General Grabber AT2 vs. BFGoodrich KO2

General Grabber AT2 and BFGoodrich KO2 are both all-terrain tires built to provide best experience both on and off road. AT2 offers an outclass performance in rugged terrains relying upon its unique and aggressive tread pattern, it deals efficiently with mud and snow due to its open pattern.

On the other hand, KO2 provides standard comfort while driving on the road. Both of these tires are backed by tread life warranties from their manufacturers. Detailed analysis of their tread qualities and pricing is shared below.

General Grabber AT2 vs BFG KO2 – Overview:

Grabber AT2 has a rugged looking tread characterizing raised blocks, wide grooves, frequent sipes and dimples, aggressive shoulders and thick sidewalls. Comparatively, its blocks have large spaces among them as a result contact patch of tread is limited. Minimal tread contact leads to lesser grip on paved surfaces. However, Strengthened shoulders enhance handling ability and stabilize on road traction to some extent. Dense siping pattern and dimples quickly wipe away water and reduce the risk of hydroplaning. Due to these element AT2 exhibits good wet traction. In terms of off roading, this tire can roll through mud or snow smoothly as its wider grooves are capable of effective evacuation of such substances. Its tread is made up of long lasting rubber which resist chip and cuts, General tire provide warranty for its durability.

Tread of KO2 gives an aggressive look due to interlocking blocks, large scooped shoulders, strengthened sidewalls, excessive siping over lugs, and stone ejectors embossed in grooves.

In comparison it has low void ratio as five rows of bulky lugs are placed closer over the tread. High contact patch provides optimum grip over hard paved paths. Strong big shoulders optimize handling and enhance traction while steering. Wet traction is reliable, aquaplaning resistance is credited to extensive siping of lugs as water quickly moves out through these tiny slits. On the other side, narrower grooves have disadvantage while going off road. In mud and snow, these tires have lesser self-cleaning ability. Its grooves cannot throw mud, snow or debris backward efficiently and may get filled with such substances, losing traction. KO2 performs well over the rocks as its deep biting tread provide traction necessary to mount up the slopes, huge shoulders manage tricky turns and stone ejectors keep troublesome hard fragments away.

On-Road Traction Comparison

General Grabber AT2 loses the competition in terms of on road performance. Its deep and broad grooves reduce contact patch.

Dry grip is reduced due to lesser surface area of tread in contact with road. Although bulky shoulders help in steering yet overall traction is not good. However, these tires show hydroplaning resistance due to dense siping all around the tread and dimples over shoulder lugs.

Side Note: We have two tires, we think are even better for ON-road. The Cooper Discoverer AT3, which is amazing for On-road in our opinion and the Nitto Ridge Grappler, a which is a hybrid tire from Nitto Family.

KO2 offers supreme performance on road comparatively, due to its lower void ratio. More area of tread is in contact with road leading to improved grip on the surface. Scooped shoulders further enhance traction by offering well-handled steering.  Tread is aquaplaning resistant as it is frequently sipped.  Moisture easily finds a way out through these thin spaces resulting in good wet traction.

Mud Traction Comparison

Side Note: A better pick for off road traction we think would be the Toyo AT3 and the Goodyear DuraTrac. In these links we compared them with KO2.

We compared them both as well: Duratrac vs Toyo AT3.

AT2 performs superior in mud due to its unique tread. Open channels efficiently resist mud stuffing.

Wider and deeper grooves easily evacuate mud out as the tire rolls through muddy surfaces. Stabilized traction in mud is further enhanced by aggressive shoulder lugs which deliver a steady handling experience when taking difficult turns in bogs.

During off road trips over the muddy tracks, KO2 has less traction than its competitor. Its grooves are narrow and shallow due to closer arrangement of bulky blocks. These smaller voids do not have enough capacity to throw mud and loose dirt off from tire. Hence, tread with get filled up with mud in boggy areas and lose traction.

Traction on Snow:

Snow traction of AT2 is better than its competitor due to its massive grooves. Increased width and depth of its grooves provide huge space for the removal of soft snow through them. As the tire accelerates snow is thrown backwards, clearing the way of the tire.  However, high void ratio and lower contact patch result in poor grip and make traction difficult on icy surfaces.

Soft snow presents KO2 many troubles as its grooves are less wide in comparison. Narrow channels lack capacity to clean themselves from snow while rolling, thus tread exhibits less traction over soft snow. There is risk of snow choking in grooves. However these tires perform satisfactorily on ice as their greater contact patch that grips the surface tightly and sipes avoid slipping by wiping water away.

Rocky Terrain Traction:

KO2 has full capacity to rock over the rocks. Its tread deeply bites uneven surfaces and strengthened shoulders offer outclass handling over difficult corners on mountains. Its superior stone repelling design prevents stone choking of grooves. These prominent ejectors kick out any striking hard particles like pebbles or rocky fragments. Stone ejection not only provides better traction but also resist abrasions and punctures because of stone drilling. Thicker sidewall resist scratches and chips while facing gravel.

AT2 provides dependable traction in rocky trails as it can deal well with gravel. Wide grooves improve traction on dry surfaces as no stones can get stuck in between them. Its serrated shoulders provide smooth handling over the difficult corners and sturdy sidewalls resist chips and abrasions. Moreover, prominent stone ejectors safeguard its grooves from stone clogging as they bump off rocky particles, small stones and pebbles, but they aren’t as good as of its competitor.

Driving Comfort

AT2 is much louder comparatively owing to its wide grooves. Wind particles find full space to collide, reflect and resonate in massive voids producing a lot of noise. Huge grooves also account for less comfort on road as traction is reduced due to minimized contact patch.

KO2 produces less noise than its competitor due to its specific tread pattern. Grooves are narrower and blocks are arranged in a manner to cancel out effect of wind resonation minimizing the sound. Better grip due to higher contact patch and optimized handling due to big strong shoulders offer a more comfortable ride on paved tracks.

Durability and Tread wear

Grabber AT2 is more durable than its competitor, its tread is moulded out from sturdy thick rubber which wears evenly and slowly making the tire last for a longer time. It comes with 60,000 mileage warranty from General tire.

KO2 tread life expectancy is lower comparatively. It is also backed by manufacturer’s warranty for tread life but its warranted mileage is only 50,000 miles.

Quick Summary

• Grabber AT2 and BFGoodrich KO2 are both all-terrain tires.
• On road grip of KO2 is better than its competitor.
• Both tires give good performance in rocky terrains.
• Over muddy and snowy surfaces, AT2 presents superior traction and evacuation capacity.
• KO2 provides more comfort on road with much less noise.
• Both tires have mileage warranty but AT2 has a longer tread life comparatively.
• KO2 is priced higher than its competitor.

Compare BFG KO2 with other AT tires:

• Nitto Recon Grappler.
• Toyo Open Country AT3.
• Falken Wildpeak AT3W.
• Cooper Discoverer AT3.
• Nitto Terra Grappler.
• Nitto Ridge Grappler.
• General Grabber AT3.
• Yokohama Geolandar X-AT.
• Bridgestone Dueler AT Revo 3.
• Kumho Road Venture AT51.
• Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus.
• Goodyear DuraTrac.
• BFGoodrich Trail Terrain.