Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure and the BF Goodrich KO2 are two aggressive all-terrain options that have caught my attention with their promising tread designs. But which one gets the nod for better on-road manners, and which one comes out on top when it comes to rugged terrains? Well, lets find out!
Being a tire engineer, from my perspective, the BFG KO2 is a superior tire for rugged terrains, may it be rocks, sand, mud, you name it. And although its sipes don’t give out ample wet grip, they are well-optimized for winter terrains. The Wrangler Adventure on the other side, features a much better efficacy on wet/dry roads, fuel efficiency, and tread life department.
Table of Contents
Technical Specs
Goodyear Wrangler Adventure Kevlar, comes in 15 to 20 inches, having following specs:
- Speed ratings: R, S, T and H
- Load ratings: SL, XL, C and E
- Weight range: 34 to 60 lbs
- Tread depth: 12/32″ or 15/32″
- Ratings: 3PMSF and M+S
- Warranty: 60k for all sizes
The BF Goodrich KO2 (coming in 90 sizes, in 15 to 22 inches) has following.
- Speed Ratings: R, S, or Q
- Load ratings: C to E
- Weight range: 35 lbs to 67 lbs
- Tread Depth: 15/32″ on all sizes
- Inter ratings: M+S as well as 3PMSF rated
- 50k miles warranty
Learn all about load ratings: https://tiredriver.com/load-index-range-and-ply-rating/
Tread Structure
The BF Goodrich KO2 forms a very uniform design in the middle.
Here you can see three worm shaped lugs with notches and full depth siping.
The consistency of the lugs offer on-road traction, whereas the full depth sipes split open where needed providing grabbing abilities on multiple off-road terrains.
And although the interlocking grooves the tire makes tires to trap in stuff, with dual stone ejectors they are kept clean.
These ejectors are placed on the outer circumferential grooves and between the shoulder lugs.
Speaking of which the shoulders are the highlighting part of the tread.
They are bigger and much more aggressive.
They have full depth traction notches in them, of various shapes, and towards outer edges, they make staggered design.
They also join together on sidewalls, and make slanted lugs there, with sharp biters in between (which help a lot with traction, and footprint, with lowered air pressure). See air pressure guide on A/T tires.
Starting from the middle.
There are 3 main ribs here forming 4 longitudinal channels.
The middle most rib is the widest, and most stable, as lugs there are joined up with each other with tie bars allowing for greater directional grip on roads.
The surrounding ribs have lugs with more biting edges in the form of off-set sides. They also make wider lateral gaps in between connecting with outer circumferential grooves with multiple stone ejectors (in them, on the base), allowing for self cleaning of the tread on rugged tracks filled with dirt and mud.
These vertical grooves separate the outer ribs, which contain the biggest blocks of all.
These shoulder blocks provide you with multiple interlocking sipes and a lot of biting edges, though they are not staggered, still.
Sidewall Construction
Off-road, sidewalls are the first ones to go, mainly because they don’t get to be protected with steel belts underneath, like the middle part of thread.
Though still, with 3 ply polyester casing, the BF Goodrich KO2 still does a great job in protecting the most vulnerable part of the tire.
The Goodyear Adventure AT on the other side, has 2 ply make-up, though it’s LT sizes include more Kevlar and steel, so provide decent durability as well.
For Your Info: In my list of top all-terrain tires, the BFG KO2 is ranked for it’s epic durability. Check the list here: https://tiredriver.com/bf-goodrich-ko2-review/
Wet Performance
When it comes to wet roads, a tire must have a solid balance of both grip and hydroplaning resistance. Both of these are attainable through efficient water removal capabilities. Let me discuss the grip first in detail.
Wet roads call for tires with sipes, which can open/close on the watery surface, soaking up water particles and garbing the ground.
And although both tires have ample of those, the BF Goodrich KO2 does not allocate enough flexibility to its tread.
So it’s sipes aren’t able to create as much suction, as those seen on Wrangler Adventure (these slurp water particles in them, and that way clear out the path to provide superior traction).
Highway Traction
Dry Traction depends on two main dimensions, directional grip, and lateral traction.
Directional Grip
This grip depends on the central part of the tread, where most of the tire’s weight is focused when it rolls straight on the ground.
And so with a closed up blocks arrangement, and a longitudinal arrangements of blocks, the Goodyear Adventure provides you with a better traction here comparatively.
The BFG KO2 on the other hand, although is also pretty good on roads (dry), it’s still shows up slightly larger breaking distances (a measure of directional grip), in comparison. This is due to it’s wider (lateral) grooves coming in the way of tread’s meet up with the road.
Sideways Grip
The weight transfer to the shoulders during cornering, underlines the importance of its meet up with the ground. The more the better.
And so with on-road oriented lugs seen on Goodyear Adventure, its not a surprise to see how you get a better lateral g forces on this tire.
The BF Goodrich KO2 on the other side, features a lot more voided shoulders. These have two different kinds of slanted notches on them, and this combined with their irregular shapes, the tire does not provide ample contact with the road from there.
Though Ko2 does offer good enough steering response, no doubt about that.
Recommended Read –
Are A/T tires worth it: https://tiredriver.com/are-all-terrain-tires-worth-it/
Tread Mileage
The life of a tread is determined by a balance between rolling resistance, tread depth, and composition. That’s why with deeper tread voids, and a stiff composition, a tire would have a longer lifespan.
Though still with more closed up blocks on Goodyear Adventure, each of it’s lugs still get to bear less pressure on it (as whole weight is better distributed across a larger surface area of the rubber).
That’s why even though you get a lot more stiffer composition on BF Goodrich KO2, the tire still burns out faster.
Comfort On-Road
The comfort and noise level of a tire, along with its impact absorption capabilities, are the main dimensions providing a better ride on roads. Let me discuss these both factors one after another.
On-Road Vibrations
The Goodyear Adventure having a softer tread also provides better bumps absorption as well.
The BF Goodrich Ko2 on the other side has a harder compound in comparison, and the tire features yet even a more harder dual compound composition featuring stiffer rubber underneath.
On-Road Noise
Simply put a tire with larger grooves, would have more area offering to the air to hit around, which yields unwanted noise, that’s why with a balder design would be louder.
And so in comparison, you get a less quieter ride on BF Goodrich KO2.
The Wrangler Adventure on the other side, features closed up tread voids, and so air is restricted to play around with the walls of the tread.
Snow Traction
Winter traction has a lot of variables, it includes grip, acceleration, lateral traction, and so on combined with multiple types of terrains, including deep snow, ice and on-road snow.
And although both tires are 3 peak mountain snowflake rated, you still get a better performance on BF Goodrich KO2.
Recommended Read –
Are A/T tires good in Snow: https://tiredriver.com/are-all-terrain-tires-good-in-snow/
Fuel Efficiency
How much MPGs a tire give out depends on rolling resistance, which has to be balanced, as where too much of it reduces fuel economy, if it’s not high enough, you’d get a limited grip.
Out of both tires the Goodyear Adventure shows better values. This is mainly because of two things, lighter construction, and closed up tread voids.
Both of these features basically don’t allow the lugs to rub of the surface with too much force, keeping the rolling resistance at the bay.
Traction Off Road
When it comes to off road, there are some terrains where tires can easily navigate through, while others are a nightmare, let’s look at them all, starting from the toughest of all.
Muddy Trails
On mud, you need to make sure, tire would not get packed with it. As that would kill all traction (as mud to mud traction simply yields slippage).
Moreover, you also need scooping/paddling capabilities as well.
And although with interlocking design the BF Goodrich KO2 is susceptible to getting packed up easily, it’s aggressive shoulder lugs with thicker mud scoops and sidewall lugs still provide a better job here, comparatively.
The Goodyear UltraTerrain on the other side, is lacking is proper mud scoops, and as it’s each lug is serrated on it self, it provides more digging rather than forward momentum. and you don’t want to go down when on mud.
Recommended Read –
Are A/T tires good in mud? : https://tiredriver.com/are-all-terrain-tires-good-on-mud/
On Rocks
To tackle rocky terrains, a tire must grip both horizontally and vertically. As you are mostly dealing with climb here, and without that, your vehicle can get overturned, especially with lacking lateral traction.
Though with such powerful sides, that’s not the case on BF Goodrich KO2, as here you get a better combination of grip, with such aggressive shoulder lugs, sidewalls, and hook shaped blocks in the middle.
Moreover, these hook shaped lugs, further improve their traction thanks to its full depth siping. As these go all the way deep down to the tread’s base, they manage to expand, and contract the lugs, improving traction.
For Your Info: Out of all A/T and R/T tires I’ve reviewed, the Nitto Ridge Grappler (reviewed) gets to be the best.
On Sand
On sand you always lower the air pressure of the tire, that’s almost a rule. This provides you with “floating”. And as there are some features like the tire’s weight and tread structure, helping to that, it makes sense why the Wrangler Adventure is pretty great with its’ softer composition, and closed up tread voids.
Both of these basically provide a lot of contact patch to connect with the sand (with lowered air pressure)
Though on the other side, the BF Goodrich KO2 is also not too far off, as it’s having larger sidewall lugs, which paste/spread out on a larger scale providing the tire with floating abilities.
But overall, with spirally wound nylon cap plies, the tire is lacking overall.
Summary
Both wet and dry on-road traction is seen better on Goodyear Adventure, as the tire gets to have more stuffed up lugs placement, with a lot of siping on the tread blocks. Moreover, it also gives better fuel and tread mileage, comfort levels, and a decent winter traction.
The BF Goodrich KO2 is although not too far off on dry roads, could really use some grip on wet roads, though it’s off-road traction is where it all pays off.
