Tire comparisons, Owner ratings chart. What's good and what's hype

[relayer4u]

Similar tread block, looks to be more noise cancelling technology and more water channeling. That 3rd row of tread has those divisions which should provide more dry grip and even better cold performance. Really looking forward to this one! New Baja AT on top, the ATZ on bottom

Until you find out that the tread depth of the new tire is only 15/32....

Another 3 peak street tire like the KO2

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[JeepVT]

8 months later and I still think these are the best MT tire I have owned.

Noise 8 - Pleasantly Surprised for a MT. Maybe slightly quieter than the STT Pro
Ride 9 - Smooth and Straight; no radial pull
Dry 10 - awesome
Wet 9 - No Slippage
Snow ?? - have only had flurries with no significant accumulation
Trail 10 - Amazing and no issues airing down to 12psi on standard wheels
Mud 10 - Clears mud very well
Look 10 - One of the Best Looking Tires IMO
Wear 9 - They still look like new! No tread chunking like I experienced with the STT Pro
Overall 9 - Overall very satisfied and would buy again.

just ordered these based on what I’ve read and the Australians all falling over themselves on YouTube ( maybe maxis paid them). Nittos are back ordered. Been waiting 7 weeks for Cooper’s and nowhere in sight. Nice price on these. I’ll throw up some thoughts after a few months. Lots of trail and travel planned this summer.

 

[blnewt]

Until you find out that the tread depth of the new tire is only 15/32....

Another 3 peak street tire like the KO2

I wouldn't count on that, the current ATZs are 18.5 tread depth, I seriously doubt they'd be less than that for a tire that's likely to be it's direct replacement.
But stay tuned.......
https://promotions.mickeythompsontires.com/a-new-breed-is-coming/

 

[Shots]

I was initially excited to see this thread. But then I realized that it was completely user generated numbers. And without being able to compare them directly there is no way to get any form of standardized results. .....

I'm not sure I understand the shortcoming that disappointed you. Are you saying you'd prefer ratings provided by manufacturers and/or retailers? I didn't trust those because they're trying to sell a product and are understandably biased to the product they're trying to sell. That and they were notoriously hard to compare since they didn't pit them against each other, and often use different rating scales.
Or, are you saying you'd like to see a more clinical test comparison? To that, I absolutely agree. I would love to see a scientific approach to compare various tires.

While I agree it would be amazing to have a chart that compares various tires through a controlled set of parameters with quantified measurements/data, no such chart exists to include all tires. The closest thing I've ever seen is the rating chart provided by tirerack, which is the inspiration for this thread, although it too is somewhat subjective.
I'd love to get tires to test, which could be identical sizes, mounted on the same test vehicle, driven on a skidpad or track, with controlled/defined conditions, where I could accurately and consistently evaluate and compare them. Things like "noise" could be measured with a db meter, whereas "ride" could be measured with an accelerometer to quantify how much shock or vibration is "felt" while driving.
Unfortunately, I don't have the connections to get all those tires (for free to test of course). I've got access to a test location, and have the equipment to accurately log and analyze them, but the tires not so much.
That would be an amazing chart to have though. In the meantime, we have this thread/chart to give us an idea of what other Wrangler owners think of the tires they've actually used.

 

[jeepingib]

I'm just saying that there is some definite confirmation bias as people are inclined to rate higher products that they spent money on and are proud of. I miss the days when the magazines were doing well as they would usually do an annual tire review, that was largely bias free. There have been some reviews that are definitely questionable when comparing a mild AT tire vs an aggressive MT and the AT is rated as better in some of the cases. Or when aggressive tires are rated as less noisy than an AT. I understand that this is something that you have no control over. I'll shut up and leave this alone now.

 

[SSinGA]

I'm just saying that there is some definite confirmation bias as people are inclined to rate higher products that they spent money on and are proud of. I miss the days when the magazines were doing well as they would usually do an annual tire review, that was largely bias free. There have been some reviews that are definitely questionable when comparing a mild AT tire vs an aggressive MT and the AT is rated as better in some of the cases. Or when aggressive tires are rated as less noisy than an AT. I understand that this is something that you have no control over. I'll shut up and leave this alone now.

Those were not bias free reviews. Money always wins. I'm sure it went down something like this... "if you don't speak highly of our tires we'll pull our advertising budget from your magazine."

 

[Shots]

Those were not bias free reviews. Money always wins. I'm sure it went down something like this... "if you don't speak highly of our tires we'll pull our advertising budget from your magazine."

I've said that for years. Car & Driver, Road & Track, MotorTrend, you name it. They're going to rate the best product as the one that makes them the most money every month. It may not have been an explicit bias either. They may not have realized they were even doing it. Along the lines of I like these guys because they treat us well and as a result, they'd view them a little less harshly.
Kinda like your friend bumping into your shoulder as they walk by, versus a random person doing it in a parking lot. Your friend does it and you don't think twice, but the random person does it and you're likely to be more critical. Did they do it on purpose, was it a pickpocket, were they "an idiot on their phone", or was it something else? You likely didn't think those things about your friend. So a magazine rates a company they have a rapport with a little less harshly than another one. If you subscribed regularly to a particular magazine you could typically guess the company that would come out on top of a comparison article by knowing which company frequently had more ads in that magazine.

I'm just saying that there is some definite confirmation bias as people are inclined to rate higher products that they spent money on and are proud of. I miss the days when the magazines were doing well as they would usually do an annual tire review, that was largely bias free. There have been some reviews that are definitely questionable when comparing a mild AT tire vs an aggressive MT and the AT is rated as better in some of the cases. Or when aggressive tires are rated as less noisy than an AT. I understand that this is something that you have no control over. I'll shut up and leave this alone now.

No need to "shut up and leave this alone", there's nothing wrong with having an opinion.
You are absolutely right that there are biases in these ratings. That's one of the things making this thread more of a real-world review. It's like sitting around the campfire talking about what you like and don't like after a day of wheeling. This is opposed to a review from a business that is interested in selling a product (magazines, air time, tires, parts, etc). These are reviews and ratings from the people using the products. Are there biases? Sure, but the fact that people can discuss on the thread, WHY they rated something better/worse than we would normally expect is the intangible thing that commercial reviews don't give us.
This potential for bias is also why I added the column listing how many reviews were given of a particular tire. So you know if it's 1 person who thinks it's the best/worst tire ever versus 20 people who've established an average value of good/bad. The magazines didn't give you that either. If the editor or reviewer hated a product that's the only opinion you got.

To help address the concern of people not wanting to talk bad about their purchase, I've offered to post anonymous reviews too. Anyone who is disappointed with their purchase but doesn't want to publicly admit it has been able to PM their review to me. I've had a few take me up on it, although some people aren't afraid to bash something they spent money on (look at some of Amazon's 1 star reviews, eek).
You're right though that people tend to be a little more supportive of something they bought/own. However, all of these ratings should be exactly that. Therefore all the reviews should have a similar slant.

Anyway, thanks for the input. No need to leave the thread or be quiet. You have this thing called an opinion, and I value it just like I value everyone elses'. That's why I asked for clarification to your original post. I wanted to see if we could make the chart better. I've made a few changes to the chart through the course of this thread based on input. I may not have made all the recommended changes but I'm open-minded enough to at least consider them.

Thanks for participating in the thread.

 

[DadJokes]

I'm just saying that there is some definite confirmation bias as people are inclined to rate higher products that they spent money on and are proud of. I miss the days when the magazines were doing well as they would usually do an annual tire review, that was largely bias free. There have been some reviews that are definitely questionable when comparing a mild AT tire vs an aggressive MT and the AT is rated as better in some of the cases. Or when aggressive tires are rated as less noisy than an AT. I understand that this is something that you have no control over. I'll shut up and leave this alone now.

While that may be true, I don’t see another practical way to glean any opinion, regardless of the source, as fact when comparing tires. I think preponderance of opinions is as good as it gets but take everything with a grain of salt so to speak.

 

[blnewt]

Latest news on the upcoming Mickey Baja ATs
https://www.moderntiredealer.com/ar...son-baja-boss-at-is-a-hybrid-all-terrain-tire

 

[alksion]

Perfect. When I get my 2022 wrangler. I’m coming here.

 

[Sua Sponte]

2021 Date Coded 35/12.50r17 Kenda Klever RT.

Noise. 10 - As quiet as BFG KO2 tires with a slight hum.

Ride. 10 - Handle as well as the BFGs and Coopers I've run in the past. Zero issues.

Dry. 10 - Zero issues with the Diesel torque. Tire compound is soft and grips amazing.

Wet. 8 - Driving like a normal human being these handle perfect. When I intentionally try to throw myself in the seat on wet pavement these will break free.

Snow. X - No snow use.

Trail. 10 - Running these on a 7.5 wide rim, feel very confident airing down to 12 PSI. Handle very well with aggressive sidewall.

Look. 8 - I initially didn't care for the look, but absolutely love them now.

Overall. 9.5 - Would recommend to anyone. Balanced with less weight than the BFGs.

Wear. X - Not enough use to demonstrate any wear issues, or confidently say they wear well.

 

[Shots]

That's the first Kenda we've had reviewed. It sounds like you're very happy with it too.
Thanks for rating it, the chart has been updated.

 

[SPD//DMN]

Does anyone have experience with the Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015P 285 /70 R17 117T SL OWL tires? We have a JLRU and are considering replacing the stock K02's with quieter tires for highway driving. At some point, the wind noise at 70-75 mph will likely drown out any tire noise so I'm not sure how much reduction in noise can be gained with tires alone. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

[OBJLU]

Those milestars don't deserve that dry rating, I've ran those and the Cooper STT Pro's and now the KM3 and both are far better.

 

[Shots]

Does anyone have experience with the Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015P 285 /70 R17 117T SL OWL tires? We have a JLRU and are considering replacing the stock K02's with quieter tires for highway driving. At some point, the wind noise at 70-75 mph will likely drown out any tire noise so I'm not sure how much reduction in noise can be gained with tires alone. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I haven't gotten any ratings on Yokohama yet, but I think you'll be hard-pressed to find an all-terrain tire quieter than the KO2. Not that they don't exist, but having owned KO2's and many other AT/MT tires they're going to be tough to beat.

FWIW, according to tirerack's ratings the KO2 rates 8.1 and the G015 rates 8.5 so the Yoko may be marginally quieter. It pretty much looks like a street tire though, so the look kills them for me.

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