Nitto Ridge Grapplers are a pretty good middle ground. Aggressive and capable tread pattern with sidewall lugs for offroading, but softer and quieter than full on M/T.
Owner reviews for tires
General Grabber AT/x has been fantastic for me as a general purpose, daily driver in rain and snow, and done a solid job in mud and sand. I’ve had them for about 15k miles at this point and will definitely be buying them again.
I have the Yokohama X-ATs. Love them, have 50K miles on them and they're still have a decent amount of tread left. Quieter than I expected and no complaints off road so far.
I've got STT Pros on my 2500hd and KO2s on my TJ both of which were a daily driver for extended periods of time. The Cooper's are definitely louder, but the entire truck is loud, so it doesn't really bother me. The comments here ring pretty true, and I'll take my Jeep in the snow rather than the truck. Honestly, just do what makes you happy. The trade-offs are miniscule if you know your limitations and drive appropriately.
I ended up getting the Toyo Open Country ATIII tires as recommended by some of the posters below, and my tire shop! These seem to last longer than some of other options I was looking at, and don't need rotation as frequently. They're also rated as all-season tires, which is a nice plus for New England.
So far I've driven them offroad quite a bit in VT on the NE BDR, some trails in NH, and out on the beach at the Cape Cod National seashore. They've handled it all very well.
As far as road manners go, they are nice and quiet, but of course they are a slightly louder than highway tires. nothing obnoxious. They've also done just fine with grip on wet asphalt, and are fine on dry asphalt as well. I don't think they are as responsive as the HT tires were for steering on the road, but they track nice and straight.
I love my Sports. This summer will be my second season on my current set. Only have about 11k on them so far.
The Sports are a phenomenal tire though. They handle my IS38 with ease and boy do they feel amazing in the mountains.
I agree, they are a phenomenal tire that is very well rounded.
continental extreme contact sports after 1 year and 20k milesof hard driving, a pretty great tire if you asked me
Had a set on my Volvo. They were good in the winter, but only okay in the summer, and they met an early demise on a gravel road in the Sangres
I got a pair of Sava tires on at the moment m they're not good at all. I'm never going cheap on them again
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