We love the BFGoodrich K02 All-Terrain tires here at Hooniverse. Jeff has them on his Montero, I have them on my 4Runner, Josh has the on his Golf Alltrack (!), and Chris had them on his Land Cruiser. But the issue with the KO2s is that they are all-terrain light truck (LT) tires. They tend to be heavier and come in bigger sizes than typical highway tires. Therefore, despite few loonies like Josh who are shoehorning them on cars, they are not really applicable to cars or lighter CUVs.
Now BFGoodrich is fixing that by offering the new Trail-Terrain T/A tire. It’s a lighter duty all-terrain-like tire designed for cars and lighter CUVs (and maybe minivans!?). Basically what [probably] happened was that BFG reps saw this post of mine where I showed a Volvo XC60 on KO2s and decided to offer those people a better suited tire:
From BFGoodrich press release:
Not your average daily driver, the Trail-Terrain T/A tire is designed to resist chipping and tearing in occasional gravel road usage. The serrated shoulder design is optimized for soft-soil traction in light off-pavement situations without compromising road noise.
It also continues to provide traction long after the mercury drops. The full-depth 3D sipes are engineered to create plenty of power and grip over the full life of the tire, which earned the three-peak mountain snowflake rating for severe-snow performance.
So, it isn’t a proper all-terrain off-road tire. And that is fine for most people. Most people don’t take their Outback’s to Baja or Santa Fe’s to Rubicon. But these lighter-but-meatier Trail-Terrain T/A tires are an improvement over using highway tires on dirt and wintery roads with minimal compromises.
Most importantly, such tires seems to be an improvement for conventual roads. I say this because road quality in here in the northeast have deteriorated so much over the last two decades. Tougher tires, with thicker and taller sidewalls, can prevent many flats. This is especially important when one is out in the country, on a holiday weekend, when all tire stores are closed.
A cool side benefit is that these Trail-Terrain T/A’s look a bit like KO2s, what with their sidewall protection threads. That alone, should add some coolness your outdoors-y safari-esque machine. With a pricey fat-bike on the roof, you’ll fit right in anywhere between Vermont and Colorado.
Visit www.bfgoodrichtires.com to get the latest in sizing. Some of those size have XL marking next to them. It does not mean Extra Large, it stands for Extra Load. This is good for those who chose to put a roof-top tent on their Honda Passport, for instance.
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