 3 gets a very strong SimpleScore of 9.7. It features an aggressive symmetric all-terrain tread that makes tire rotations easy, and the combination of Bridgestone’s Traction Claws, staggered shoulder lugs with 3D steps, sipes built into the tread blocks and circumferential and angled grooves make snow, mud, loose dirt and soft terrain easy to navigate for this tire.

The stepped design of the Dueler A/T Revo 3’s tread blocks helps stabilize the tread face and add rigidity. Strong shoulders give straight-line stability and road manners a boost as well as standing up to the inertia and momentum of hard maneuvers or cornering. The Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 gets a SimpleScore of 8.2 for handling; its randomized tread pitch also makes this a surprisingly quiet tire on the highway, canceling certain frequencies and overtones for low road noise. The Dueler A/T Revo 3 looks great on a variety of trucks and SUVs, with a classic outlined white letter sidewall. The overall average SimpleScore for the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 is a hard-to-beat 9.1.

Continental TerrainContact A/T tires

Now we come to the Continental TerrainContact A/T, another all-terrain tire that’s just as at home on the boulevard as it is on a dirt road or a trail. The TerrainContact A/T gets a SimpleScore of 8.4 for longevity, with a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty (just like the Bridgestone). Like the Bridgestone, the Continental TerrainContact A/T is designed with a 2-ply polyester casing, twin high-tensile steel belts, and a spiral-wound nylon cap layer. The TerrainContact A/T employs Continental’s +Silane tread compound for long, even wear, damage resistance, and improved wet-weather traction.

Coming in with a SimpleScore of 9.7, traction is a really strong point with the TerrainContact A/T. An aggressive all-terrain pattern of lugs and tread blocks delivers tenacious grip in mud, dirt, snow, or gravel, with a thick pattern of sipes and Continental’s Traction Grooves. The innovative sipe design of the TerrainContact A/T features interlocking sipes at the shoulder and a rectilinear shape at the center blocks of the tire, for improved traction in wet or wintry conditions. The interlocking feature of those sipes gives the TerrainContact A/T a real advantage in traction for certain conditions and terrains, which we’ll get into in a minute.

The stiffer tread design and reinforced shoulders of the TerrainContact A/T also help with handling and roadability that are composed and civilized, along with cornering that’s precise and predictable. The TerrainContact A/T gets a SimpleScore of 9.4 for handling, and an overall average SimpleScore of 9.1 (like the Bridgestone).

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 vs Continental TerrainContact A/T tires on traction

Now we’re getting down to it, and when it comes to comparing traction qualities between the two tires it’s a tough call because they’re both very capable tires on or off the pavement. They’re so similar in the performance parameters that they have the same SimpleScore for traction: a hard-to-beat 9.7.

The Continental’s sipe pattern and its dense, reinforced tread blocks give this tire grip that’s confident and consistent on hard surfaces. The design of the sipe pattern on the Bridgestone isn’t as sophisticated or effective, but both tires present excellent traction on wet or dry pavement and great resistance to hydroplaning, making it a tossup between the two. Neither tire has the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for severe winter service, but both are better-than-average performers in light to moderate snow.

But then there’s the Dueler A/T Revo 3 and its off-road performance. The Bridgestone features fairly robust sidewall lugs, its Side Biters design, and snow grooves that retain snow to develop snow-to-snow friction. Additionally, the Dueler A/T Revo 3 performs better when aired down for rock crawling or for the extra flotation you need to get through sand easily. The staggered shoulder lugs of the Dueler A/T Revo 3 give it an advantage in softer surfaces, but then again the lug pattern and sipes of the Continental mean less packing of mud and debris in muddy conditions. Still, we have to say.

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 vs Continental TerrainContact A/T tires on handling

This one is a little more clear-cut. The directional grip of the Continental is superior, giving it straight-line stability that’s as dead-on and secure-feeling as an armored car. Its shoulder lugs have just the right compromise between stiffness and “give” to make cornering ability sharp and accurate, with little deformation of shoulder lugs and tread face as you make your way around a curve. This also plays out in the fact that the Continental has up to a V speed rating, while the Bridgestone’s speed ratings only go up to T.

Again, though, we should mention that these are both very capable and composed tires when it comes to handling – close enough in their performance to get the same SimpleScore of 9.4 in that category.

We also need to mention here that, while noise levels aren’t one of the categories for SimpleScore ratings, the Continental TerrainContact A/T is one of the quietest all-terrain tires you’ll find anywhere, thanks to a randomized and computer-tuned tread pitch that keeps road noise down.

ADVANTAGE: Continental TerrainContact A/T

Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 vs Continental TerrainContact A/T tires on longevity

Here’s another tough call. Both tires have the same warranty coverage, and almost the same SimpleScore ratings for longevity (8.4 for the Continental, 8.2 for the Bridgestone). Both have similar internal construction, both have damage-resistant tread formulations and both have excellent designs for durability and off-road performance. However, the sidewall design of the Bridgestone features a little better reinforcement and it performs a bit better in rough terrain or over rocks. Still, SimpleScore tells the story a bit differently with a 0.2-point advantage going to the Continental.

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3 .

When to use each

When it comes to a pair of tires that are as close to each other in specs as internal construction, tread depth, traction ratings, and tread formulations, it can be tough to make recommendations like this. The handling of the Continental is excellent, as is its low road noise and refined ride quality. It’s an excellent tire on pavement and a capable tire off-road. It’s also worth noting here that braking distances on wet or dry pavement with the Continental are appreciably shorter than with the Bridgestone.

If you’re more inclined to take trails, dirt roads, or gravel roads, you might be happier with the Bridgestone. Its off-road performance is marginally better, and its winter tread features make it a better performer in the snow (although neither tire has the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating). The staggered, stepped shoulder lugs of the Bridgestone help it seek out any available traction in snow, mud, and dirt. While rolling resistance isn’t one of the categories for the SimpleScore system, the Bridgestone does deliver lowered rolling resistance for enhanced fuel economy.

Which one should you choose?

Here’s how it comes down. We have two excellent all-terrain tires here with identical treadwear coverage and performance on- and off-road that are very similar. Both have advanced tread formulations for long wear, and both give you a good compromise between handling, road manners, and ride quality on pavement vs traction and control in off-road conditions.

So to make it short and sweet, we’d say that if you’ve got a 4WD-equipped truck or SUV and find yourself going off the pavement and into rough country more often, you might want to select the Bridgestone. The truth is though, both tires are excellent values and are very good at what they do so it will come down to your preferences and your own needs for your vehicle and your driving habits.

Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.