Who ever said "half the weight" ? Maybe I should not have said a "lot less" weight. The difference is 5 lbs. They're both E1/126, etc. A cut test would actually be cool to do.

Regardless, for trips where ultimate durability and low psi flex are desired, I'll have the KM3 set on.

 

I am currently in search of replacement tires for my ‘22 110, which is now running the original Pirellis at 255/60R20. Strangely, I am having difficulty finding tires which are appropriate. I’ve been using Tirerack.com for decades and they always had numerous choices, but for some reason, the options seem limited, with some being out of stock, not expected to be in stock until February. Living in flat Florida, with no hills or true off-road conditions, my driving is 50/50 local and highway. No need for all season or true off-road but I do want something more aggressive than the Pirelli Scorpions for occasional beach driving or trips to the Outer Banks for more serious, deeper sand. Question is, what other sizes will fit my wheels other than the 255/60R20’s with no modifications or issues. Hopefully, other sizes will open up more choices for my search.

 

275/55R20 is am OEM size. JLR recommends that size in the owner's manual for snow tires. You can get something like the BFG Trail Terrain T/A, which is the BFG equivalent to the OEM Goodyear Wranglers, but they're a hell of a lot better. Nokian makes the Outpost APT, also an equivalent to the ones listed above. Another one to consider is the Falken Wildpeak AT Trail. The Nitto Terra Grappler G3 has very good reviews, and that's a less aggressive than a standard all-terrain, but more aggressive than a road-biased all-terrain like the Wranglers or Trail Terrains. I'm leaning towards those when my Falken Wildpeak AT3Ws need to be replaced sometime next year. All of these tires are available in 275/55R20.

I'd recommend sticking with an XL load rating. I regret getting an E-rated tire, as the ride quality does suffer. Not a huge problem for me, but definitely noticeable.

You can also go a bit bigger and do a 265/60R20, which is slightly bigger. The maximum diameter you can fit on a Defender with air suspension without mods is 32.6." 265/60R20 has a 32.5" diameter. 255/60R20 has a 32" diameter, and 275/55R20 has a 31.9" diameter.

 

Appreciate your feedback, going to the 265/60R20 opens up many more choices when shopping. Interested in the Nitto Grappler and the BFG Trail Terrain and will be digging deeper into reviews on those. One of the biggest factors, after the more important stats on wet/dry grip, comfort, durability, etc. is noise. I don’t want a tire that will generate an annoying drone on the highway. That makes long trips very unappealing. Any thoughts on those two choices as far as noise/drone?

 

Any mild all-terrain will be louder than the standard all-season, and they will get louder as they wear down. I personally don't have any experience with either, but they should have a similar noise level to the OEM Goodyear Wranglers, which are very quiet. The OCTA comes with the BFG Trail Terrains as factory equipment, so I can't imagine they're overly noisy. Another one to consider is the new Bridgestone Dueler A/T Ascent, which is supposed to be very quiet and has good reviews. They were designed with cars like the Defender in mind - upscale off-road capable vehicles. @H1Tad put a set on his Defender recently, so he can offer feedback.

 

Good review video to check out

 

Yeah, that one and some others are how I found out about the Outpost model. Have them on now testing before putting the winter set back on.
34" / 275/65-20 on factory 20's.

 

Yeah, that one and some others are how I found out about the Outpost model. Have them on now testing before putting the winter set back on.
34" / 275/65-20 on factory 20's.





'JUST' enough gap from the OCTA shaped bumper shell.

 

I have the Outpost nAT on two vehicles I own. My D90 V8 has had them for about 5k miles. Fantastic tire—I live in Denver and didn’t bother buying snows for getting around town. I’ll take the D90 up to the slopes during early or late season. They can handle snow as well as KO2s but are not near the performance of a dedicated snow tire in icy or very cold conditions. You still have to drive carefully on road, but I don’t see a situation where you would get stuck in deep snow with the 4WD system in these cars.

The lower grip levels are a boat load of fun in empty snowy parking lots… lock the diffs, turn off ESP, turn the wheel and hit the throttle 🙂

My other vehicle is a 4x4 Sprinter and I do put snows on that one for deep winter use. But that’s a bit of a different animal — 10k lbs so I need all the traction I can get in emergency braking situations. I’ve got about 12k miles on these and they did need to be rebalanced at 10k miles. However this is a load E rated tire so they came with a lot more tread, so this was to be expected. Still very quiet for an AT tire. I put them back on for shoulder season as they would do fine in any surprise October or May snowstorm.

I didn’t get the LT version for my Defender FWIW.