2013 LC200 here. Came new to me with 285 60 18 Cooper Discoverer H/T Plus from the dealership. Great on road tire with very good MPG and exceptional handling in wet conditions. If I wanted to stay on pavement, this is absolutely the tire for me.
However, looking to upgrade to something a little more off-road capable. 3 mountain peak/snowflake rating is a plus for the occasional chain/traction tire requirements in PNW. Unfortunately K02's seem to be the only choice around here in the stock 285 60 18 that is also a winter rated all terrain.
I have seen many comments on Mud that switching to 275 65 18 is doable with no lift or other modification needed (I am not interested in lifting my truck while it is still my daily driver) Many other options such as Cooper AT3 4S, Goodyear Wrangler, etc. in this size that will get me where I want to go. I am just looking to get out a little further, not serious rock crawling or deep mudding.
Anyone make the switch to 275 65 18 on a stock truck and can share differences in handling or performance noticed by the slightly taller/narrower tire??
The BFG KO2 is available in either LT275/65-18E or LT285/65-18E as well as LT285/60-18D. All of which are doable without a lift!
I run LT285/65-18E KO2s on a stock 2015 LC. The KO2 has the 3 mountain peak/snowflake rating; however in the winter, I run dedicated winter tires (275/65-18 Nokian Hakka R2 SUV) living in NW Colorado.
I run a slightly narrower winter tire because of increased performance in snow. If I did not have a dedicated set of winter tires, I personally would run LT285/65-18E KO2 tires year-around vs. LT275/65-18E KO2 tires year-around.
https://blog.tirerack.com/blog/hunters-ramblings/why-is-narrower-better-in-winter-conditions
"It's all about physics. Wider tire sizes have to plow through the snow which causes more resistance and a tendency to float. A narrower option, with a smaller contact patch, has more weight per square inch that helps the tire cut through the ice and snow."
Wide Vs. Narrow Tires
"There are two ways to get traction (a function of friction) on any surface: increase the contact area or increase the pressure per square inch. Skinny tires must carry the same amount of weight as fat tires, but must do so with far less contact with the road. This increases the force in pounds per square inch on the tire tread, theoretically allowing the thinner tire to "cut" into the road surface. You could compare the pressure effects of fat tires to skinny to (respectively) a baseball bat and a samurai sword.
Dry Traction
In completely dry conditions, wider and fatter is always better for traction. A dry road and dry tires allow every inch of rubber to grab the road with no interference, so traction increase/decrease is almost linear with tire size. The only downside to larger tires on dry roads is that they can increase steering effort in low-speed conditions. Traction is traction, whether it's rolling forward or swiveling on an axis.
Wet Conditions
Generally speaking, wider tires will perform better in wet conditions than skinny tires, but it depends on the tread pattern. Wide tires can easily trap water underneath while rolling, making efficient water removal channels (called "sipes") a priority for design. Narrow tires can get away with having fewer sipes because they're not as inclined to trap water underneath and because their higher contact pressure tends to "squish" water out of the way.
Snow Safety
The long-held belief that narrow tires are better in snow and ice is generally true. One side effect of high contact pressure is heat, which can, in many cases, squeeze any snow beneath back into its liquid state. When combined with a sipes designed to carry that melted ice and snow away, the end result is a tire that performs far better in winter conditions than wide summer rubber. Wide tires tend to float over the top of ice and snow rather than digging in."
Here are a couple of photos of my 2015 LC (with LT285/65-18 KO2s) on Black Bear Pass
Events/Trails - LCDC 2019 - 5th Anniversary
NOTE: Because of increased friction, less aerodynamics & tire weight, I experienced a decrease of 3-4 mpg on the highway when I switched from OEM tires (P285/60-18) tires to my LT285/65-18E KO2 tires!
