KO2 bad in snow and ice you say? NOT!

[AnyMal]

Remember, KO2 came in 3rd in most on-road tests i think, which makes perfect sense given KO2 is not really a highway-priority tire. It ONLY excelled in snow and ice over the P-metric tires in that test.

IF TireRack was trying to sell KO2, then why didn’t they rank it 1st in everything? Why was KO2 “average or below average” in most of their on-road test? If i was trying to sell something, then i want to glam up the results, right?

I think that some of you guys are looking beyond what this test says to try and rationalize away the point of this test…and thus making random conclusions that are not supported by this test.

Let me summarize to help you guys:

This test does NOT mean that KO2 replaces a proper winter tire. BUT, (only) compared to those other tires in the test, KO2 did great in snow & ice.

KO2 is not to meant to be put on a race car. It did NOT win a single on-road performance test in this comparison other than snow/ice.

What this test does show is that KO2 is not THAT bad on-road (a common presumed weakness of KO2) when compared to other contemporary P-metric highway-bias “AT” tires. Make no mistake about it…Yokohama G015 is a GREAT tire that even up to now is one of the gold standard for highway-bias AT tire. Firestone AT-2 and Hankook AT were new AT tire to the market at time of testing.

What exactly is amiss? When did TireRack say anything about KO2 beating the mild ATs? It only beat those ATs in ONE SINGLE category (snow & ice).

I mean i guess dude? Lol.
But given the differences in compounds involved it is kind of a crazy outcome. Its just very hard to believe. Maybe they got some special sauce but it goes against all conventional tire knowledge.

Let me take them for a spin sometime.

 

[CO18Cruiser]

Looking forward to seeing how the Nokian Outpost ATs stack up against the tires tested.

 

[KLF]

Looking forward to seeing how the Nokian Outpost ATs stack up against the tires tested.

But that's the thing... TireRack doesn't sell Nokian. So IMO all of their winter tire comparisons are worthless.

 

[warm fuzzies]

Interesting. But real world experience would say no. My K02 stay safely in my garage all winter as they suck compared to Blizzaks on snow and ice. Real world driving is where my understanding comes from.

+1

I also found the KO2s suck compared to Blizzaks. But that’s likely because I’m used to driving like it’s dry out with my snow tires on.

Nearly time to swap sets for the spring!

 

[coleAK]

I run KO2s as my summer tire here in Alaska. If you live somewhere without a real winter they will do ok. That is where running a dedicated winter tire doesn’t make sense KO2s would be a good option. When we lived in NE Tennessee from 2005 to 2009 I ran ATs (Ko’s then coopers) year round on my g500. Went back to dedicated winter Nokians when we moved back to Alaska in 2010.

 

[UnFadeable21]

I live in MN and we get the most snow and ice for the lower 48.

KO2 are decent in the snow and ice. First week I had my LC, I got stuck in like 3 feet of snow. KO2 couldn’t grip or do anything. Had to do crawl control and get out.

I think they are more for show and outdoor than dedicated winter tire.

 

[ElJayBird]

I think they are more for show and outdoor than dedicated winter tire.

LOL - my winter trips into the northern Cascades disagree. Are there better options? Sure. But KO2's do everything reasonably well. With all of the rain and ice we get out here, they're my go-to.

Actually, all of that is a lie. Don't buy KO2. They suck.

 

[UnFadeable21]

LOL - my winter trips into the northern Cascades disagree. Are there better options? Sure. But KO2's do everything reasonably well. With all of the rain and ice we get out here, they're my go-to.

Actually, all of that is a lie. Don't buy KO2. They suck.

Buy me a some blizzaks and I’ll trade you my KO2 right now

 

[FJBen]

I used to be a BFG guy years ago, but the KO2's...meh. They don't drive any better than my Yokohama Mud Terrains in snow/ice and the Yokohama's blow them away in every other category. I've had cracking issues, loud, hard, dry/rot cracking and super undersized. Big pass from 4 sets of BFG from me.

Toyo, Yokohama, Michelin for LTX/MS

 

[CO18Cruiser]

But that's the thing... TireRack doesn't sell Nokian. So IMO all of their winter tire comparisons are worthless.

I heard in light of some of their recent offerings that may change.

 

[UnFadeable21]

I used to be a BFG guy years ago, but the KO2's...meh. They don't drive any better than my Yokohama Mud Terrains in snow/ice and the Yokohama's blow them away in every other category. I've had cracking issues, loud, hard, dry/rot cracking and super undersized. Big pass from 4 sets of BFG from me.

Toyo, Yokohama, Michelin for LTX/MS

Yea I run a dedicated winter set and summer set of wheels here in Minnesota.

The LC I bought two months came with the KO2’s.

But my summer tires, 285/45r22, I’m gonna be running some Yokohama Parada Spec X on those. I want to see how they do on the LC.

 

[Idaho Savage]

True story...if anyone is looking for a set of KO2s in 315/70 R17, I would consider selling mine. 5k on them on my Raptor. I'm not shipping them, though, so pickup in Idahizzy only. Come on! They're a great winter tire!

 

[Markuson]

Interesting. But real world experience would say no. My K02 stay safely in my garage all winter as they suck compared to Blizzaks on snow and ice. Real world driving is where my understanding comes from.

Same here.
No thanks.

I make no claims of snow/ice expertise…but I’ve been in enough extremes and frozen conditions to feel my 1.5 cents is substantive.

I’ve had very scary performance in TRULY icy conditions with KO2s. In one instance in Jackson Hole Wyoming…it was -16 degrees…and I was LUCKY that I stopped helplessly sliding just in time to avoid rear-ending a Sheriff cruiser… Twas sheer luck…because my KO2s were sliding like ice skates.

In numerous others, similarly frustrating issues.

*I should also note that my CURRENT tires (Nitti Ridge Grapplers) are also HORRIBLE in serious ice…yet I am otgerwise extremely happy with my Nittos).

There’s Powdery snow…no problem.
Hard-packed snow…no problem.
There’s slush…No problem.
There’s chunky snow with a bit of ice…not too bad.
But when things get truly icy? NOPE. Downright scary.

KO2s are honestly great all around tires …….for just about anything but mud and ice in my experience.

 

[Idaho Savage]

I think there's a trend here: If you take trips to places with wintery conditions, KO2s are fine. It would appear that the folks who actually live in wintery conditions find them lacking. Two different use cases.

 

[Madtiger]

Just to remind…this is not about KO2 replacing your dedicated winter tires….

 

[ElJayBird]

I think there's a trend here: If you take trips to places with wintery conditions, KO2s are fine. It would appear that the folks who actually live in wintery conditions find them lacking. Two different use cases.

I live in the PNW - lots of rain and ice and find that they’re fine. If you’re in serious icy conditions, nothing is going to be great short of running chains or a studded winter tire. I’ve found KO2’s to be the best all around tire for the vast majority of terrain that I frequent.

 

[warm fuzzies]

+1 to trend

In Montana we put KO2s in storage during the winter and use real snow tires

 

[Redbull]

I also found that KO2s snow performance is great when they’re new like sub 5k miles after that they’re like just any other tire.

 

[CO18Cruiser]

Waiting to hear back from Nokian to see if they’re expanding the available size range for the Outpost AT, their beefier tire with full kevlar wrap.

I was going to get Michelin Defender LTXs for my wife’s RX350 (we run Hakka R3 SUV in winter) but ended up buying the Nokian Outpost APT for her car. So far they’re comparable to the Defenders (we’ve owned multiple sets) and looking at the tread/checking out the rubber, they look like they could be a great, true all season tire that does nearly as well as snow tires in CO winters.