Picking up KO2’s Soon. Sell My Winters?

So my Toyos that I’m replacing w/KO2’s were not great on ice or packed snow so I have a set of Hakapalletta R2 SUV which I been using. Still have good tread and Oct will be best time to sell.

no off-roading winter but lots driving in snowstorms on all kinds snow conditions from deep to packed to ice.

 

I'd keep the snow tires. An AT will do decent in the snow, but nothing will compare to a dedicated snow tire

 

Have you considered Goodyear UltraTerrains? There's a comprehensive thread on here about them. I bought mine last year and they are hands-down the best snow tires I ever had, including KO2s (though I have not owned dedicated winter tires). They are exclusive to DiscountTire / America's Tire. Here's the thread: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/goodyear-ultraterrain-at.563036/

 

Yeah no. Nothing is going to come close to a dedicated winter tire for... winter driving.

 

I had KO 2's on my 08 for a very long time (have Mud Terrains now). They were great in the snow and never left me asking for more. I've driven in fresh unpacked snow as deep as 24" with no problems.

 

Anyone know how they qualify for the Snowflake while other AT tires don’t? Is it softer tread compound. Wouldn’t that kill tread life.

going to hold onto the Nokian Winters until I’m sure they’ll work

 

From what I've seen and heard, the K02'S aren't the best in the winter. They're more suited for off road. Not saying they're bad, but they aren't the best.

 

I believe you're right. From what I understand a different rubber compound qualifies them for the snowflake. Some sizes/load ranges of KO2s don't get the snowflake cause they're made with a different compound

 

Set I ordered has the Snowflake. Wonder if that going to affect tread life. The Toyos had no snowflake and wore insanely slowly. But they weren’t great on ice or snow.

 

Jeez. Lived in Florida my whole life. Didn't know people had to deal with this...

 

You've led such a sheltered life -- you really should get out more.

 

I don't want to be a wet blanket here but my son's Rubicon JL has KO2s on it and we drove through some pretty good snow coming back from Iowa last December. I was driving and I grew up in Iowa so I'm no stranger to snow. I have to say I wasn't impressed with them and they probably had 15,000 miles on them at the time. They were ok, but not as good as I expected. Granted, I think there was some glazing on the road as things started to freeze up but I think they lack sufficient siping to be a really good snow tire. Deep fluffy stuff, probably no problem but I'm probably going with the Falken Wildpeak next.
This is just my opinion and I hope you have great luck with them. I'd hold onto the snows until you've got some miles in the slick stuff on the KO2s. Again, just my opinion.
At one point, the interstate was moving really slow so we went off-road, down through a ditch to get to an outer road. They were noticeably better in the snowy grass than they were on the pavement.

 

So you guys in the Deep South have to drive around with snowflakes on your tires. lol. Would like to see tread life comparison warm VS cooler climates w/snowflake AT’s

 

Keep your winters or get another tire. I went through multiple sets of KO's on 3 Taco's, snow performance was marginal and wet performance sucked. Finally switched to Cooper ST Maxx and it was night and day. Put the Cooper AT's on my GX470, also great. BFG's are behind in compound tech for winter driving.

 

I had KO2s on my prerunner and they were pretty terrible in snow/ice. Any AT/all season is going to be mediocre in snow at best, compared to a dedicated winter tire. If you really need the $ bad, you could get by as long as you don't take any unplowed routes, but if you don't I would keep the snows. A huge part of the advantage of a winter tire is the stopping ability. Getting stuck sucks, but rear ending someone because you couldn't stop in time can be dangerous.

 

In all but 2’ deep snow, my wife’s minivan on Hakka’s was 10x more staple on snow/ice than my Taco on K02s. Upstate NY.

 

KO2's are only good in winter the first 2 years typically.

Nothing compares to a winter tire.

 

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

I had a set in load range C. I'm pretty sure they were 3PMSF tires. At 29K miles, they measured 80% of their original tread. You will get mixed reviews on this, but the guys I know running them seem to get excellent tread life out of them.

Yes! My GF's Scion TC is a beast in snow on Hakkapliittas. I would love to have a set for the 4runner!

 

People down there can be sheltered when it comes to this. My coworker came from FL and his family told him he'd have to change out his coolant 2x a year. They also got him one of those things you use to cover your windshield to easily wipe away the new snow that had fallen during the night. Needless to say, he hasn't had to change his coolant and the windshield gimmick broke after the first real snow.