K02s on road performance?

So you want quiet, good grip (ie street handling) and a good ride; plus you do not like the aggressive look. Why would you be looking at the KO's? They are probably the worst handling AT because they are the most aggressive. Little lesson for you, the more rubber you have not touching the pavement (ie large lugs and voids) the worse the handling is in most cases (especially dry pavement and hard packed snow/ice). This also in turn allows more road noise to be higher and the taller lugs of the BFG cause more flex and will also feel floaty and diminsh handling and mpg's

On your list, it should go Michelin LTX AT #1, Goodyear wrangler Adventurer #2, Nitto G2 #3 and BFG #4

The only reason they are so highly rated on tirerack (the KO2) is because it is the newest look cool tire and all the nutswingers give it 10's across the board with out knowing how to actually rate a tire, those are highly skewed results. People don't want to say how bad their decision was after dropping almost $100 more than other comparable or better tires for the look so they say things like (stock quiet, or my E load tire had no effect on mpg, ect...

Hey, it is your truck but that is probably the worse option for what you are looking for. I would do the Cooper AT3 if I were you and not pay for the name of the BFG's. They will not ride close to the stock tires, especially in a LT load rating.

 

Thank you for your honest feedback. It's not just TR that praise the K02, even there. There's huge threads devoted to this tire and it's onroad performance and ride quality. BTW, i'm looking primarily at the 265/70/17 size which comes in C load.

Appreciate the feedback.

 

Curious why you are switching.
Nitto's are loud on the road, FYI.

 

@stan23 Wheels don't come in until next month but I was set on the defenders so I appreciate the bump. Can I get your feedback on why you are swapping them out? I just put them on my '14 Forester and absolutely love them. That car spends the weekends on sandy and rutted fireroads. On my first trip off road I was alarmed that I was loosing traction more than before until I realized I was going 15-20mph faster than before!

 

They are great on road tires for sure. I love the steering wheel feedback, and the on road grip, however - there are a few things that are nagging in the back of my head. I'm probably more anal than anyone else when it comes to tires, so take it FWIW. Generally speaking, I like to try different tires until I find one that 'clicks' with me.

- I have slight drifting problem with the tires. Not on all roads, but it's there - and it makes itself known.
- Unease feeling when going over bumpier roads. The truck does not seem as composed as the stock Toyos.

Again, i'm only interested in trying the K02s because everyone seems to rave on them and mention how great the ride quality is on road.