Advice please. KO3 C or Pirelli Scorpion AT+ E or another? (265/70/R17)

Currently have KO2 C rated tires 46lbs and have been happy with them, but need to get new ones soon. I've done a lot of searching the forum, but can't really find any info on the newer Scorpions (old ones apparently sucked off road). There's about a $60 per tire price difference. Price isn't really a concern, but the Scorpions seem to have really good reviews. I drive probably 85% street/highway 10% fire roads and 5% actual off road. This is just a guess, but if I drove off road Sat and Sun every single weekend that would only be 30% and I definitely don't do that much. I think E is probably overkill, but there's hardly any C rated tires from what I've found and while SL would probably be fine I'd prefer a little stronger since I'm in the desert and there's sharp rocks.

Just realized the KO3 C's don't come out until Aug 2025 so seems like it's either SL or E unless I want to do KO2s again

KO3 C 46lbs
Scorpion E 49lbs

 

Ko3s for the win my next set

 

Do you not like your ko2s or just wanting the ko3s.. I have had the ko2s on every truck that I have had and never had a failure. Always worked good for me. If your tires will last for another year just get the ko3s..never had any dealings with the scorpions..sorry if this didn’t help your decisions

 

The KO2s have been pretty bad in the rain for me, but other than that they've been good. I'm considering SL Wildpeaks since a lot of people seem to use those for light off roading just fine and those seem to be much better in the rain. It doesn't rain a whole lot here, but there is a monsoon season.

 

Wildpeak AT4W.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/forums/wheels-tires.15/

 

The E ones look like they're 49lbs so not too bad. Just not sure how E tires are compared to C. General Grabber ATX are C so those are another I'm considering

 

^^^^

 

I had the Pirellis in e load. They were very good in rain and snow. Quiet for me on pavement. They did wear out after about 40k miles.

 

They only have these is SL or E rating that I've been able to find. E is overkill imo. SL would probably work, but I'd prefer the little extra comfort off road of a C rated tire

 

How was the ride/handling on pavement? This is my daily driver and I've never had E rated tires so not sure if it's just people exaggerating how bad they drive or not.

 

I am loving my KO3 lrE tires in 265/70r17.

 

Those are about 10lbs per tire heavier than a C rated tire. Any idea how much that impacts mpg?

 

Stock highway i got around 23-24mpg, the ko3s calculated to be 22.6mpg, the most impactful factor to mpg i think would be the size, weight of the tire is not too much imo.

 

If I remember correctly, they were 49LBS. So only took a little ding in mpgs. Road fairly quietly for an E load. They seemed just a tad louder than the stock Goodyears. They were fine on pavement, great on slick pavement.

 

I have the ko2 in load E on my truck. The only reason I went to E was because I was blowing tires in the back country. My Taco was just to heavy for the load C on sharp rocks. Dry it's probably fine. But once you put the full skid package on. The sliders, the roof top tent bed rack, then you add all the beer and food shit gets heavy. So for a loaded down taco with all its gear on it. You want load E on sharp rocks or expect to be changing some flats.

As for the gas mileage. Once your taco is this far into its MODs gas mileage doesn't exist. I think my taco gets around 12 to 14..... I could probably eco drive it and get it up to 16 but what fun can be had driving like Mis Daizy?

 

I put the pirellis on my tacoma recently, ive been happy with them. They are quiet on the pavement I went from the 245 75 16 to the 265 70 17 and my mpg went down 1.5 - 2 mpg.

 

Do you have Discount Tire nearby? That’s who got them for me.

 

That's the website I was looking at. Maybe they have more options if I go into the store. Yours are also a different size so that might have an impact on things too

 

I don't do all that which is why I'm trying to stay away from Es. I regularly go to the range which is a fire road with a section of I guess you'd call it rougher fire road, but nothing crazy. Other than that it's mostly fire roads to camp sites with the occasional light off road. No rock crawling or anything like that