I recently switched from LT Toyo at3s to "SL" Falken at4ws. IMO the xterra is not heavy enough for the LT tires, it rides and drives so much better with the lighter sidewalls of the falkens, as well as feeling more responsive from less rotating mass.
I have the LT version in that exact size. They are surprisingly great on bitumen with hardly any road noise which is great for your use case. Currently at 35k and no noticeable wear at all with mostly bitumen use. They seem like new.
I was in the same boat as the OP, and went with RT660s.
660 is good bang for the buck. Not as fast as the top tier tires but two or three times the lifespan.
I went with fallen 615+ not the fastest but should last a good number of runs
I'm in a similar boat as you I did the 615k's last season. Personally I am overly pleased with these tires they have been everything I've wanted them to be. And I'll probably get another set of them this year.
The 615k+ is a great budget tire. I did my first season on them and got second place in my regions rookie class. Then, I kept them and still use them for less competitive/ higher run count events. I've done 3 schools on them too. I love these tires. They're fun to drive on, take heat well, and just last. They do amazingly well in the rain also.
The AT4’s are only slightly louder than the defenders (almost not noticeable) and mpg is probably 1/2 to 1 mpg less. One thing that surprised me though, even though they are 3 peak snow rated they feel less sure footed on light snow than the Defenders.
I bought the RT660s because I wanted to save money after running the RE71s.....regretted it. Just doing one season and switching back. The pressures are weird ( need to run way higher than RE71s) and they feel like ice skates on asphalt.
On a totally non-Mazda related note I put Falken Wildpeak AT Trails on my Jeep just over a year and half ago. All four of them already have weather cracking. And Falken doesn’t have a specific warranty for that, you simply have to claim the warranty under their general six year manufacturing defects and materials and hope they give you some help. They start at 11/32, rated for 65,000 miles and after 20,000 miles they are already down to 6.5/32
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