Toyo Open Country AT2 tyre review (they wore, a lot)
I’ve long been a bit sceptical when reading tyre reviews. Most are sponsored, and if they aren’t the tyres haven’t done much work, and if they have, its on a vehicle that’s totally different to yours and not really relevant.
You cannot compare a 200 series Land Cruiser running tyres in the high country to a Dual cab Ute in the Pilbara. The conditions are totally different, and almost irrelevant.
However, I’ll pass on my experience thus far (about 18,500km) of the Toyo AT2 tyres in a 265/75/16 on both the Isuzu Dmax, and our Camper Trailer.
This Toyo AT2 review is purely my opinion, and is not influenced in any way. I paid for the 8 Toyo Open Country AT2 tyres with my own, hard earned moola.
Why the Toyo Open Country AT2?
When looking at tyres, I eventually came down to two options – the BFG K02 and the Toyo AT2. I could get the BFG’s fitted for $285 a corner, and the Toyos for $239 a corner. The BFG’s have come down in price a lot to compete, as they were extremely expensive in the past.
I did a ridiculous amount of reading, and came across a few things that really put me off the BFG’s – nasty chipping in harsh, rocky environments (like the Pilbara, where we travel a fair bit), tyres falling apart when running lower pressures (and BFG supposedly saying you can’t deflate them too much, which you really need to do) and a number of complaints about their lack of grip in the wet, on bitumen.
The Dmax is our family car, and I want it to be as safe as possible. To be fair, the number of people running BFG K02’s is also substantially higher than those with Toyos, so perhaps its just a case of more people writing negative reviews.
However, I think I only found 2 or 3 people that had anything bad to say about the Toyo AT2’s, and their mud terrain tyre gets an even better rap from everything I read and researched.
This applies to everyone from 200 series Land Cruisers down to your lighter dual cab Utes, and with that in mind (and the lower price point, bearing in mind I needed 8!), I eventually went with the Toyos.
PS – don’t hate me BFG, or owners. I ran the KM2’s on our 80 Series and really liked them, and nearly put the K02’s on my Dmax too; just sharing my observations and final conclusions. You can do your own research, and make your own mind up. They are a great tyre, just didn’t come out on top in my research.
Why not a mud terrain tyre?
I spent a long time going back and forth between muddies and all terrains. I’ve always had muddies, and they are great in some situations, but as with everything, have a list of compromises too.
In the end, I settled for an all terrain. Why? They are better in pretty much every situation except puncture resistance, mud and traction on a few very random terrains.
All terrains are quieter, lighter, use less fuel, are better on the bitumen and gravel roads in both wet and dry conditions and will provide plenty of traction in most situations
Obviously, when traction is most important a muddy is going to be the better option, but for us, I figured that might be about 5% of the time; something I eventually decided I was happy enough to live with. If you want to know more, check out the Mud terrain vs All terrain post.
First impressions of the Toyo Open Country Tyres
I fitted the Toyos to our vehicle when it had done 8880km. They are 54mm bigger than the factory tyres, which were the OEM provided Bridgestone Dueler AT’s (not the Bridgestone Dueler 697‘s!). Yes, you can legally go above 50mm, providing another model came out with larger tyres. For more information, check out 50mm tyre size increase.
There was a slight performance drop in terms of power and torque, which is to be expected, and I could pick up more road noise, which is also to be expected as the tread pattern is more aggressive. Of course they use a little more fuel too; they change the gearing and weigh a bit more than the factory tyres.
Change of wheels too
One thing I will mention is that when I went to the Toyos, I ditched the factory steel rims that came with the Dmax, and fitted second hand factory aluminium rims off the LSM models. These are a few kilograms lighter, which is fantastic as it reduces your unsprung weight.
Bigger rubber weighs more, so offsetting this by running lighter rims was worth while. The overall weight difference was only about 2kg more per wheel, and given the actual tyre construction is much stronger its a fantastic result.
If you fit much bigger tyres that are heavier, along with heavier rims, you’ll use a fair bit more fuel and your suspension will work a lot harder on the corrugations as more weight moving up and down requires more dampening.
After 18,500km
I’ll be honest; I’ve only ever had one blow out in my life, and that was a second hand spare that I picked up for my Hilux, which the tread delaminated from in a nice big bang on the way to Warroora Station. I’ve run Maxxis Bighorns and BFK KM2’s in the past, and had no issues with either.
The Toyos have copped a beating, in pretty much every terrain you can throw at them. The number of times I rolled over terribly rocky sections at Lorella Springs at a fairly quick speed and thought I’m going to get a puncture for sure, but never did astounded me.
I let my tyres down to the best pressure I can figure for each terrain 90% of the time, but they have been driven on average gravel roads at full road pressures from time to time too.
These tyres have probably done about 13,500km of bitumen, 3000km of gravel roads and 2000km of slow 4WD tracks, ranging from muddy swamps to sharp rocky tracks and beach driving, and are still in great condition.
No sidewall damage, limited chipping and no lugs coming apart. They’ve also worn evenly, and not scalloped like many 4WD tyres tend to do.
The amount of wear suffered has surprised me though, with most of it occurring on the rough gravel roads. Obviously gravel roads hammer the tyres, but I didn’t expect quite this much wear. (That said, the KM2 muddies that I ran on the 80 series got absolutely smashed on the Gibb River Road too!).
The tyres have 13mm of tread when brand new, and lets call 2mm tread completely dead, giving you 11mm to play with.
After 18500 km the rears are down to 8mm in the middle and 9mm in the outside (36 – 44% worn) and the front’s 9mm to 10mm (27-36% worn). The camper trailers tyres barely worn, but they don’t do much work either.
To me, that seems a little excessive, to the point where I actually sent the information through to Toyo to see what they had to say. I did eventually get a reply a number of weeks later (after following up on it), and they essentially said that the wear was fairly normal and to be expected given what I was doing with them.
They had some minor suggestions for tyre pressure changes, but all in all were happy with what I’d been running them at on the different terrains.
For those of you who know our setup, you’ll know the Dmax is fairly heavy (exact weights here – Dmax touring build weight). We ran 40 PSI on the fronts and 42 on the rears while on the bitumen (cold pressures), and about 28/32 on gravel.
If I’m brutally honest, I’m not so concerned about wear, as I have 8 tyres between the car and camper trailer, and figure by the time they are all worn out they will be well and truly overdue to go into the bin anyway, purely from an age and rubber deterioration perspective.
If you don’t know how to tell the age of your tyres, we’ve got a short post that covers it – How to tell the age of your 4WD tyres.
That said, I’ve made a habit of putting the Dmax into high range 4WD on every gravel and off road track.
One thing I noticed with our Land cruiser on the Kimberley trip in 2015 was that the rear tyres wore a LOT more than the front, and I suspect it was because I rarely put it into 4WD, so the rear did all of the work on the gravel and rocky roads.
Now, the reason for not putting it into 4WD was simple; I had manual locking hubs, and you had to stop in order to get it into high range. The Dmax has shift on the fly, so I can chuck it into 4WD at any speed up to 100km/h, meaning I never have to stop.
Toyo RT’s
Not so long ago Toyo came out with another hybrid tyre that I am sure is going to do some damage to the market. It’s called the RT, and is almost a cross between a mud terrain and all terrain.
It’s quiet, wears well and has great traction. From everything I’ve heard so far these are a great tyre, and may well be the tyre of choice when I eventually wear the AT’s out!
Would I get them again?
Overall, I’m impressed with these tyres. They work well, the Toyo Open Country AT2 price is reasonable and they have done me proud. Traction is there when needed, they have more than enough puncture resistance and work well at lower pressures.
I’d have no problems at all recommending them to other people, and a lot of tyre shops are doing the same.
They are quietly starting to become extremely popular for everyone from farmers to travellers. Given reports from others show they are getting good mileage from them, maybe I just ended up with a softer set or they’ve been treated badly. Either way, I can live with it.
If you are up for new rubber, these are certainly worth a look!
Hey Noel,
Great to hear you’re having a good run from them. They are certainly a quality tyre. I think running slightly less high tyre pressures makes a big difference. We’re onto a set of Toyo RT’s, and whilst they’ve worn a fair bit too, they’re an excellent tyre.
All the best
Aaron
I’ve been running the Toyo open country for about 5 years on my 80 series Landcruiser. Mainly sealed roads and they are still going at over 80,000 kms and I’m not looking to change them any time soon. Previously i have run several sets of Cooper AT’s on the Landcruiser and Chev Suburban and the best i could get was 70,000km.
I am very satisfied with the wear of the Toyo’s.
Hey Lisa,
Good to hear you are happy with them. Toyo certainly make good tyres, and we are really pleased with the Toyo RT’s so far
All the best
Aaron
Toyo OC ATII is what I run on my FJ…Love them
Ran them in my isuzu RS ….never wore the tread out.
Great tires!
Thank you again Aaron.
Safe travels. ?
Hey Donna,
I’d consider sticking with the same tyre size and a more aggressive tread, but see what your tyre shop has to say. The 265’s won’t be a drop in traction either way.
All the best
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
I currently have 245’s. I have found my twin cab Triton always a little light, so take things carefully. It’s mountainous and undulating country here in beautiful remote Blue Mountains… snow atm.
I will enquire about the RT’s
Thanks again.
Hey Donna,
Are you currently running 245/65/17’s? They are 26mm in diameter smaller than a 265/65/17, as well as 20mm less wide.
The width won’t make much difference on the road, but the increase in height will result in a marginal increase in fuel consumption amongst other things. On the flip side it will probably give you some extra traction off road, so it might be worth the change.
Are you happy with an all terrain? Have you considered a muddy? Also, you might find the Toyo RT’s interesting too; still an all terrain, but a bit more aggressive. We’ve just purchased some on our camper trailer, and will probably be putting them on our Dmax next
All the best
Aaron
Hi Aaron,
Currently looking to purchase Toyo AT2 ~ 265/65R17 for my late 2017 Triton. The dealer has a 4 week wait for the 245 (which is ok) and mentioned the wider tyre. Will the wider tyre impact much on tar?
This will be my 3 AT set with only 63,000kms on the car. I live in the bush and encounter mud and snow and occasional ice, although avoid driving in these conditions.
My current Pirelli Scorpion have lost their grip on hilly paddock grass, unless in low range. I need to tow a trailer of hay every fortnight in Winter, so I need to cover my worst senario. I do travel 180kms on tar every fortnight to town.
Thank you,
Donna
Hey Graham,
I think you’ve probably done well. Enjoy the new boots!
Aaron
Hi Aaron.
I ended up with the 265 75 16.
Apparently they are rated higher load than the 275 70 16
Plus I get a little more height
I was told that the 275 70 16s are 8ply and the 265 75 16s are 10ply and therefore a stronger higher rated tyre.
Anyhow I’m happy with my choice after reading your review.
Thanks very much for your reply
Hi Graham,
As long as they are speed and weight rated for your application, the only difference is the size, and how common they are to get. You mention 3 different sizes, so I’m not actually sure what you ended up with, but 265/75/16’s are one of the most common tyre sizes out there, which means they are cheaper and easier to source when you are way out in the middle of the bush
All the best
Aaron
Hi there. I just recent bought these tires for my ranger.
I originally wanted 275 70 16s as I thought they were the biggest I could go. The dealer told me that this size wasn’t as good as the 265 70 16 which he tried to talk me in to. I eventually said ok. Give me the 265 75 16s as I wanted more height.
They all have different speed and weight ratings but would the 275 70 16s have been just as good. ?
Hey Craig,
They probably make more margin on all terrains, being more expensive than road terrain.
Shop around and see what suits you best. You’ll find that road terrains are probably cheaper, and will give you better economy
All the best
Aaron
Interesting that you mention highway terrain tyres Aaron. I recently purchased a 100 Series Landcruiser which is unlikely to see anything other than the very rare dirt road. I needed to purchase 2 tyres for a roadworthy, so rang my local tyre dealer requesting prices on highway tyres. All wanted to talk me into an AT. Not sure if this is because there arent many highway terrain tyres available in my size and load rating, or the tyre shops just want to sell AT tyres for other reasons.
Hi John,
They should be fine, but if he’s not taking it off the bitumen he is better with a good set of highway terrain tyres. These will perform better on road in every situation, just worse off road.
All the best
Aaron
Hi all wanted to know if the toyo opat2 265/75/16 would be suitable for my tradie carpenter son who is driving a 2008 4×4 ford ranger dual cab with his tools on the back around the city and wet bitumen roads and around roundabouts cheers john
Hey Bis,
It’s certainly an interesting topic, and I’m sure there are some rules and regulations in regards to promoting of gear. Unfortunately though, some people put money above ethics, and that’s pretty sad. At the end of the day, as long as the tyres do what you need them to do, you can’t ask for much more.
All the best
Aaron
Surely there ought to be some laws governing Cash for comments in the 4WD reviews of all products. There are bucketloads of money to be made by clever people and they6 are sure not missing out on this new gold rush. Reviews by people are equally unreliable such as tyrereviews. Why on earth people go out and buy off road oriented tyres when all they do it caravanning and light off road if any is beyond me. I am sure some of these guys frustrate the heck of people who just want to go from A-B sitting 30km/hr below posted speed on one lane blacktop and then claim their tyres lasted $125000km. I am sure those dodgy South African insurance companies will love them for sitting in the garage most of their lives and driving out only as an annual pilgrimage. Yes too many tyre choices and very few genuine reviews. Add to that freebies to test for favourable comments and you are in the dark as ever. I bought a used Patrol to finally venture out and the dealer put on Chinese made Rapid Ecolander A/T which I am sure won’t last beyond the blacktop. But am I not in a dilemma as to what to put on. Not a regular drive vehicle but with 0 assistance with anything braking is a shock to the system. Whilst I won’t use the car for daily drive I have to be mindful that to go off road I have to drive on road first and definitely can’t allow panic attacks each time I am on the road in traffic especially if wet. Still thinking and still looking. By the way tyre dealers in NNSW care little about your need and push for their stocks to clear so don’t bother even asking them. This is true with everything – I have never known an area where you get so little customer service for the Sydney like prices for almost everything. So not being technical I will just have to burn cash to eventually learn I guess – hopefully sooner than later as I am already hurling down the 50s in great speed.
Hey Steve,
Honestly, I didn’t even know there was a Toyo AT III out! They will be a good tyre, I’m sure.
All the best
Aaron
Hi read what he had to say about the Toyo tires I have them on my wife’s 08 Hummer H2 325-50-22 toyo tires are the A/T ll I just ordered the new Toyo A/T lll in 325-50-22LT. Can anyone tell me about the new Toyo A/T lll should I have stayed with the Toyo A/T ll or the Toyo A/T lll. I bought the Toyo open country A/T lll at Discount Tire got them for $396.00ea. They sell for $486.00ea. Waiting fir them to be shipped it’s been over a week now. What are your thoughts on the new Toyo A/T lll over the A/T ll. Thanks.
Hey Alex,
It makes it bang on perfect. It takes the odometer out by 7%, but fixes the speedo error from the factory
Aaron
Hey nice write up, just wondering how much these tyres put out your speedo?
Cheers,
Alex
Hey Warren,
No, and you don’t need a lift to run them. I am running a 30mm lift but there are hundreds of people running 265/75/16’s without one.
My Dmax is 2016 – look around the site and you’ll see heaps of links the full build.
All the best
Aaron
sorry 265/75/16
you say they are 265/57/16 have you any trouble with rubbing under the guards or do you have a lift
what size?
what year is your dmax ?
Hey Murray,
I’m glad you like them. Lots of others do too. I’ve met more than my fair share of people who complain about them in the wet though.
All the best
Aaron
Can’t agree with your comments on the KO 2s. Have done 122000 ks on all types of roads and conditions. 50% on road 50% off road Simpson, Gibb river, Savanna Way to name a few. Will buy them again