HB 4X4 said:
So I was just curious. Does the Snowflake symbol on some tires actually help sales? I know the symbol is meaningless since all they have to do is pay for the rights to print the symbol. Some companies simply do not care about it, but does this have any real purpose other than a nice silver lining for marketing?
BFG AT KO for example, is alright in snow for the first few thousand miles, but after that it's like walking onto an ice rink with your bare feet. So what's the point in paying $$ for a symbol, when they could put that money in actually helping their design for better traction?
Has anyone had positive experiences with snow traction from a tire that has the snowflake symbol?
From Tire Rack:
NOTE: While most BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO tires meet the industry's severe snow service requirements (and are branded with the mountain/snowflake symbol), selected tires do not. Tires not meeting the industry's severe snow service requirements are identified on the Sizes & Pricing page, as well as the Specs page with a "Not Rated For Severe Snow" notation to the immediate right of each applicable tire size.
From 4Crawler
Road Test Update:
Well its now been a few years since installing the tires. I find they work quite well off-road, the 10.50s air down much lower than the 9.50s, not sure if that's due to construction differences between the newer KO design or just the rim/tire width difference. The ATs do not work well in mud, I sort of knew that, but they work great in every other condition I've run them in.
Awesome in snow:
Some folks report problems with the AT/KOs in certain snow conditions where the snow is freezing and ices up the tread.
_______________________________
Josh,
Do you know if the tires you had experience with were severe service rated?
I have no facts, but I feel that the mtn/flake symbol is awarded primarily on the rubber compound. Sure, there is a test that states the tire must earn a traction rating of 110 vs a benchmark tire, but with new tire technology, it seems easier for an A/T to earn the cert. For example, the GY SA and GY Triple Tread are two very different tread designs, the latter not even worthy of a dirt road, but both have the severe weather rating. It boils down to the ability of the rubber to remain pliable at freezing temperatures.
For what the BFG KO brings to the table for on/off/snow performance, the tire is one of the best A/T's out there
A/T's that have this rating are certainly using it as a selling point, give the consumer a choice between tires, many will choose a "safer" tire. However, these tires do not compare to the snow performance of dedicated winter tires.
Blizzaks use a microcell compound, which exposes microscopic ridges to the snow surface, providing it with its superior traction. Toyo uses ground walnut shells :biggrin2:. Nokian uses a combination of proprietary rubber compound, siping and innovative studs to achieve their levels of safety. These tires truly deserve their own rating, so as to not confuse a consumer buying a set of snowflake AT's thinking they can hang with someone on a set of winter friction tires.
And in mud, this "characteristic" is good for self-cleaning. (Disclaimer: all all-terrains suck in mud.)
