Falken AT4W vs KO3

[NaMinesClarence]

@Pressurized whole lotta laughter, minimal useful information

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[wessermgm]

I haven't had either of these generations of these tires, but I have many vehicles used the KO2s and ATW3s (my wife's Lexis iGX550 s currently running KO2s, looks bad ass - our Bronco Sport has the Ford approved OEM Falken ATW3s on it).

On my F150, I pulled the asinine Hankook OEM tires and put KO2s on it. My neighborhood was being constructed at the time. Over the course of three years, I probably pulled 6 nails out of those KO2s. None punctured the lugs. Not one. Damn things were bulletproof. Obviously took a mileage hit off those paper thin Hankooks, but that was fine. Rode well in all conditions. The kicker for me is when I traded it in after 50k miles, the tread still read 10/32 (I swear!). I don't know about the KO3s, but I do know that BFG has earned my trust over the years.

As far the ATW3s on the Bronco Sport, they are lighter than the typical Falkens, but perform well. I have no complaints.

 

[C1 Ret]

It's probably too soon, but I'm wondering if there have been reportrd tire balancing issues with the KO3s

Mine seemed to be balanced just fine, or at least....I haven't noticed any road wobble at freeway speed.

 

[Pressurized]

@Pressurized whole lotta laughter, minimal useful information

Quite useful... As someone that has installed around 1000 tires over the last 6 years, I'll gladly put my knowledge up against someone who just loves whatever he has bought and is loaded with confirmation bias and nothing else.

Move along.

 

[NaMinesClarence]

I believe that review is an outlier.... I've watched and read a dozen or so comparisons of the 2 tires and nobody has ever produced a result like that.

I consult for tires at an offroad shop as a hobby and have sold and installed hundreds if not closer to a thousand tires over the last 4 years and fortunately, these are the 2 top brands I recommend and sell. Unfortunately, I prefer the previous versions of both....

The KO3 isn't yet available in the appropriate load ranges for our vehicles. The AT4W is, so that makes a difference for me. The KO2's are still readily available and haven't been discontinued. The AT3W is on it's way out. Which is a bummer, because that's the best tire of the 4....

I'm probably going to do a set of KO2's in a couple months unless I get a tire to try from a different MFG.

Quite useful... As someone that has installed around 1000 tires over the last 6 years, I'll gladly put my knowledge up against someone who just loves whatever he has bought and is loaded with confirmation bias and nothing else.

Move along.

Two pages later and now it is suddenly six years? Nothing better than guys who need to list personal "stats" to inflate their ego.

 

[malt_liqueur]

I'm in the same spot, and I'm betting most people will point you to the ko3's due to the weight being a good amount less.

TFL also did a recent you tube video of both of them and a Firestone in the snow and the at4ws were horrible. I've heard the at4ws lost a bit of wet and snow performance from the at3ws you probably used before, but the TFL test came out even more extreme than people thought it would.

Still not sure which one I'm going with, but I'm hoping there is more info on snow performance after the winter.

wow that is a shocking difference between the two. geez

 

[Transfer]

Installed the F load rated K03 in Sasquatch factory sizing on factory wheels today! Initial impressions are that these are more comfortable with better damping characteristics than the OEM Good Years (34k miles on mine), less road noise, and look amazing. The only downside from first day on them is that steering feel is less. They're just a bit more vague feeling, especially on center. Can't comment on actual handing yet though. They seem to have balanced fine with no wobble up to 75 mph. Running 38 PSI warm.

I am definitely happy with this purchase based on day 1 ownership.

 

[[DELETED MEMBER 27901]]

Two pages later and now it is suddenly six years? Nothing better than guys who need to list personal "stats" to inflate their ego.

Not to mention guys buying F Rated BFGs because of brand loyalty. Talk about round hole square peg…

 

[NaMinesClarence]

Not to mention guys buying F Rated BFGs because of brand loyalty. Talk about round hole square peg…

I wouldn't know. I've never owned a vehicle with BFGoodrich tires.

But if we all had bias-ply tires I'm sure that ply rating would be super relevant. Maybe we should all just switch to using load index, instead of an antiquated lettering system 🫣

 

[Transfer]

1000 mile update on my KO3 in stock size, F load rated on '21 Wildtrak 4DR...
I'm not sure I could be happier with this purchase when comparing to OEM. I don't have any other AT tire experience but so far I've taken them to typical PNW off-road in multiple conditions from mud and moderate sized rocks to deep troughed out wet pack snow, deep unpacked snow, and on-road cold dry, cold wet, and frozen roads with snow and slush.

These tires do everything I want them to do without any worries. Grip in above conditions has been excellent. It did take about 100+ miles for wet traction to improve as they wore in but it's quite good now. Running at 35 psi cold and IMO ride comfort is a huge improvement over OEM Goodyears at same PSI. The KO3 has a nice damped feeling and they are quiet too.

The only downsides are that I do notice just a touch of decrease in initial acceleration and my fuel consumption has worsened by a full 1 MPG (could also be a seasonal issue). I'll take these tradeoffs any day though for how much more I enjoy my Bronco now.

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