You are also right. It all depends on what you are using the rig for.

 

4 MPG?! I'm on 37's and get about 1 MPG less than stock. I think your MPG estimate is either unusual, related improper pressure/balancing, or a little aggresive.

 

I am always observing the performance of tires on the trail. Quite frankly I see MTR's slipping when others aren't. And when we tried them in oilfield conditions at work they chunked out and didn't do as well as the Cooper STT. None of the companiess that have fleets of 4x4 trucks run MTR's.

60,000? Doesn't it seem to you that to get that kind of mileage the rubber would have to be a bit on the harder side? The mileage a tire lasts is the last thing I care about. Performance off road is the most important thing, followed by road noise and handling on the road. And I'll want a new tire a long time before I ever saw 60,000.

 

wait you're getting only about 1 MPG less with Toyo 37s vs. stock Rubi 32s? is that with a recalibrated speedo? makes me want to go that big!

 

I love the km2's. I've got 37's and they are as quiet as a street tire. I put 70 miles on them as a daily driver and they are wearing great! My only prob. has been power loss and I'll take care of that this fri. with 5.13's. See ya in moab!

 

I just went to 35" KM2's this week. They ride much like the stock 32" KM's on the road, quiet, not squirmy and I haven't had any noticeable power loss running 4.10's.
I haven't taken them offroad yet but I can post up after this weekend.

 

The lack of siping might be to avoid chunking. The compound feels softer than the Toyo's which is one of the reasons they handle better on the road.

 

One of the reasons I like the KM2, which as stated, is unsiped by the factory, is that I can sipe them myself. In my mind what passes for siping onthe Toyo and the Cooper STT is not real siping, just what can be done by mold at the time of manufacture. I siped my 37" KM2 and the performance is phenomanal. I went with 1/4" deep spacing starting 1/4" back from the front of each lug and spacing the sipes 1/4" appart. I stayed off the outer 1" of the outer lugs. FWIW I used the VanAlstyne tool; heated, can cut 4 sipes with 1/4" spacing at once and takes about 45 minutes per 37" tire.

I think a properly hand siped KM2 is the best performing off road tire that is DOT street legal. I spent the week between Christmas and New Years wheeling in the snow around Moab (lots of snow this year - Moabs slickrock is a different animal when covered in snow and icy) and of the 4 or 5 vehicles that were with us everyday I am the only one that never chained up and never took a strap. There were a few placed that I had to tow everybody else up. A sipped KM2 is an awesome tire;a siped BFG Krawler may be better but would be worse on the street and freeway.

 

I made the right choice for my needs and taste, and I really like and enjoy the performance of my KM2s, but I think that your statement is a little bit of a stretch.

If you include both road (quietness, ride quality, handling) and off road balanced performance, then I would certainly agree. But I've rolled on several tires that had better pure off road performance and were DOT approved. I believe the Toyo MTs are DOT approved and I know the Mickey Thompson MTZs are DOT approved.

 

Well balanced performance on a street/trail vehicle is a good thing. But Keep in mind that I said a properly hand sided KM2. Now I've been around enough vehicles that were equiped with the Toyo MT's and MTZ's and was not tempted to spend my dollars on them IN COMPARISON TO A STOCK KM2. The siped KM2 is quite a bit better than either. I would also the the new MTR's are in the same boat as the Toyo and MTR. I must add that I've never seen the above tires in use when properly siped. Another thing is that many think siping primarily, or only, increases performance in snow, ice or rain. I'm here to tell you that they improve the tire in all condition and are a big plus in dry rock of Colorado and Utah.

Doing siping right involves spending 80, 200 to 500 bucks on a tool and a good bit of labor. With my 200 dollar tool that is heated and can cut four siped at a time I had roughly 5 hours invested. A single cut tool could easlily double that time, especially if unheated. So it is rare to see siping done properly on other than race vehicles. But the benefits are worth it. Just don't think "factory" so called siping is anything like what I am talking about. The closest thing to what I'm talking about is the siping Bridgestone puts on their Blizzac snow tires. I have a set on my wife's Park Avenue and those tires transform the car in the winter; enough so that I've seen the Buick climb a road with packed snow that an open diff SUV couldn't make it up.

FWIW it worth I've had the siping job done by tire shops with their siping machine (Safe-T-Sipe or something like that) (on my last set of 35" KM2's) and it is sloppy in comparison to what I'm talking about.