In this showdown of off-road titans, the Goodyear DuraTrac RT emerges as the evolved rugged terrain hybrid, blending the best of M/T and A/T tire capabilities. On the other hand, the BF Goodrich KO3 steps in as the successor to the beloved KO2, offering versatile all-terrain performance. Which reigns supreme? Let’s dive in and discover.
Let’s start things off with their designs.
Table of Contents
Tread Design
The upgraded Wrangler DuraTrac RT offers numerous enhancements over its predecessor. While reminiscent of its older variant, this model introduces significant improvements across several key features.
Retaining the familiar three-pair block layout, the central lugs have been notably upgraded with larger sizes and additional biting edges. However, the most striking advancement lies in the redesigned siping, now featuring a more aggressive wave-like pattern supplemented by linear sipes.
Noteworthy features include circumferential grooves equipped with Tractive Groove Technology, enhancing traction on various surfaces. Additionally, the shoulder lugs have undergone refinements, appearing more streamlined with reduced offset edges and laterally oriented structures.
Furthermore, the sidewall design of the new Wrangler RT showcases a staggered shoulder pattern with prominent in-block notches extending towards the edges, enhancing sidewall traction.
While maintaining a slightly more aggressive appearance compared to its predecessor, the new Wrangler DuraTrac RT excels in overall grip, particularly evident during rock climbing endeavors.
Moving towards the BF Goodrich KO3, this tire debuts with a stunningly revamped design. I mean unlike the DuraTrac its totally updated compared to its predecessor.
Firstly, its appearance showcases a more polished and aerodynamic pattern, minimizing void spaces.
But what does this translate to?
While the central lugs are slightly more spaced out compared to the KO2, they now feature upgraded aqua channels. These channels excel at expelling water from the tread, significantly reducing the risk of hydroplaning.
Furthermore, the lug design has evolved with sharper angles and chamfered edges, enhancing traction.
Additionally, the tread blocks are ingeniously crafted with an advanced interlocking system and full-depth siping. Complemented by multidirectional notches, these blocks ensure superior grip.
The shoulder lugs mirror these enhancements, sporting sharp edges and interlocking siping for heightened stability and traction.
Despite maintaining stone ejectors in its lateral grooves, the KO3 deviates from the triangular ejectors of its predecessor, opting for a more effective approach to prevent stone retention.
Looking at Sizes
The new Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac RT comes in 42 sizes, from 16 to 20 inches rims. These sizes have following specifications.
- Speed ratings: R, S, T and Q.
- Load ratings: SL, XL, E and F.
- Weight: 42 to 85 lbs.
- Tread depth: 16 – 18/32″.
- UTQG: 500 B B.
- Treadwear warranty: 50k miles on all sizes.
Detailed Discussion on Duratrac RT: https://tiredriver.com/new-goodyear-duratrac-rt-review/
On the other hand, the BFG KO3 T/A comes in 15 to 22 inches rims, with following specs.
- Speed ratings: S and T only.
- Load range: XL and LT (only C and E available, currently).
- Tread depth: 15/32″ on all.
- Weight range: 38 lbs to 72 lbs
- Winter rating: Both 3pmsf and M+S is available.
- Treadwear warranty: 50k miles.
Detailed Discussion on KO3: https://tiredriver.com/bf-goodrich-ko3-all-terrain-t-a-review/
A Side Note: I worked with these guys to make the following video:
Dry Performance
Analyzing dry performance in tires involves handling and longitudinal grip. Let’s start with later.
Longitudinal Grip
Longitudinal grip denotes a tire’s traction on straight roads, primarily assessed through braking distance and acceleration time, as both are inherently directional.
Now among the various factors influencing longitudinal grip, the optimization of the central tread plays a pivotal role, as this section bears the majority of the tire’s weight during straight-line motion.
Despite marginal differences, the BF Goodrich KO3 demonstrates superior performance in this regard, owing to two key factors:
- Enhanced Contact Patch: The tire now features a more finely tuned contact area, maximizing rubber-to-road contact and ensuring even weight distribution for smoother motion.
- Central Lug Design: Particularly focusing on the S-shaped lugs at the center, the tire incorporates chamfered edges, pronounced offset sides, and notches. This innovative design enhances bite, resulting in improved overall traction.
In summary, the BF Goodrich KO3 excels in longitudinal grip due to its optimized contact patch and innovative central lug design, ensuring superior traction and performance on straight roads.
Lateral Traction and Steering
Lateral grip, crucial for cornering, is significantly influenced by the shoulder lug design, where the KO3 excels, evident in comparative tests measuring lateral g-forces.
The BF Goodrich tire boasts tightly packed shoulder lugs with minimized voids and a strategically optimized arrangement of biting elements. Closed shoulder lugs enhance rubber-to-road contact, directly enhancing lateral grip.
Furthermore, features like chamfered sharp edges and interlocking in-groove notches, positioned both laterally and longitudinally, contribute to improved traction.
Regarding cornering (or I should say steering responsiveness), it’s important to understand the three phases first of all.
- Entry: The initial approach to the turn, where traction determines necessary steering input.
- Mid-corner: Maintaining a consistent arc, balancing power and steering, influenced by sidewall flexibility and tread design.
- Exit: Accelerating out of the corner, transferring weight to the rear tires.
Now during testing, the BF Goodrich KO3 although understeers a little on entry but its still better because it still provides satisfying mid-corner resistance and feedback when loaded.
And its solid “on-center” feel ensures firm and responsive steering as the vehicle straightens out of the turn, without any vagueness or lightness.
So yes overall its a win for the BFG KO3.
Wet Grip and Handling
Effective water clearance is paramount for optimal wet performance, predominantly facilitated by sipes and grooves. Grooves play a pivotal role in expelling the bulk of water, while sipes, intricate slits, adeptly absorb residual moisture by conforming to the road surface.
While both tires boast comparable grooves, the DuraTrac RT surges ahead with its enhanced siping architecture, resulting in superior wet braking capabilities compared to its predecessor.
Furthermore, although it may slightly lag in overall handling, it outshines the BF Goodrich KO3 in comprehensive performance evaluation.
The incorporation of 3D interlocking sipes elevates its wet traction prowess, efficiently dispersing water in all orientations.
Snow and Ice Performance
The performance of a tire in snow and ice is crucially dependent on its ability to maintain traction, maneuver through corners, and ensure reliable braking across diverse surfaces.
Now both tires come with 3 peak mountain snowflake ratings exhibit remarkable performance improvements over their predecessors.
However, upon testing these tires head-to-head, the Goodyear DuraTrac RT emerges as the superior choice.
Why? Well consider following.
First off, its standout feature lies in Goodyear’s innovative Tractive Groove Technology. This cutting-edge advancement involves a secondary tread pattern or strategically placed biters within the tire grooves, significantly enhancing snow traction by creating snow-to-snow contact.
This technology capitalizes on the principle that snow adheres better to snow, thereby maximizing traction where it’s most crucial.
Moreover, the DuraTrac RT showcases an optimized tread edge design, boasting aggressive scooping lugs that excel in deep snow conditions, particularly during acceleration. These shoulder and sidewall lugs function akin to shovels, effectively pushing snow backward and propelling the vehicle forward.
Additionally, the tire features a sophisticated siping structure, combining linear and wave-like sipes at the center with aggressive interlocking structures on the shoulders. This comprehensive design ensures enhanced performance even on packed snow compared to the BFG KO3.
Noise Comfort
Tire noise typically arises from air turbulence interacting with the tread pattern. And given the generous width of the grooves on both these tires, they can hardly be dubbed “quiet” as ample space allows for air to reverberate, generating noticeable noise.
Nevertheless, when it comes to mitigating this noise, the BF Goodrich KO3 edges out slightly, if we’re watch things up real close.
And this advantage stems from its superior pitch sequencing, aptly labeled as “variable pitch technology.”
This sophisticated feature ensures that the noise produced by the tire lugs comprises varying tones, preventing them from harmonizing into a singular, cacophonous sound. Instead, this discordance in tones contributes to a perceptible reduction in overall noise levels.
On the flip side, the Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac RT endeavors to address noise in a similar fashion but falls slightly short. The crux of the issue lies in its groove resonance, where the rubber compound exhibits a propensity to reflect sound waves.
Consequently, the noise rebounds more intensely off the tread surface, resulting in a comparatively louder auditory experience.
Tread Life and Fuel Economy
When calculating fuel efficiency and tire longevity, the pivotal factors revolve around rolling resistance and heat dissipation, with the tire’s weight, tread design, and rubber composition taking center stage.
And in the case of the DuraTrac RT, its softer rubber compound and substantial build contribute to heightened rolling resistance, consequently leading to increased fuel consumption.
Essentially, these elements exert greater pressure on the tire lugs, resulting in energy loss manifested as heat, which invariably impacts gas mileage unfavorably.
However, despite its propensity for elevated rolling resistance, the DuraTrac RT remains on par with the BFG Ko3 in terms of longevity. This endurance can be attributed to two primary factors.
Firstly, Goodyear’s implementation of a deeper tread pattern extends the tire’s lifespan, delaying wear until it reaches the legal limit of 2/32″.
Furthermore, the tire’s lugs with reinforced foundations, effectively mitigate rolling resistance even with the deeper tread depth.
This combination of design elements ensures a balance between durability and performance, prolonging the tire’s service life without compromising efficiency.
Off-Road Performance
When tackling off-road terrain, from mud to gravel and dirt tracks, each presents its unique challenges.
Let’s explore both these boys here, particularly focusing on their suitability for muddy, sandy and rocky terrains.
Mud Traction
In navigating muddy terrain, effective tire performance is crucial. While both the Goodyear DuraTrac RT and BF Goodrich KO3 come with features like wide, interconnected circumferential channels for mud expulsion and Tractive Groove Technology, the DuraTrac RT emerges as the top performer.
Its robust shoulder design and streamlined grooves, coupled with stone ejectors absent in the older variant, ensure superior mud clearance.
The distinctive U-shaped sidewall lugs of the RT tire enable it to effectively propel through challenging muddy conditions, facilitating forward momentum.
Rock Traction
Conquering rocky terrain demands a tire with multi-directional grip and sturdy sidewalls to resist overturning and provide reliable traction even at reduced air pressure.
The BF Goodrich KO3 shines in this aspect, offering enhanced durability, angled sidewall lugs for better gripping, and full-depth sipes that optimize traction.
Its hook-shaped lugs provide superior grip in all directions, and the sidewall design flexes efficiently under lower air pressure, outperforming the DuraTrac RT in rocky conditions.
Sand Traction
Navigating sandy terrain requires tires designed to float effectively and maintain stability.
The DuraTrac RT holds a slight advantage here, thanks to its sand-optimized sidewall lugs. These lugs, when paired with reduced air pressure, distribute weight evenly, enhancing control and stability, despite the tire’s relatively heavier build.
However, the BF Goodrich KO3 is no stranger to sandy conditions, offering solid floating abilities and robust rim locks that enable safe air pressure reduction for improved grip.
In Conclusion
So overall it all comes down to this.
In assessing tire performance across various terrains and conditions, the BF Goodrich KO3 demonstrates superiority in dry performance, particularly excelling in longitudinal grip and lateral traction.
The KO3’s optimized contact patch and innovative central lug design ensure superior traction on straight roads, while its tightly packed shoulder lugs and innovative features enhance lateral grip for confident cornering.
Conversely, the Goodyear DuraTrac RT shines in off-road scenarios, particularly in mud traction and sand traction.
Plus the DuraTrac RT’s robust shoulder design and unique U-shaped sidewall lugs make it highly effective in muddy conditions, providing excellent forward momentum.
And yes, its sand-optimized sidewall lugs offer superior control and stability on sandy terrain.
