BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A vs General Grabber APT on a Tacoma
Short answer
Two quiet, severe-snow-rated mild all-terrains that tie on six axes including comfort, wet, snow, tread life, efficiency, and looks. The General Grabber APT wins the other four - trail, mud, durability, and value - by a point each, blends to 7.6 against 7.1, and comes in four Tacoma sizes the BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A does not.
Trail-Terrain T/A vs Grabber APT: the quiet end of the all-terrain shelf
Both of these are mild all-terrains - the tier for a Tacoma that wants a light-truck tread pattern and a severe-snow rating without giving up highway manners. The BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A ranks fourth of the eight mild all-terrains we score and twenty-sixth of fifty overall. The General Grabber APT ranks eighth of eight in the group and forty-sixth overall. Those rankings suggest a clear hierarchy. The score matrix says something different, and the gap between the two figures is the most interesting thing about this comparison.
| Score axis (0-10) | BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A | General Grabber APT | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road comfort | 8 | 8 | Tie |
| Wet grip | 8 | 8 | Tie |
| Snow | 8 | 8 | Tie |
| Trail | 5 | 6 | General by 1 |
| Mud | 3 | 4 | General by 1 |
| Durability | 6 | 7 | General by 1 |
| Tread life | 8 | 8 | Tie |
| Efficiency | 7 | 7 | Tie |
| Looks | 5 | 5 | Tie |
| Value | 7 | 8 | General by 1 |
| Blended score | 7.1 | 7.6 | General by 0.5 |
Score and rank are different measurements
The ten axes are an editorial synthesis of published manufacturer specifications, tire-industry write-ups, retailer fitment data, and Tacoma-owner reports across the 83 documents this dataset cites - Taco Tires runs no testing of its own. Overall rank is a separate thing: it reflects how strongly those sources recommend a model for a Tacoma, which is why a better-scoring tire can rank lower. See How we score tires on the about page.
Six axes tie, and they are the everyday six
Road comfort 8, wet grip 8, snow 8, tread life 8, efficiency 7, looks 5 - identical on both tires. Read as a group, those numbers describe exactly what a mild all-terrain is meant to be: nearly as quiet and efficient as a highway tire, with a genuine severe-snow rating and a tread that will not embarrass itself on a dirt road. Both models carry the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake rating, so both are accepted where winter tires are legally required.
That last point deserves emphasis, because it is the main reason to shop this tier at all. An 8 on snow from a tire that also scores 8 on comfort and 7 on efficiency is a genuinely useful combination for a Tacoma that commutes through a real winter. The severe-snow all-terrains one tier up score 9 on snow but drop to 7 or 8 on comfort and 5 on efficiency. If you do not need trail capability, this tier is the smarter buy, and these two are its quiet centre.
Where the General Grabber APT wins
Four axes, all by a point, and all in the same direction. Trail 6 against 5, mud 4 against 3, and durability 7 against 6 - the General is the more capable of the two once the pavement ends, modest as those absolute numbers are. Value 8 against 7 completes the sweep, and both tires sit in the same medium budget tier, so that is a straightforward statement that the General delivers more per dollar rather than that it is a cheaper tire.
- Trail 6 and mud 4: the joint-highest marks in the mild all-terrain group on both axes, though still well short of a true all-terrain.
- Durability 7 against 6: the BFGoodrich's own cautions name rock trail priority, and the durability score is consistent with that.
- Value 8 from a medium-tier tire, which is the joint-best value score in this comparison series.
- Four extra Tacoma sizes, including 275/70R17 and 285/70R17 - the Trail-Terrain reaches no further than a 265.
It is worth stating plainly: the Trail-Terrain T/A does not win a single axis in this matchup. It ties six and loses four. That is an unusual result for a tire that ranks twenty places higher overall, and it is a clean illustration of why the two numbers on a review page answer different questions.
What the Trail-Terrain T/A still has going for it
Ranking twenty-sixth against the General's forty-sixth is not nothing. Overall rank in this dataset tracks how frequently and how strongly the cited retailer, editorial, and Tacoma-owner sources put a model in front of a Tacoma buyer, and the Trail-Terrain T/A appears in BFGoodrich's own Tacoma vehicle fitment tool as well as in Tacoma-specific category guidance. The dataset tags it for quiet daily driving, snow, light trail, and the BFGoodrich brand itself - which is an honest way of saying that part of the reason people buy it is that it is a BFGoodrich.
That translates into practical advantages the score matrix cannot see: broader dealer stocking, easier road-hazard and warranty handling through a large network, and a known quantity if you have run BFGoodrich tires before. None of it changes the fact that the General matches it on every everyday axis and beats it on four - but if availability in your area is one-sided, availability wins.
Both are mild - do not expect trail ability
Trail 5 and 6, mud 3 and 4. Those are among the lowest off-road numbers in this comparison series. Graded gravel and dry dirt roads are comfortably within range for either. Rock, ruts, deep sand, and wet clay are not, and no amount of picking between these two changes that.
Tacoma sizes: seven shared, four General-only
Seven sizes overlap, and every one of them is a stock or stock-adjacent fitment: 245/75R16, 265/70R16, 265/75R16, 265/65R17, 265/70R17, 265/65R18, and 265/70R18. That is the factory band for most Tacoma trims across the generations, which is exactly the right catalog for a mild all-terrain.
The General extends the range in both directions: 245/70R17 for a base-trim Tacoma running the narrow factory size, and 275/70R17, 285/70R17, and 275/65R18 for a truck that wants a quiet tire in a plus size. The 285/70R17 is the notable one - it is the standard Tacoma 33-inch metric fitment, and the Grabber APT is the only one of these two offered in it. The Trail-Terrain T/A tops out at 265 width across every wheel diameter.
A mild tread in a big size is still a big tire
Moving from a 265 to a 285/70R17 adds diameter, width, and weight. That skews the speedometer, softens acceleration, and can rub on a stock-height Tacoma depending on generation and wheel offset. The quiet tread pattern does not change any of that - check the size page for the fitment you want before ordering.
The verdict for a Tacoma
On the data this is one-sided in a way few Tacoma comparisons are. The General Grabber APT ties the BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A on the six axes that describe daily driving, beats it on the four that describe capability and price, sits in the same budget tier, and offers four more Tacoma sizes including the one most owners actually want. The blended figures - 7.6 against 7.1 - understate the picture, because they exclude the mud axis the General also wins.
- Buy the General Grabber APT by default: same comfort, wet, snow, tread life, and efficiency, plus a point each of trail, mud, durability, and value.
- Buy it especially if you want a quiet 3PMSF tire in 275/70R17 or 285/70R17 - the Trail-Terrain T/A does not offer either.
- Buy the BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A if availability, dealer network, or an existing BFGoodrich relationship decides it for you, or if your Tacoma runs a 265 or narrower and the price on the day is better.
- Buy neither if you need real off-road ability: trail 5 and 6 with mud 3 and 4 is the mild tier's honest ceiling.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Both carry the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake severe-snow rating and both score 8 on our snow axis, which ties them at the top of the mild all-terrain group. Both are therefore accepted where severe-snow tires are legally required. Snow is one of six axes these two tie on, alongside road comfort, wet grip, tread life, efficiency, and looks.
Because rank and score measure different things in this dataset. Overall rank reflects how strongly the cited retailer, editorial, and Tacoma-owner sources recommend a model for this truck, and BFGoodrich's own Tacoma fitment tool plus Tacoma-specific category guidance put the Trail-Terrain T/A in front of buyers more often. The blended score is a seven-axis average of how well-rounded the tire is, and the General wins that 7.6 to 7.1.
Neither - they tie at 8 for road comfort and 7 for efficiency. Both are near the quiet end of anything with a light-truck tread pattern, one point behind the highway all-seasons' 9 and 10 and one ahead of most full all-terrains. If your Tacoma is a commuter that occasionally sees gravel, either of these is a sensible tread pattern to be on.
No. In the Tacoma sizes our dataset records, the Trail-Terrain T/A tops out at 265 width across 16, 17, and 18 inch wheels. The Grabber APT offers 275/70R17, 285/70R17, 275/65R18, and the narrow 245/70R17 in addition to the seven sizes both share. If you want a quiet mild all-terrain in a 33-inch metric size, the General is the one that makes it.
A graded gravel or dry dirt road, yes, comfortably. Anything rougher is at the edge of what the tier does: trail scores 5 for the BFGoodrich and 6 for the General, and mud scores 3 and 4. For a Tacoma that regularly leaves maintained surfaces, the full all-terrain tier scores 8 or 9 on trail and is the right category to shop instead.
Keep going
Sources
- BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain T/A product page (bfgoodrichtires.com)
- General Grabber APT product page (generaltire.com)
- BFGoodrich Tacoma tire finder (bfgoodrichtires.com)
- TrailTacoma: all-terrain vs mud-terrain guidance
- Three cited documents sit behind the Trail-Terrain T/A row and two behind the Grabber APT row; both score sets synthesise that published record, and neither tire was tested by Taco Tires
Compare your exact sizes
Run any size in this guide through the Tacoma tire calculator to see diameter, width, speedometer error, effective gearing, and highway RPM before you buy.