Alright here is my 2 cents worth. If you want a tire that will do everything you want, according the op description Michelin defenders are great but boring looking. The price is higher but they are very versatile and hold up. If you want cheaper less wear but a bit more aggressive look cooper ht plus. Hybrid ht/at continental terrain contact at would be awesome, had these and great on road, smooth and quiet, good for mild gravel, dirt etc, only downside was they pick up rocks on gravel roads. Hankook dynapro's are right up their with the conti's and do not throw rocks, pathfinder at, cooper at 4s are not as quiet. These all would be great choices for majority highway small non highway use. Oh and terra grappler g2's are good but will have a bit more noise, they are more at than ht. I have tried all of these except the pathfinder and that tread is almost same as dynapro. Conti's, Hankook, pathfinder are all 43-44 lbs each so mileage hit is negligible if at all. Bfg ko2's are hard riding tires no matter what people say, had them for a bit and took off for that reason, would only run those if a lot of winter and off road driving. Good luck.