First offroad, el. 13,124’ [Summit County, CO] - Compare/Contrast 5th Gen 4Runner

[PACruiser]

Engine Braking. Or lack thereof. Nearly a complete lack thereof, compared to the 4Runner’s V6. I haven’t heard anyone talking about this! Even for on-road driving, manually downshifting provides little braking effect.

Interesting. I used the manual shifting last week on some steep down hills and overall it was very smooth and seemed to work well. However, I wasn't towing anything. One thing I did notice is I needed to drop 1+ gears quickly until I hit resistance and then it worked as expected.

 

[b407driver]

Hey Jeff, thank you for the great write up!

How do you find the E load Toyos in general? I'm looking at a tire upgrade and getting analysis paralysis trying to find the right balance of offroad robustness (especially for rocky Colorado trails), reasonable weight for gas mileage and decent snow performance. Thanks!

So far they have been fantastic, but haven't had them in snow yet. They honestly drive mostly unlike an "E" rated tire, and I run them at 39 psi. Great on road, great offroad, don't feel stiff or harsh at all.

I could have opted for the Falken Wildpeak AT4s in "C", but they were heavier than this tire, so went with the "E" Toyos. The last two sets of tires on my 4Runner were Cooper AT3s/LTs (C and E), and they were both great, but held rocks for later flinging at high speed (the Toyos don't do that). I had Falken AT3s on it for a couple thousand before I sold it and they didn't hold rocks, and were excellent in heavy rain (didn't get to drive in snow before it sold).

If I could have found a C tire that was lighter I might have tried it... except I refuse to give BF Goodrich any more of my money; KO2s are shite (like the original that pre-dated it that I had many years ago), despite the big fan base, IMO mostly because of how they look. Sounds like the KO3s have made some strides, but I'll never buy them.

 

[Skidaddl]

So far they have been fantastic, but haven't had them in snow yet. They honestly drive mostly unlike an "E" rated tire, and I run them at 39 psi. Great on road, great offroad, don't feel stiff or harsh at all.

I could have opted for the Falken Wildpeak AT4s in "C", but they were heavier than this tire, so went with the "E" Toyos. The last two sets of tires on my 4Runner were Cooper AT3s/LTs (C and E), and they were both great, but held rocks for later flinging at high speed (the Toyos don't do that). I had Falken AT3s on it for a couple thousand before I sold it and they didn't hold rocks, and were excellent in heavy rain (didn't get to drive in snow before it sold).

If I could have found a C tire that was lighter I might have tried it... except I refuse to give BF Goodrich any more of my money; KO2s are shite (like the original that pre-dated it that I had many years ago), despite the big fan base, IMO mostly because of how they look. Sounds like the KO3s have made some strides, but I'll never buy them.

Agree on the BFG's. Most of the guys at tire shops I've talked to say they're WAY overrated.

Also, FWIW I have the Falken AT3's on my Tundra. Great tires, but not great in winter, although I put actual winter specific tires on every year, so it's not a fair comparison.