I've used a handful of tires in recent years and there are some clear winners and losers, in my opinion. What's important to me is universal on-road performance, snow performance, noise, and lastly, appearance. Here's a breakdown of which tires I've used and what has worked best about each set, in order of purchase.
Toyo Open Country A/T II
This was a good set of tires. I had them on a WK2. They performed very well in snow and were quiet on-road. I would rate their off-road performance as "fine" and appearance as "fine" as well. It was a good tire, but there wasn't much about it that I really loved; it just got the job done.
All-Terrain: Pretty Good
Snow: Great Noise: Great Appearance: Meh
Wrangler Duratrac
This is an unpopular opinion, but I hated these tires. They looked great, but these are far more Mud-Terrain than All-Terrain. They're noisy and horrible in snow. When people say they like them, I wonder what's wrong with them. Also had these on my WK2.
All Terrain: OK Snow: Terrible Noise: Terrible Appearance: Killer
BFG KO2
I adore these tires. They're perfect in all scenarios, to the point that I can't understand why someone would own a different set. They're quiet, they handle rocks with ease, and they drive like a dedicated snow tire in the winter. Downside: they aren't cheap.
All Terrain: Perfect Snow: Perfect Noise: Perfect Appearance: Pretty Good
Falken Wildpeak AT3W
I purchased these when I went to 35s on the Tacoma and no KO2s were available. They're quite comparable. Quiet, with great off-road and all-around performance. I felt like they could've been a tad better in the snow, but they were still very good.
All-Terrain: Very Good Snow: Great Noise: Great Appearance: Great
Who's the winner? Obviously the KO2. With the Falkens, I really did like them, but I kept wishing they were KO2s. the Falken snow performance wasn't quite as good, and they didn't feel quite as a grippy off-road. As for the noise, I remember putting them on and thinking "wow, this are quieter than the KO2s" but after going back to KO2s, I'm thinking they're really about the same. As for appearance, now that I'm back on KO2s, I feel like they look better than the Falkens.
Ultimately, I think the Falken AT3W is a great tire and nothing else comes as close to a KO2. But, it's still not a KO2. If you need a tire (up to 37") that does it all, that's the way to go.
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