The BFG Mud Terrain (MT) has held a dominant position in the radial mud tire market for the past ten years. Reliability, performance and excellent wear characteristics are often cited its legions of loyal followers. So it was with some trepidation that we awaited the debut of the new BFG Mud Terrain KM, the much talked about successor to the venerable MT.

Would it be worthy of the name? Would it allow BFG to retain its dominance in this segment of the off-road tire market? We decided to find out by shodding a Jeep TJ with a set of 35x12.5 MT KMs.

The tread pattern is similar to the old MT but you can see that it is more aggressive with lugs extending up to a portion of the sidewall.

As expected, its mud performance was exemplary. The new tread design easily shed mud.

Performance on water-slicked rock was also excellent.

Although it has the well-known BFG TriGard 3-ply sidewall, the tire was surprisingly flexible.

It looks like BFG has another winner on their hands. The new MT KM worked great in typical British Columbia terrain.

The resemblance between the MT and the MT KM is strong. It is obvious that they come from the same lineage. The most obvious change from the MT to the MT KM are the DiggerLugz^TM, the upper sidewall digger lugs that provide extra bite. As you might expect, these lugs come in to play when the tire is in deep mud and sand. But they also provide extra grip when you're aired down and the sidewalls flex out enough to push these lugs onto rocks, dirt, mud, and anything else they can sink their teeth into. Speaking of which, the sidewalls aired down very nicely. 12 psi was all that was needed to get some very nice flex and a huge contact patch. And if you're wondering, yes, the BFG TriGard 3-ply sidewall is alive and well in this last version of the Mud Terrain.

BFG www.bfgoodrichtires.com

While we're on the topic of airing down, BFG has acknowledged their rockcrawling customers by adding a unique design feature: they have molded a rim protector into the tire. What this does is provide a thick berm of rubber that protrudes beyond the wheel's rim, protecting the rim from damage, particularly when the tire is aired down. Besides helping to keep the tire seated during low air pressure operation, it also prevents debris from getting forced between the tire and the rim. This is a very common problem among fourwheelers in British Columbia and Washington state. Everyone I know has at one time or another had to deal with log chunks wedged into the rim, threatening to pop the bead. Kudos to BFG for coming up with this clever solution.

On the street, we found the MT KMs to be very quiet and exhibit good road-holding ability on dry and wet pavement.

Of course, for most of those who buy these tires, the real question is: how does it perform on the trail?? Well, I'm happy to report that they performed flawlessly. Although it looks similar to its predecessor, the MT KM uses longer shoulder lugs that provide a greater paddle effect, making it all the more effective in deep mud. Deep mud and snow performance was definitely superior to the older MT.

After a couple of weeks of testing, we are confident that the new BFG Mud Terrain KM is a worth successor to carry on the tradition of the renowned BFG Mud Terrain line.