Can normals be tougher than heroics?

I've tanked a few heroics (VH,Nexus,HoL,HoS,UK,UP) successfully, but I decided to drop back down to normals for the new five-mans. This is because

1. I need the feral gear that drops
2. I'm still not a very confident tank
3. I heard they were tougher than average heroics

But I'm wondering if I made a mistake. I'm using the dungeon finder to get a group, and I'm often being grouped with lots of 2.5k+ DPSs. I was in a group with a hunter yesterday doing about 3.9k. Even with a substantial threat lead, he tore past me in no time.

Admittedly he wasn't a great player as he completely refused to tone it down, but it's still frustrating.

Would I be better off in heroics? Am I correct in thinking that the DPS will be calmed down because the mobs are tougher but my threat will not drop by the same proportion?

Any other tips, or is this just a fact of life?

Unless you are somehow rage starved, there's nothing in a normal that makes it worse than a heroic.

i guess in normals you are going to bump into a lot more people who either dont really know how things work/ dont know the instance or just dont care

therefore technically yes they could be harder
plus there is obviously fos pos Hor normal which i would say is harder than old hc's :P

One has to ask the obvious whats a 3.9K dps doing in a normal??

Unless it was the new heroics and he was farming for the hilt.

You gave him a polite ask about toning it down. TBH if after that they insist on pulling it let them tank it. They either know what they are doing or they don't and will die and your problem is solved. Worst case he leaves and you solve problem anyhow.

He is a hunter he has MD and FD so even if he pulls it he can drop agro if he really wants.

Why it was harder is one retard like that and you end up with the mobs everywhere because while you are off trying to taunt it back you are losing agro on the other mobs. hence the suggestion ignore it and let him tank it or die just worry about the other mobs.

Personally if I was on cross realms LFG I would ahve voted to kick him if it failed I would have left group in your situation.

Thanks for the responses, very helpful. I think a lot of people believe the hilt drops in normal mode, which might be why such over-geared players are running the new five-mans in normal.

Normal version of the ICC instances actually preps them for what to expect, albeit in a less overbearing way.

Heroic version is no cake walk. Even the very best geared can be taken down in one fell swoop if not skilled enough to expect big spikes of damage or unlearnt mechanics. Heroic Halls of Reflection is one such instance. Geared tanks take a brutal beating there and the requirement to down the first boss alone is tolling on everyone.