A lot of people would be surprised how far you can make it off the beaten path with a good all-wheel-drive system and enough ground clearance, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be enjoyable or safe. If you do it regularly, it pays to get a set of tires that were designed specifically with off-roading in mind. While all-terrain tires may not be the ideal solution in every single situation, they’re great for people who regularly drive off-road.
Like with other kinds of tires, though, it can be overwhelming to sort through all the all-terrain tires available and decide on the best one. To help you out, our friends at Tyre Reviews recently tested the BFGoodrich All Terrain TA KO2, the Falken Wildpeak A/T4W, the Kumho Road Venture AT52, the Nitto Recon Grappler AT and the Toyo Open Country AT III to see which one performed the best in dry, wet, off-road and snowy conditions. After all, it doesn’t do you much good to have a tire that’s great in the dirt if it sucks in other situations.
So, in the end, which tire is best? That depends on what you’re looking for. If you weigh each of the criteria equally, the Toyo Open Country comes in last, likely because it just isn’t as new as the other tires in the test. The best tire overall, meanwhile, was the Falken Wildpeak. Then again, you probably know what kind of driving you do better than someone else. If you don’t drive in the snow, does a tire’s snow handling really matter that much? Maybe you’re more interested in on-road performance. Maybe off-road performance really is your main priority.
If that’s the case, then you can also head over to Tyre Reviews’ website and adjust the weighting yourself. Maybe the Falken Wildpeak really is the best all-terrain tire for you, but if it’s not, that just means you have more specific needs. Either way, it’s a fun tool to play with.
