All

Downhill casing with the softest compound is my choice. Marketing with Maxxis is nuts but I’m tired of the wobbly/warped casings. Continental Kryptotal has been good so far.

I ran the Kendas for a season and a half. I will say the sidewall support (with Tannus) was pretty good, and grip was also competitive. Rolling resistance was ok. However, the wear extremely quickly and pinch flat easily. I struggle to recommend them.

Mazza Race for dry conditions (got me a 1st place in enduro race so let's call it race proven :D)

I really like the Dhf. I run the 2.3 bc my rims are really narrow, like internal width of 23mm. The treads aren't super tall and it works so for me. I wish there was a super tacky exo+ in 2.3. that would be cool.

I have the opposite take. I've found that wider rims just destroy side knobs - and Maxxis seem to get undercut faster than most. I ran 3CTerra and 3CGrip DHR, DHF and Assegai on 32mm rims. Happier now on rims in the 27-30mm range. OP, WT is just marketing blah blah blah to be ignored. LOTS of fast riders run them on 25mm rims.

You will get a rounder profile running a 2.5in tyre on a 25mm internal diameter rim. The sidewall will have less support so you will need to a) run higher pressure to avoid squirm or b) run thicker casing tyre. Mountainbike tyres in general are way too square. As we are now running longer bikes and bigger wheels we tend to lean our bikes, in cornering, way more than before. Having a rounder profile helps keep you on the side knobs rather than washing out on the sidewall. Look at any MX bike tyre and you'll see they have an...

Using a 2.5 or 2.4 WT maxxis on a 25mm ID rim absolutely isn’t great. Your sideknobs are at a truly suboptimal open angle, and will(in my experience) start shearing off completely before the center knobs show any wear at all if you are the kind of rider that enjoys turning on hardpack. Rims wider than 25mm and tires wider than 2.3 don’t really play well together if you are sensitive to casing deformation, knob spacing, etc.

I’m in this exact scenario, have just switched my tires from 2.3 HR2’s to 2.3 Specialized Butcher T9s which are definitely wider. These are on 25mm rims - not sure I’d want to go massively wider.

The 2.3 Specialized Butcher has been surprisingly good option as a front tire. They aren’t quite in the league of an Assegai in terms of grip, but are easy to get along with. They have a rather square profile on 30mm rims, so one could assume, with a rounder profile on a narrower rim, they’d work pretty well.

An Assegai 2.5 will work just fine on your narrow rims. It'll end up with a rounder profile which is good as a front wheel setup. The Maxxis Assegai is the best cornering tyre I've tried on hardpack dry trails.

Totally agreed with dhr2 maxx grip front and dhr2 rear as a great tire setup. As an off the wall suggestion, the conti's might be a good choice too. I have kryptotol rears front/rear on a 30mm iw wheelset for my trail bike... they run super square on 30mm iw. They might round out a bit on a narrower rim and perform nicely.