20" AT Tire on-road performance?

[theviv]

Currently running the 21s and to be honest, have been fairly happy with them for my use cases (99% on road, occasional dirt roads/mild off roading, occasional snow - Bay Area to Tahoe weekend trips, etc.)

As my 21s wear down, I'm wondering if it's worth upgrading to the 20s for the snow performance on my occasional trips to Lake Tahoe (5-10 days/year).

Last time I had a car with AT (late 90's 4runner) the wet weather road performance was horrendous. Wondering how the 20" Pirellis compare with the 21s for the 99% of my uses?

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[Red Shirt Wookie]

Lots of opinions out there with tire options. I'll say that your use profile is similar to mine. I switched to the Nokian Outposts last month on our 20's and so far am pretty happy with them. I didn't have any wet weather complaints. My primary complaint was road noise. The Outpost's are better, but I may go even heavier highway next time. I drive a bit heavy footed so that shouldn't take long. ? I expect the Nokian's to be better all round, but I've always been a Nokian fanboy...

 

[jeeden]

They are ok. Pretty good all around except in my experience Pirelli's wear super fast and get real noisy and sensitive to rotation. Mine are solid after 7500 pretty easy miles (only one road trip).

I'm still going to be replacing them when it is time with the new Michelin Defender 2 All Seasons or the new Michelin Defender LTx Platinums (if they get as good of reviews as the defenders)

 

[mikehmb]

I wouldn’t switch to the 20s for your use case. I had 21s and found them to be perfectly adequate in regular snow driving. I switched to 20s with the intent of more off-road driving, which may or may not materialize. My overlanding plans continue to evolve as I spend more time on Craigslist and CarsandBids. LOL

For what they are, the OE 20” ATs are really good tires, but they are louder, considerably less efficient, and a bit less precise in road handling than the 21” all seasons.

When my current 20s wear out, I may actually go back to all-season (significantly more options in 20” than 21” for this truck) depending on what sort of shenanigans I get up to with the GX build I’m eyeing.

 

[JSitty]

I’m buying the 20” OE AT for winter driving in the cascades. Will keep the 21” OE road for summer. Lots of trips from Bellinhgham to Chelan. Will update my experiences with the 20”.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

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