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Last updated 1/31/2025 - Originally published 1/31/2025
Written by SimpleTire
A household name in the US, Firestone Tire has been among the pioneers in the tire industry with a legacy of over a century. The Bridgestone subsidiary has been offering a wide range of products under different categories, such as all-season, all-terrain, all-weather, winter, ultra-high-performance (UHP), highway terrain, and mud-terrain. On the other hand, Nitto Tire is a renowned Japanese tire maker that shot to success in quick time thanks to its unique tire sizes and highly reliable performance on and off the road. Highway terrain tires like the Transforce HT3 from Firestone and Dura Grappler from Nitto are capable tires for consistent performance on paved roads.
Designed for SUVs and light trucks, the Firestone Transforce HT3 and the Nitto Dura Grappler are highway terrain tires that assure year-round performance on different driving surfaces like dry, wet, and light snow. While their reinforced sidewall construction allows consistent traction and durability, their optimized tread patterns provide a quiet and comfortable ride as they restrict soundwaves from entering the cabin. So, which one should you buy? Let’s compare the Firestone Transforce HT3 vs Nitto Dura Grappler tires based on our scoring mechanism – SimpleScore – and decide which one is the best tire for your vehicle.
Firestone Transforce HT3 tires
Launched in October 2024, the Firestone Transforce HT3 is a reliable highway terrain tire designed for light trucks, that comes with reinforced construction and all-season tread design for year-round hauling and daily drives. Resisting irregular wear, the Transforce HT3 features an advanced rubber compound that’s sturdy enough to limit cuts, chips, and snags while delivering uniform wear on highways throughout the year. The Firestone highway tire is a sensible choice for someone wanting enhanced performance on the tarmac while carrying heavy loads. With interconnected lateral grooves and wide circumferential grooves, the Transforce HT3 allows quick water evacuation to avoid the risk of hydroplaning and boost wet traction. While heavy-duty construction improves load-bearing capacity, handling, and stability, the tough sidewall design protects the tire from damage for a longer service life.
With an average SimpleScore of 8, the Firestone Transforce HT3 assures adequate grip, traction, handling, and year-round performance in dry, wet, and light snow conditions.
Get Firestone Transforce HT3 tires at the best deals for your vehicle here.
Nitto Dura Grappler tires
The Nitto Dura Grappler is a little older than the Firestone; launched in 2008. The Japanese tire features a dual sidewall design to boost its aesthetic looks and gives users an option to choose the one that resonates with their style. With a multi-rib tread pattern and optimized design, the Nitto highway tire resists noise and vibrations for a quiet and comfortable ride quality. Meanwhile, the wave sipes and longitudinal grooves of the Dura Grappler not only improve block rigidity but also flush water out of the tread to mitigate the risk of hydroplaning and boost wet performance. With a reinforced construction and advanced rubber compound, the Nitto tire returns a longer service life as it promotes uniform wear and limits uneven wear. The Dura Grappler offers two different patterns, a five-rib and a four-rib tread design for P-metric and LT-metric sizes. It is backed by a 60,000 mile limited tread life warranty.
With a great SimpleScore of 8, the Nitto Dura Grappler displays adequate performance in traction, handling, durability, and longevity.
Get Nitto Dura Grappler tires at the best deals for your vehicle here.
Firestone Transforce HT3 vs Nitto Dura Grappler tires on traction
Traction allows a tire to roll forward or backward and should be the most critical aspect of a tire buying process. Highway terrain tires like the Firestone Transorce HT3 and Nitto Dura Grappler offer decent grip and traction in different driving conditions except for severe snow.
With a traction score of 8.3, the Firestone highway tire offers enhanced grip and traction in wet and snow thanks to its wavy sipes and symmetric tread pattern that features wide circumferential grooves that help clear water to avoid the risk of hydroplaning and provide consistent traction on wet and light snowy surfaces.
On the other hand, the Dura Grappler scores 8.1 and features angled and longitudinal grooves to mitigate the risk of hydroplaning as they help evacuate water quickly from the footprint for consistent wet traction. Thanks to the advanced rubber compound and dense sipes, the Nitto tire returns reassuring grip and traction in dry, wet, and light snowy conditions.
The Firestone Transforce HT3 wins the traction battle by offering better traction than the Nitto Dura Grappler.
ADVANTAGE: Firestone Transforce HT3
Firestone Transforce HT3 vs Nitto Dura Grappler tires on handling
Better steering response and stability lead to controlled rides, leading to safer commutes between places. The Firestone and Nitto tires promise improved handling on paved roads. Let’s check their SimpleScores.
With an 8.5 handling score, the Firestone Transforce HT3 assures great control and stability around the year. Thanks to its solid center rib and rugged shoulder blocks, the Firestone highway tire returns solid stability and precise steering response in dry, wet, and light wintry conditions.
The Firestone’s counterpart, the Nitto Dura Grappler, matches its handling rating by scoring the same 8.5. With a multi-rib tread pattern and symmetric tread design, the Nitto highway tire delivers accurate steering response and increased stability in different weather conditions.
As both tires score the same, the handling tussle ends in a tie.
ADVANTAGE: Tie
Firestone Transforce HT3 vs Nitto Dura Grappler tires on longevity
Highway terrain tires feature an all-season rubber compound reinforced with high-strength materials for consistent performance and increased load-carrying capacity. The Transforce HT3 and the Dura Grappler offer decent longevity, but this one doesn’t end in a tie. Let’s check out the winner.
Scoring a decent 7.3 in longevity, the Firestone Transforce HT3 utilizes a special rubber compound that limits irregular wear while boosting enhanced wearability throughout its lifecycle. The symmetric tread pattern also promotes uniform wear and resists uneven wear. However, the absence of a mileage warranty is a major disadvantage for the Firestone tire.
Contrarily, the Nitto Dura Grappler scores a 7.7 longevity score thanks to its optimized tread pattern, solid construction, and advanced rubber compound which ensures the tire wears properly without any signs of irregular wear. The Nitto tire has an ace up its sleeve in the form of the 60,000 mile limited treadwear warranty.
With a better score and mileage warranty, the Nitto Dura Grappler ‘grabs’ the longevity race.
ADVANTAGE: Nitto Dura Grappler
When to use each
Made for SUVs, light trucks, and Jeeps, highway terrain tires carry an all-season rubber compound that enables consistent year-round traction, grip, handling, and stability along with a longer tread life. Their solid sidewall construction assures hassle-free carrying of loads between places.
The Firestone Transforce HT3 is a better tire if you prefer enhanced traction and handling along with adequate tread life. On the other hand, if you value longevity more than anything else, the Nitto Terra Grappler should be your option as it scores higher there and comes with a solid limited manufacturer tread life warranty. The Nitto tire also offers decent traction, handling, and stability. However, if you are looking for a tire that can also perform well in moderate to extreme snow conditions, then all-weather tires might be the better fit.
Which one should you choose?
To sum up, the results are out, and scores are leveled with no clear winner. While the Firestone is better in traction, the Nitto punches back with an improved longevity score and a 60k warranty. Let’s check their prices to know which one is a better option.
Comparing the prices of the LT275/65R18 tire size, the Firestone Transforce HT3 costs around $246 per tire, and four such tires cost $984, while the Nitto Dura Grappler costs around $247 per tire, and four such tires cost $988.
Based on SimpleScore, you should choose the Firestone Transforce HT3 if you:
- Drive vehicles like the Nissan Titan, Dodge Ram 2500, and Ford F-150
- Want better traction (8.3 vs 8.1)
- Prefer latest tire technology (2024 vs 2008)
On the other hand, you should purchase the Nitto Dura Grappler if you:
- Drive vehicles like the Ford F-350, GMC Yukon XL, and Dodge Ram
- Prefer a stylish tire (dual sidewall design)
- Prefer longer tread life (7.7 vs 7.3)
- Want a highway terrain tire with a limited manufacturer tread life warranty (60,000 miles)
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.