Official 200 Series Chat and BS Thread (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MScruiser
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I have noticed a funny oscillation or vibration at a specific RPM. Mine seems to do it regardless of if it's cold or not. It's done it from day one. It is hard to explain, it's not something that feels really off or like something is broken, it's just real smooth through the entire power band except for a small spot. That might make sense?
Taco2Cruiser
Crazy American Off Road
Ughhh... I can’t wait till Friday. Winter trip time! I just LOVE driving the 2-hundo in adverse conditions.
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75 and sunny here with a hint of ash and smoke. Where you headed?
Taco2Cruiser
Crazy American Off Road
I like the “hint of ash.” You stayin’ safe over there?
Gonna drive the Blue Ridge Parkway/Smokey MNT NP, then to Knoxville, and then to south of Chicago, St. Louis, then back to Savannah. Not much of a wheeling trip, but gonna take backroads and trails as much as I can, hope it snows.
That's awesome have seen a ton of good shots recently on Instagram from the Blue Ridge Mountains area, snow included.
Staying safe here, at the whim of the wind but we're pretty tucked in suburbia w/ amble highways around so it would take something serious to get to us. Others though have not been so lucky. All good though.
I drove mine for the first time is snowy/icy stuff yesterday. I have to say that I wasn't impressed. A couple of times it got to be a handful. Maybe the TRAC and VSC nannies aren't working. Our 14-year old Highlander is MUCH better behaved in the snow. My BFG KOs only have ~3500 miles on them, so it's not like they are worn out.
And my fears of the LED headlight bulbs are coming true. Not enough heat to keep them clear. The washer jets are worthless, did nothing on the thin layer of ice that built up. Might have to put the old halogens back in for the winter.
My former boss, who tried to convince me to relocate to San Diego with him, told me the other day not to stress about the weather here in Boston, as it wasn’t that great in San Diego that day — “it barely got over 70 and I can see a cloud in the sky.” That rat bastard...
Is anyone with a 200 running the long tube DT headers and if so do you have anything negative to say or dash lights on due to the DT headers? I have a set just asking before install.
Thanks
Thanks
From personal experience, the KO2s are horrible in ice and slick snow (but good in deep and/or dry powdery Utah snow). We run KO2s on my wifes 4Runner. She got stuck in an ice storm in Portland when 2wd cars were passing her. I drove to where she was with my 03 4Runner with Grabber At2s and was able to pull her up the hill. The Grabbers were able to get purchase and move two cars and the KO2s just spun out, even after letting out a ton of air.
The KO2s are a great tire, and last a long time. We are between 30 and 40k miles on ours and they look practically new. I think the hard compound is the reason they suck in slick conditions. My At2s were pretty worn out at 35k miles.
We ended up putting dedicated snows on my wife's 4Runner, and the Blizzaks are amazingly better. I'd never run dedicated winters before, and even with my current Falken At3/Ws, which are good in snow, I recently decided to get dedicated winter tires (studded Cooper M+S). Haven't had much snow to test them, but we can cars sliding around yesterday morning with some icy fog and I was firmly planted.
I think winters are a bit overkill, but I drive through some sketchy passes regularly, so for the low cost I decided it was worth the extra control.
If I go to a year round AT again, I will probably get the Cooper ATW or ST Maxx. Based on the poor traction of the KO2, I will never buy them again.
I think you are probably correct, that some of my traction/stability issue may lie with my tire choice. I really don't want to store a second set of wheels/tires though. But, I've done it in the past for cars and yeah Blizzaks are awesome in crappy weather.
@bamma - thanks for the run down. I made my choice for the Falkens over the K02's largely because of snow use. I don't live in the snow country, but I visit there often for winter sports. The fact that the Falken's have a snowflake symbol swayed my choice.
Interested to know more of your thoughts on the Falkens. While not a dedicated winter tire, do they live up to the expected performance of a snowflake rated A/T for winter use?
Interested to know more of your thoughts on the Falkens. While not a dedicated winter tire, do they live up to the expected performance of a snowflake rated A/T for winter use?
The KO2 also has the snowflake.
In my estimation, the Cooper ATW, Falken AT3W and Goodyear Duratracs are probably the best year round AT tires for winter weather. Both the Duratrac and At3w have softer compounds, and the p rated at3w has a silica in the tread that is supposed to enhance traction on wet and icy surfaces. The downside to softer tires is wear, and you need to rotate them religiously or they get noisy, especially duratracs. The ATW has a lot more siping than any other AT I have seen, it is like an all terrain version of the Michelin MS/2:
I only used the Falkens in one snowstorm and they were great.
To meet the snowflake symbol, a tire only has to have 10% better than a baseline tire, which is an outdated all season. So a dedicated winter like a Blizzak and a KO2 will both have snowflakes. I believe all of the KOs had the same compound, but not all were tested for snowflake compliance, as it is expensive to do so.
I only used the Falkens in one snowstorm and they were great.
To meet the snowflake symbol, a tire only has to have 10% better than a baseline tire, which is an outdated all season. So a dedicated winter like a Blizzak and a KO2 will both have snowflakes. I believe all of the KOs had the same compound, but not all were tested for snowflake compliance, as it is expensive to do so.
In my estimation, the Cooper ATW, Falken AT3W and Goodyear Duratracs are probably the best year round AT tires for winter weather. Both the Duratrac and At3w have softer compounds, and the p rated at3w has a silica in the tread that is supposed to enhance traction on wet and icy surfaces. The downside to softer tires is wear, and you need to rotate them religiously or they get noisy, especially duratracs. The ATW has a lot more siping than any other AT I have seen, it is like an all terrain version of the Michelin MS/2:
I only used the Falkens in one snowstorm and they were great.
To meet the snowflake symbol, a tire only has to have 10% better than a baseline tire, which is an outdated all season. So a dedicated winter like a Blizzak and a KO2 will both have snowflakes. I believe all of the KOs had the same compound, but not all were tested for snowflake compliance, as it is expensive to do so.
Since you mentioned the Michelins, I'll throw out there that they make a winter version of the MS/2 called the LTX Winter in an E-rated 18" size that fits the LC. I wish I had those on today as we go through a winter storm here in Michigan!
BulletHead
Village Idiot
I've had the Michelin LTX here in Boston for the last 48k and they did great in the snow. It's time for some new tires now, maybe KO2s or Toyos, will look into the Falkens. I had the same LTXs on a 07 4runner and they lasted 95k.
