What started out four years ago as an overview of all the tires we had tested up to that point, has now become an annual installment. Although a few of the tires have dropped out, been replaced with different ones, and we've given our rating scale a different look, what remains is the fact that we burn lots of rubber on- and off-road. The whole time we're taking copious written, mental, and photographic notes so we can report to you the real-world performance on these tires. You know, the stuff you care about, not some theoretical bull based on third-hand hearsay or what was a hot thread on some Internet site. If you're reading about a tire in this story, it means we've logged at least 1,000 street miles on the thing, thrashed it to within an inch of its life off-road, and wheeled it in as many different types of terrain as we could muster.
The Performance Wheel
We've indicated performance with cute little tires on a scale of 1-4, with 1 being the lowest and 4 the highest.
**** - This is the tire you should be running
*** - It's a good choice and will work well
** - There are better tires available, but it's acceptable if you need to compromise
* - We'd choose a different tire.
Maxxis Creepy Crawler The...
Maxxis Creepy Crawler
The Maxxis Creepy Crawler is a gnarly looking bias-ply tire that excels in a lot of terrain. Like most modern tires, it exhibits good road manners without giving up any off-road performance. We found them ready to go with little to no break in time required. The tread is a little on the hard side, so there is some chunking of the rubber in hard, sharp rock, but the firm tread also translates into a more stable ride on dirt roads and on the street.
Street:**
Sand:***
Mud:***
Heavy Rock:****
BFGoodrich Krawler T/A KX...
BFGoodrich Krawler T/A KX
The BFGoodrich Krawler is a radial tire that shares more in strength with a bias ply. In the rocks, the big lugs grab like gangbusters, especially with the tires at lower air pressures. The sidewall lugs work very well for climbing even slick granite on the sidewall. The tread and sidewall flex readily envelope obstacles but also resist tearing and damage to an impressive degree. They do well in most terrain, but the BFGs absolutely rule in the rocks. They're one of the best rock tires we've driven, bar none. However, they don't really seem to like deep, thick mud. On the street you can feel some lug slap, but the ride is not overly harsh, and they are pretty quiet considering their aggressiveness. However, some flat-spotting occurs at lowers temps and pressures.
Street:***
Sand:***
Mud:*
Heavy Rock:****
BFGoodrich AT KO We think...
BFGoodrich AT KO
We think of the BFG AT as the little sister to the MT. While it may not be able to do the same heavy lifting as its MT brother, it's smarter and more civilized. The BFG AT shares the same 3-ply sidewall as the BFG MT, but it has less aggressive tread and sidewall lugs. The BFG AT KO tends to clog in heavy mud and, like the MT KM, is vulnerable to sidewall cuts and tears. However, the mild tread pattern works well in the sand without digging to China and excels at delivering a quiet, smooth ride on the street. The tiny sipes on the tread blocks help grip on wet pavement, ice, snow, and even in some rocky terrain.
Street:****
Sand:***
Mud:*
Heavy Rock:**