Best A/T Tires Review: Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT, Nokian Outpost NAT, BFG KO3, Westlake SL369, Wrangler Duratrac RT, Wildpeak AT4, Recon Grappler

[FL Trucker]

Comparison Review:

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre-Tests/Best-All-Terrain-Tyres-2026-Test.htm

Video:




AI summary:

This comprehensive review by Tyre Reviews spans a year of testing across Northern Europe (snow/ice), Central Europe (dry/wet), and Utah (off-road dirt handling). The test evaluates six of the newest, most aggressive all-terrain (AT) tires, one budget mild-AT tire, and a standard all-season tire as a reference point.

The test vehicle used is a Ford Ranger Raptor, mostly evaluated in rear-wheel-drive (RWD) mode to push the tires to their limits.

1. Dirt Handling & Off-Road Testing
Tested on a mix of rocky, smooth, and fluffy dirt surfaces in Utah.

• Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus (XTM AT/AT80): The top performer alongside the Nokian. Easiest, most predictable drive with a well-balanced grip circle.
• Nokian Outpost NAT: Matched the Pirelli for the best subjective driving feel; excellent carcass compliance over bumps and great bite in loose fluff.
• BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3: Highly impressive. Even though it's a stiff, heavy tire, its carcass was incredibly compliant in the ruts. It performs slightly better under straight-line braking and acceleration than it does while turning.
• Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT & Falken Wildpeak A/T4W: Both offered good mechanical grip, but their stiff carcasses caused them to struggle and bounce when hitting heavy ruts. The Falken suffered from noticeable understeer.
• Nitto Recon Grappler: Had decent straight-line braking grip, but very poor lateral (side-to-side) grip. The rear end would step out rapidly and unpredictably on throttle.
• Westlake SL369 (Budget/Mild AT): The most difficult tire on the dirt track. It had decent rubber compound grip on smooth sections, but its weak carcass provided zero stability through rough ruts.
• Pirelli Scorpion AS+ 3 (Reference All-Season): Performed surprisingly well on hard-packed dirt because its lighter weight and compliant carcass didn't have to account for extreme puncture resistance. However, it struggled to recover once sliding and would fail completely in deep mud.

2. Wet Performance & Braking
Wet handling was tested on a 2-minute lap. Wet braking and hydroplaning resistance were measured objectively.

• Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT: The absolute standout. It was an astonishing 5 seconds faster per lap than the Westlake and roughly 10 seconds faster than its premium rivals. It transformed the truck's dynamics, offering immense traction, crisp steering response, and top-tier wet braking.
• Westlake SL369: The surprise runner-up in the wet. Because its design is biased toward on-road driving (milder tread), it cleared water effectively and felt sharp on the brakes.
• Nokian Outpost NAT: The fastest of the remaining premium pack. It resisted terminal understeer and allowed the driver to rotate the truck smoothly using the throttle. It also won the hydroplaning resistance test.
• BFGoodrich KO3: Excelled at straight-line wet braking but heavily disliked cornering, exhibiting continuous, safe (but slow) understeer.
• Goodyear Duratrac RT: Felt "industrial" and required a lot of steering input. It had a wide recovery window but lacked structural sharpness.
• Falken A/T4W & Nitto Recon Grappler: Finished at the bottom. Both suffered from low grip, poor braking, and a "peaky" rear end that would suddenly snap into oversteer.

3. On-Road Comfort, Noise & NVH
Evaluated over a full day of driving across varying pavement types in Utah.

• Nokian Outpost NAT: The biggest surprise on the road. While it didn't strictly dominate one single area, it combined steering sharpness, low noise, and excellent ride damping perfectly, making it the host's top recommendation for a daily driver.
• BFGoodrich KO3: The most plush and comfortable tire. It rounded off harsh bumps beautifully. However, its steering in this specific size felt sluggish and unpredictable, causing a delayed "two-part turn" reaction between the front and rear axles.
• Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT: Possessed the sharpest, most stable steering and best shoulder stability (feeling like a sports tire), but rode slightly firmer and louder than the BFG.
• Goodyear Duratrac RT & Falken A/T4W: Both felt agricultural and a bit bouncy. The Falken was noticeably loud at highway speeds and suffered from poor damping over bumps.
• Westlake SL369: Noticeable drop-off in refinement. While total volume wasn't terribly high, it emitted an annoying high-pitched pitch reminiscent of a failing wheel bearing and held onto vibrations.
• Nitto Recon Grappler: The loudest tire on test. It produced a traditional, prominent all-terrain "hum" at speed that modern premium tires have largely engineered out.

4. Snow Performance
A brief overview ahead of a full upcoming winter test video.

• Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT: The objective king of the snow. It produced the fastest handling lap, best braking, and second-best traction.
• Pirelli Scorpion XTM AT & Nokian Outpost NAT: Right on the Goodyear's heels. The Pirelli had slightly better traction but slightly worse braking, while the Nokian was incredibly solid overall.
• BFGoodrich KO3: Very competitive and performed reliably in both 2WD and 4WD configurations.
• Falken A/T4W, Westlake, and Nitto: Considerably behind the pack. The Falken A/T4W was uniquely disappointing, with snow traction sitting 30% lower than the leaders. The host explicitly warns against using it in heavy winter climates.

Final Standings & Summary

Position	Tire Model	Key Strengths	Key Weaknesses	Final Verdict
1st Place	Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus (XTM AT/AT80)	Dominant wet braking Fastest wet & dirt handling laps Top-tier snow traction Exceptionally sharp steering	Slightly firmer ride quality Slightly more road noise than the softest options	The Winner: Represents a generational leap for the AT category. Delivers sports-tire handling on pavement while dominating off-road and winter testing.
2nd Place	Nokian Outpost NAT	Best overall balance of manners Extremely low road noise Superb winter/snow grip High hydroplaning resistance	Slightly longer raw braking distances in dry pavement conditions	The Best All-Rounder: A masterfully engineered package with zero glaring flaws. Easily the top recommendation for an everyday daily driver.
3rd Place	BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3	Unmatched plush ride comfort Excellent impact damping Stellar straight-line braking Great compliance in dirt ruts	Heavy understeer in wet corners Sluggish, delayed "two-part" steering response on-road	The Comfort King: Sturdy and premium over rough bumps, but sacrifices pavement handling agility and cornering speeds.
4th Place	Westlake SL369 (Budget)	Strong wet road braking Predictable on-road handling Very low retail entry price	Weak carcass struggles in ruts Poor winter snow traction Emits an annoying, high-pitched highway drone	The Wild Card: Road-biased design punches well above its weight class on wet/dry pavement, but falls short in severe off-road terrain or real winter weather.
5th Place	Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac RT	Undisputed king of pure snow Fastest snow handling & braking Tough, durable carcass in dirt	Mediocre wet pavement grip Unrefined "industrial" handling Noticeably bouncy ride quality	The Winter Warrior: A traditional, heavy-duty all-terrain tire built to survive harsh jobsites and deep winter conditions, sacrificing daily street refinement.[/TD>
6th Place	Falken Wildpeak A/T4W	Excellent dry braking metrics High tread life and wear resistance	Terrible snow traction (-30%) Heavy understeer in dirt Prone to sudden wet oversteer	The Disappointment: Sacrificed too much performance and winter traction in favor of longevity. A massive step down from the celebrated AT3W legacy.
7th Place	Nitto Recon Grappler	Decent straight-line mechanical braking on dry dirt tracks	Worst wet handling and braking Unpredictable, peaky breakaway Loud traditional highway hum	Last Place: A legacy 2021 platform that simply can no longer keep pace with modern rubber compounds and modern tread architecture.

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[C6ZZGT]

@Cletus should read.

 

[Brian_B]

Interesting. I've been pretty happy with my Nittos.

They do suffer from lateral traction - they slide off things fairly easy. But I always thought they braked really well in wet pavement and were pretty tame on road noise. Never had an issue with them kicking out on throttle, even though I've tried to get the rear end to whip around hah. Probably because I'm running a fairly sizable tire. I guess it wouldn't be impossible to consider that newer tires should out perform it.

I had always thought highly of the Nokian Outposts, but they kinda top out at 35".

Hadn't heard much from Pirelli on AT tires at all honestly. Although I knew the Scorpions existed, I've never seen them out in the wild.

Also, some of that instability they see on a lot of tires may be due to them running a pickup truck in 2Hi most of the time... I guess since it's the same vehicle it does make it a fair tire comparison, but it won't be quite the same as running in a Bronco.

 

[RedBeardoh]

I’ve been surprisingly happy with the Goodyears on my 25 BadSas, but when they’re worn out enough I can’t imagine I’d buy them. Would be curious to see how the Mickey Baja Boss AT stack up against the tires above.

I really want to want the K03 but ran K02 on my Ranger build.. loved them for the 1st 20k but after that didn’t matter how much weight I had in the back (full metal topper, tent, gear) I almost always had to pop into 4hi anytime it was raining and I was on the slightest incline. Would run them lower around 30 psi in the wet season to somewhat help this. Was miserable. Off road they were wonderful

 

[23OBX2.7]

Firestone AT and XT missing and are amazing from Bridgestone family.

 

[Boreal]

Loved the AT3Ws(especially in winter), thought that the AT4Ws would be worse off for dailying... glad to see some validation there. The Nitto Grappler G3's arent anything to talk about for winter I might add..

Surprised about the Pirelli though! The Nokians will be on the radar for the next set

 

[J-Lugster]

Great comparison video.

 

[Brian_B]

Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus (XTM AT/AT80): The top performer alongside the Nokian. Easiest, most predictable drive with a well-balanced grip circle.

Wow. Went to go look at these.

Extremely limited on sizes. I guess if you are running a non-SAS trim and don't want bigger tires they are an option. Appears they cap out at 33" on a 17" rim.

 

[C6ZZGT]

Wow. Went to go look at these.

Extremely limited on sizes. I guess if you are running a non-SAS trim and don't want bigger tires they are an option. Appears they cap out at 33" on a 17" rim.

They are adding sizes all the time. 315s maybe by year end.

 

[RC Bronco]

Not sure I have much belief in that video/AI summary. My Falken AT4W’s are quiet (for what they are) on and off pavement, at any speed. They excel in snow, sand, and dirt. They’re solid in mud and clay. On uneven, choppy, rutted terrain, they’re fantastic - I climb out of ruts others get sucked into. In wet terrain, they’re also solid, but not like the AT3W’s were - feels more grippy on wet pavement than General Grabber ATx were. Yes, you can break them loose on wet pavement, but… I’m yet to find an AT tire that I can’t do that with

They are weakest in deep mud pits. They don’t sling enough material to continue grabbing. That is my only complaint with them

35x11.5r17 C-rated just over 40k miles on mine and they’re still going VERY strong. The 65k mile claims are not unrealistic whatsoever IMO

On trails where buddies have gotten flats, I’ve never had any issues, no leaks, no cuts, nothing. Some tread is chewed up from rocks and I’ve pulled some good chunks of metal and glass out of them, but still, no problems

If you’re after more information, OutdoorAuto on YT does an excellent job of reviewing tires

 

[McRightclick]

Pirelli seems to be on a roll these last few years, every new release they put out tops the scoreboards.

 

[Headsong]

Left out the General At/x, best tires I've ever owned.

 

[Enki]

Big fan of the Kuhmo RoadVenture AT. Have 35x12.5"s on mine. Plenty aggressive for crawling, mud, and sand, but road noise is almost non-existent.

 

[Slick85]

For people who very rarely drive off-road and don't have snow in their area, would the Laufenn X Fit AT2 be okay? They are significantly cheaper than other brands, but not sure how they will hold up long term.

 

[JimL]

It's a shame General Grabber A/TX wasn't included. I'm thrilled with mine: Low noise, excellent wet traction, excellent in snow, excellent in sand, and any treadwear is slow in showing.

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