Knockout KO2

Is Bfgoodrich’s All-terrain Ko2 the Ultimate All-rounder?

- Chris Collard

BACK in 2014, I spent three days in Baja, Mexico, testing the newest iteration of the BFGoodrich All-Terrain, the KO2. The region was being hammered by the tail-end of a hurricane, which allowed us to put the KO2s through a variety of terrain ranging from sloppy mud and sandy beaches to rocky hill climbs and high-speed drifts on hard-packed two-tracks. I was impressed with the tyre and within a few months had a set on my long-term Tacoma project vehicle.

Since that time, the odometer has clicked off 55,000km and the KO2s have carried me back to Mexico numerous times, as well as dozens of backcountry treks around Western USA. The company’s tagline for the new All-Terrain was Traction, Toughness and Tread Life, and I can say that in the past two years my new dogs have been given ample opportunity to pass or fail.

TRACTION

THE traction a tyre provides may be deduced with subjective or objective metrics, and there are numerous factors that play into performance on a variety of tractive surfaces. Tread block configuration, rubber compound, siping and sidewall construction are the key variables and must work in harmony with one another.

The new design has slightly wider voids, a broad, staggered shoulder, and a chevron pattern side-biter sidewall tread that wraps about a third of the way to the rim. Its fulldepth siping spans nearly the full width of the footprint, and rather than a straight, vertical slice they are three-dimensional, descending from the surface in a wavy pattern like a piece of corrugated metal.