General Altimax RT43

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Trouble free 80K on my first set 700 AA 98H on my Forester At $85 ea they were the least expensive $100 tires I could get.
12K on the second set so far. At $90 ea these are still a value
 
I like them a lot. Last car my favorite tire during 13 years of ownership. Good in snow. Good in rain. Good in turns. I like the way the car handled with them. Those were T rated. I have the H rated ones my 2017 Elantra. It came with T rated Nexens. They are harder than the Nexens so I feel bumps more. They stay planted compared to the Nexens. Nexens were noisy at highway speed. RT43s very quiet. I have never had problems with traction in rain. These were installed after snow but expect them to do better than Michelin and CS4s that let me down. When it comes to replacement I am going to look at getting them again. Not that I recommend them for you. Your vehicle and driving style may work better with something else.
 
I just put these on my wife's 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL a couple of months ago. I usually don't buy in to any of the "hyperbole" on BITOG. However-after doing further research elsewhere-I decided to put a full set on my wife's car.

Here in the Salt Lake area we just got dumped on with 9" inches of snow-and we live on a hill. During the storm we were caught in-across town, I locked the Hyundai in AWD mode and was very impressed by the performance in terrible conditions (snow, slush, ice) with these tires.

The OEM tires were always slipping and sliding.

S0-IMHO they are a solid choice-especially if you don't want to run dedicated snow tires.

BTW-they are very quiet.
 
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I ran a set of RT43 on a Mazda protege5, generally liked them a lot with a few complaints. Good handling, great snow traction even in deep snow, quiet. In my experience they did not seem very durable however. I lightly curbed a rear tire while turning too sharp into a driveway (felt a small bump) and this ripped a hole in the sidewall. Another tire developed a 1" bubble in the sidewall (didn't even curb this one!) after about 30k miles and I didn't feel safe driving it on the highway. With about 35k on the tires they were completely worn out at about 2/32, a few with what seemed like shifted belts (wobbling steering wheel) and loud. I got the car aligned with the replacement tires thinking it would be way out with how short lived the tires were, but it was perfectly in spec.
 
Originally Posted by cjolson140
I ran a set of RT43 on a Mazda protege5, generally liked them a lot with a few complaints. Good handling, great snow traction even in deep snow, quiet. In my experience they did not seem very durable however. I lightly curbed a rear tire while turning too sharp into a driveway (felt a small bump) and this ripped a hole in the sidewall. Another tire developed a 1" bubble in the sidewall (didn't even curb this one!) after about 30k miles and I didn't feel safe driving it on the highway. With about 35k on the tires they were completely worn out at about 2/32, a few with what seemed like shifted belts (wobbling steering wheel) and loud. I got the car aligned with the replacement tires thinking it would be way out with how short lived the tires were, but it was perfectly in spec.


Don't know what you felt but it wasn't a light bump to rip a hole in a sidewall. With all due respect-the last year they made the car you are driving was 2003. So basically you are reviewing a tire on a vehicle with worn out front end and suspension components.

How many miles are on your Car-inquiring minds want to know?
 
It didn't really rip a hole so much as it scuffed the tire, almost couldn't find the damaged spot it was so tiny. Maybe hit the corner/sharp spot on the curb.

The car had about 130k miles on it at the time I put the tires on, tight front end and original struts/shocks. At that time the shock damping/rebound felt like the car was new although I'm sure it was somewhat degraded.

Now at about 180k miles the damping/rebound is about as firm as it's always been, but a little harsher on the highway. The current set of hankook optimos (really, really crappy in the snow...) seem like they're going to easily outlast the altimax in terms of mileage. I have noticed the front tires wear faster than the rears but that's typical of every FWD car I've had.
 
Originally Posted by cjolson140
It didn't really rip a hole so much as it scuffed the tire, almost couldn't find the damaged spot it was so tiny. Maybe hit the corner/sharp spot on the curb.

The car had about 130k miles on it at the time I put the tires on, tight front end and original struts/shocks. At that time the shock damping/rebound felt like the car was new although I'm sure it was somewhat degraded.

Now at about 180k miles the damping/rebound is about as firm as it's always been, but a little harsher on the highway. The current set of hankook optimos (really, really crappy in the snow...) seem like they're going to easily outlast the altimax in terms of mileage. I have noticed the front tires wear faster than the rears but that's typical of every FWD car I've had.


If you had 130k on the factory shocks/struts they were worn out. I have 60k on my 300 and they're noticeably different vs new if you compare them back to back.
 
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I have the RT43's on my 240sx. They started out quite noisy, especially in corners, but as they wear they seem to be getting quieter. That or I'm just getting used to them.

Rain and snow handling are about average, maybe slightly better than average. The last set of off-brand tires I had on this car were absolutely HORRIFIC (I cant overstress that), so I think I have PTSD from those and anything would seem like a great tire after those pieces of dung. I would slip and slide across anything that wasnt dry, warm pavement so the RT43's actually having traction in the rain and snow may be skewing my perception of how good they are. On dry pavement, they handle just.....ok. I've had better, I've had worse.

I drive 80 miles a day and after two years they still have a good bit of tread left. Havent measured it though. We also have the RT43's on my sons Mazda 2, and they have been wearing and riding very nicely on that car with no issues at all. I'm pretty happy with the rate of wear on both cars, plenty of tread left on both.

This is my fourth set of General tires and the first ones I havent had chronic problems with balance. They drive pretty nice on the highway, maybe the nicest of the five or six sets of tires I have had on this Nissan since I got it almost 20 years ago. That being said... they do have a very strange, intermittent wobbling or shimmy at a very narrow speed range around 45-48 mph. Perfectly smooth above or below that speed range. They have been rebalanced with no change. This car has north of 325,000 miles on it with a mix of OEM and aftermarket suspension pieces and bushings so I cant really fault the tires for whatever weirdness randomly haunts this car, but I havent changed anything in the front between the previous tires (which didnt do this) and the RT43's.

Would I buy them again? If I have this old beast long enough to need another set, I would if the price was right. I wouldnt go out of my way to find them though. For what they are and at the price point they sell them at around here, they are a pretty decent tire in my opinion. Not great, just decent.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
I just put these on my wife's 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL a couple of months ago. I usually don't buy in to any of the "hyperbole" on BITOG. However-after doing further research elsewhere-I decided to put a full set on my wife's car.

Here in the Salt Lake area we just got dumped on with 9" inches of snow-and we live on a hill. During the storm we were caught in-across town, I locked the Hyundai in AWD mode and was very impressed by the performance in terrible conditions (snow, slush, ice) with these tires.

The OEM tires were always slipping and sliding.

S0-IMHO they are a solid choice-especially if you don't want to run dedicated snow tires.

BTW-they are very quiet.


How many miles are on the tires.
 
Originally Posted by painfx
Originally Posted by CKN
I just put these on my wife's 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL a couple of months ago. I usually don't buy in to any of the "hyperbole" on BITOG. However-after doing further research elsewhere-I decided to put a full set on my wife's car.

Here in the Salt Lake area we just got dumped on with 9" inches of snow-and we live on a hill. During the storm we were caught in-across town, I locked the Hyundai in AWD mode and was very impressed by the performance in terrible conditions (snow, slush, ice) with these tires.

The OEM tires were always slipping and sliding.

S0-IMHO they are a solid choice-especially if you don't want to run dedicated snow tires.

BTW-they are very quiet.


How many miles are on the tires.


Right around 5,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by painfx
Originally Posted by CKN
I just put these on my wife's 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL a couple of months ago. I usually don't buy in to any of the "hyperbole" on BITOG. However-after doing further research elsewhere-I decided to put a full set on my wife's car.

Here in the Salt Lake area we just got dumped on with 9" inches of snow-and we live on a hill. During the storm we were caught in-across town, I locked the Hyundai in AWD mode and was very impressed by the performance in terrible conditions (snow, slush, ice) with these tires.

The OEM tires were always slipping and sliding.

S0-IMHO they are a solid choice-especially if you don't want to run dedicated snow tires.

BTW-they are very quiet.


How many miles are on the tires.


Right around 5,000 miles.


It is still early to tell because it is still new. Give it another 15k miles and give another review, it will matter more.
 
Originally Posted by painfx
Originally Posted by CKN
Originally Posted by painfx
Originally Posted by CKN
I just put these on my wife's 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe XL a couple of months ago. I usually don't buy in to any of the "hyperbole" on BITOG. However-after doing further research elsewhere-I decided to put a full set on my wife's car.

Here in the Salt Lake area we just got dumped on with 9" inches of snow-and we live on a hill. During the storm we were caught in-across town, I locked the Hyundai in AWD mode and was very impressed by the performance in terrible conditions (snow, slush, ice) with these tires.

The OEM tires were always slipping and sliding.

S0-IMHO they are a solid choice-especially if you don't want to run dedicated snow tires.

BTW-they are very quiet.


How many miles are on the tires.


Right around 5,000 miles.


It is still early to tell because it is still new. Give it another 15k miles and give another review, it will matter more.


I would agree that the tire MAY OR MAY NOT change characteristics in 20,000 miles.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
My wife's 2018 Tiguan SE with 50k has well worn factory tires at 4/32". I peeked at Consumer Reports in library and the General Altimax RT43 is top tier rated tire.

I just want quiet, decent winter traction and life >=50k. Decent choice or should I look elsewhere?

I have used them. I liked them a lot, however, I prefer the new CrossContact LX25's. They are like an RT43 that got additional TLC in the R&D department. Much more refined.
 
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