Toyo Open Country A/T III vs BFGoodrich KO3 on a Tacoma
Short answer
These two finish level: both blend to 8.1, both are 3PMSF rated, both are premium-tier, and both score 9 on snow. The split is clean - the BFGoodrich KO3 takes trail, mud, durability, and looks by a point each, while the Toyo Open Country A/T III takes road comfort, tread life, and efficiency by a point each. Pick by where your Tacoma spends its time.
Open Country A/T III vs KO3: a genuine dead heat
The BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 is the highest-ranked all-terrain in this fifty-model set, first of eighteen in its category and second overall. The Toyo Open Country A/T III is third of eighteen and fourth overall. They are the two premium all-terrains a Tacoma owner most often ends up choosing between after ruling out the aggressive hybrids, and they finish this comparison with the same blended figure - 8.1 apiece - from two visibly different score profiles.
| Score axis (0-10) | Toyo Open Country A/T III | BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Road comfort | 8 | 7 | Toyo by 1 |
| Wet grip | 8 | 8 | Tie |
| Snow | 9 | 9 | Tie |
| Trail | 8 | 9 | KO3 by 1 |
| Mud | 5 | 6 | KO3 by 1 |
| Durability | 8 | 9 | KO3 by 1 |
| Tread life | 9 | 8 | Toyo by 1 |
| Efficiency | 6 | 5 | Toyo by 1 |
| Looks | 7 | 8 | KO3 by 1 |
| Value | 7 | 7 | Tie |
| Blended score | 8.1 | 8.1 | Dead heat |
Where the numbers come from
Each axis is 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. No tire in this dataset was tested or driven by Taco Tires. The scoring method is set out under How we score tires on the about page.
Where the BFGoodrich KO3 wins
Four axes, and they read as one coherent argument. Trail is 9 against 8 and durability is 9 against 8 - the KO3 carries forward the sidewall-first design philosophy that made its KO2 predecessor the default overlanding tire, and those two nines are the top marks any all-terrain reaches on either axis, matched only by its own KO2 predecessor. Mud follows at 6 against 5, a point of extra clearing that comes from the same open shoulder geometry.
Looks close the set at 8 against 7. That is a smaller thing on paper and a larger thing in a parking lot: the KO3's blockier shoulder and sidewall treatment read as the more serious tire under a Tacoma's fender. The dataset tags the KO3 for balanced all-terrain use, snow, trail, durability, and brand support - and its only cautions are that it is neither the lightest nor the cheapest option, which the efficiency and value numbers bear out.
If you air down, the KO3 is the safer bet
Sidewall toughness is the axis that punishes you hardest when it is wrong. A one-point durability edge is small in a table and large on a sharp rock ledge at 18 psi. If your Tacoma sees rocky trails, aired-down desert runs, or gravel forest roads with sharp shale, that 9 is the number to weight above everything else here.
Where the Toyo Open Country A/T III wins
Three axes, and they are the three that a commuting Tacoma feels every day. Tread life is 9 against 8, the best tread-life mark of any all-terrain we score and one of the two things the dataset tags the Toyo for by name. Road comfort is 8 against 7, and efficiency is 6 against 5 - the Toyo is the calmer and the cheaper-to-turn of the two, which is exactly what you expect from a tire that trades a little shoulder aggression for a tighter tread.
- Tread life 9: the highest in the all-terrain group, and the axis with the biggest long-run cost effect of any on this page.
- Road comfort 8 and efficiency 6: the Toyo is the better highway tire of two tires that are both good highway tires.
- Snow 9, tied: the Toyo gives up nothing in winter to get its pavement edges, which is the unusual part of this profile.
- Its dataset cautions are low budget and maximum mud - it is a premium tire, and it is not the one to buy for deep mud.
That last point matters when you convert the scores into money. Both models sit in the high budget tier and both score 7 on value, so the sticker difference is not the deciding factor. But a tire that scores a point higher on tread life and a point higher on efficiency is quietly cheaper to own over four years, and for a Tacoma that puts 15,000 highway miles a year on its tires, that is the more consequential kind of win.
What the three tied axes tell you
Wet grip ties at 8, snow ties at 9, and value ties at 7. Those three ties are the reason this comparison is genuinely hard rather than merely close. Both tires carry the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake severe-snow rating, both are accepted where winter tires are legally required, and our synthesis places them level on the winter axis at the top of the all-terrain group - so there is no seasonal tiebreaker, which is often what settles a matchup like this one.
The value tie is equally awkward. Both are high-tier tires and both earn a 7, meaning neither is the bargain and neither is overpriced for what it delivers. With price, wet weather, and winter all neutral, the decision falls entirely on the seven axes that do move - and those split four to three in favour of whichever half of the truck's life you care about more.
Tacoma sizes: an almost total overlap
Ten Tacoma-relevant sizes appear on both lists, one of the widest overlaps in this comparison series: 265/75R16, 285/75R16, 265/70R17, 275/70R17, 285/70R17, 255/80R17, 285/75R17, 265/70R18, 275/70R18, and 285/70R18. Every common Tacoma fitment from a stock-height 16-inch replacement to a 34-inch 17 is available in both tires.
The Toyo adds one size the KO3 does not carry in our data, 295/70R18, which is the widest 18-inch option in the catalog and a lifted-truck fitment rather than a bolt-on. The KO3 adds nothing the Toyo lacks. In practice that means availability will almost never decide this comparison for you - unlike several other Tacoma head-to-heads, where one tire simply is not made in the size the build needs.
Check load range as well as size
Both models come in more than one construction depending on size, and the load range on the tire you are quoted is not always the load range your Tacoma left the factory with. Match or exceed the original load index so you keep the truck's rated payload, and set pressure from a load-inflation table rather than the door placard once you are on a heavier LT casing.
The verdict for a Tacoma
When two tires blend to the same number from different directions, the tie-break is not a better tire, it is a better match. The KO3 is the tire for a Tacoma whose owner has a trail in mind - it is stronger where the surface is loose, sharp, or soft, and it is the only one of the two that earns a 9 on both trail and durability. The Open Country A/T III is the tire for a Tacoma whose owner has a commute in mind and a trail on the weekend - it is quieter, longer-wearing, and cheaper to turn, and it gives up nothing at all in winter to be that way.
- Buy the BFGoodrich KO3 if you air down, run rocky or sharp terrain, or want the tougher casing and the more aggressive look - trail 9, durability 9, mud 6.
- Buy the Toyo Open Country A/T III if your Tacoma is a daily driver first - tread life 9 is the highest of any all-terrain here, with road comfort 8 and efficiency 6 behind it.
- Do not expect a winter difference: both are 3PMSF rated and both score 9 on snow, which is the top mark in the all-terrain group.
- Do not expect a price difference to break the tie either: both are high-tier and both score 7 on value.
Frequently asked questions
Neither. Both score 9 on our snow axis, the highest mark in the all-terrain group, and both carry the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake severe-snow rating, so both are accepted where winter tires are legally required. Snow is one of three tied axes in this matchup, along with wet grip and value, which is why the decision has to be made on trail and durability versus comfort and tread life instead.
By our scoring, yes, by a point: durability 9 against 8, with trail also 9 against 8. Those are the KO3's strongest numbers and they reflect the sidewall-focused construction BFGoodrich carried over from the KO2. A single point is not a large margin, but durability is the axis where being wrong is most expensive, so it deserves extra weight if your Tacoma sees sharp rock.
The Toyo Open Country A/T III, at 9 on tread life against the KO3's 8 - the highest tread-life score of any all-terrain in this dataset. It also scores a point higher on efficiency, at 6 against 5, so it should be marginally cheaper to run as well as to replace. Both sit in the high budget tier and both score 7 on value, so the cost difference shows up over the life of the set rather than at purchase.
Yes. 285/70R17 is one of ten Tacoma sizes both tires share, along with 265/70R17, 275/70R17, 255/80R17, 285/75R17, 265/75R16, 285/75R16, 265/70R18, 275/70R18, and 285/70R18. The only difference in the two catalogs is 295/70R18, which the Toyo offers and the KO3 does not. Confirm clearance for your generation and lift before ordering any 33-inch size.
The KO3 scores a point above the KO2 on both wet grip and snow, at 8 and 9 against 7 and 8, and matches it everywhere else, which is why the KO3 rather than the KO2 is the BFGoodrich in this matchup. If you are choosing between all three, the KO3 is the current benchmark, the Toyo is the pavement-biased alternative, and the KO2 is the closeout option that gives up wet and winter grip to save money.
Keep going
Sources
- Toyo Open Country A/T III product page (toyotires.com)
- BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 product page (bfgoodrichtires.com)
- BFGoodrich Tacoma tire finder (bfgoodrichtires.com)
- Discount Tire: all-terrain tire picks
- TrailTacoma: 3rd-gen all-terrain owner setups
- Tacoma4G: 4th-gen tire choice discussion
- Three cited documents sit behind the Open Country A/T III row and five behind the KO3 row; the ten axes synthesise that published record rather than any test Taco Tires ran
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.