General Altimax RT43 + '09 Toyota Rav4

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TWG1572

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Dec 18, 2007
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Looking for tires to put on my wife's Rav4 with AWD. The Generals seem to be in the top end of most rankings and reviews I see and the price is pretty decent. I'm looking to see if anyone has any feedback, or alternate suggestions in the same price range of $110-120 per tire.

She does mainly highway driving, but every set of tires I've put on only go 40K. That includes the stock tires, a set of Bridgestone Alenzas, and now she has Cooper CS4 (IIRC) tires on it. The wear patterns are pretty even, they just seem to wear out quickly.

She drives primarily highway miles, so I'm prioritizing handling characteristics and ability to handle snow during winter.

Thanks!
 
Just put Firestone Destination LE2 on my 2008 Rav4 for my daughter in November. Great in snow & rain. (Lake effect snow in NE Ohio )
 
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Originally Posted By: TWG1572
Looking for tires to put on my wife's Rav4 with AWD.

Is 225/65R17 the size you need? Take a look at Conti TrueContact. They come with a 90,000 mile warranty. They seem to be well rated by TireRack.
 
My preferred option is Discount Tire Direct/Discount Tire, since I have one a couple blocks from where I work. Costco is also an option.

The reason the CS5 did not show up in my searches is that it's not an H rated tire, which is what is specified for her car. While I'm confident the Rav4 will never need a H rated tire on speed alone, I've also been told that other characteristics of the H rated tire might be why the engineers picked them. I'm pretty sure the H vs. T speed rating discussion has been going on forever in Rav4 forums from what I see, but I'm going to stick with H.

I had the Firestone Destinations on my radar pretty much every time I looked for tires for this thing. They are currently buy 3 get 1 free. They aren't at Discount Tire, but that isn't the end of the world. I'll do some more looking at them.

225/65/17 is the size I need.
 
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Originally Posted By: TWG1572
but I'm going to stick with H.

Most H-rated tires will have shorter treadlife / shorter treadlife warranty compared to T-rated tires. But most H-rated tires are better constructed. Gotta decide what's more important.

Personally, I have never gotten anywhere close to 40K miles out of any tires that I've owned. It's all relative.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete


Personally, I have never gotten anywhere close to 40K miles out of any tires that I've owned. It's all relative.
smile.gif




LOL. I once made the mistake of telling my wife I had no idea what she did to her tires, because I've been getting 60K out of my Nissan Frontier tires like clockwork. I only made that mistake once. You are right, it is all relative.
smile.gif
 
I can't figure out why everybody is trying to talk the OP out of getting the RT43s. I have them on my car and they're fantastic.
 
Currently on the 93 Volvo 240, Excellent wet and dry traction, they resist hydroplaning well, responsive. I can't comment on traction in snow as I run Blizzacks in the winter. But, maybe the noisiest tire I've ever run. A good value if noise is not a concern to you. I will not run them again due to the noise.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: TWG1572
Looking for tires to put on my wife's Rav4 with AWD.

Is 225/65R17 the size you need? Take a look at Conti TrueContact. They come with a 90,000 mile warranty. They seem to be well rated by TireRack.

I loved the truecontacts i had on my 2010 impala, they were amazing in the rain and snow. My malibu came with continental procontacts and after they wear out i plan on getting another set of truecontacts.
 
After the factory Yokohama Geolanders wore out at 65k on my 2007 Rav4, we put on Cooper CS5 Grand Touring and the car ate them alive. We only got 30k out of them. Seems to be a common issue with this particular tire on the Rav4 AWD models for some reason from what the shop said, so I would avoid those on a Rav. The tire shop warrantied and prorated them regardless and we put Firestone Destination LE2's on instead; not having any wear problems with them and they seem to do well in all conditions. I wouldn't have a problem giving the General's a try; they are a good tire and our Walmarts actually sell them here for a good price.
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I can't figure out why everybody is trying to talk the OP out of getting the RT43s. I have them on my car and they're fantastic.


To be fair, I did ask for alternate suggestions. The RT43's are well reviewed, and people on BITOG seem to like them. I think I'm the second thread on them in the last couple weeks. The only difference I see, and I don't think it's a big difference, is that I'm putting them on a Rav4. Most reviews seem to be car owners. Just looking for alternate feedback.

The Generals and Firestones are pretty close review-wise on Tire Rack, with the slight edge to the Generals on winter performance. I see Discount Tire's eBay store is offering the Generals for 7% off, so that takes them down to $105 per tire. I think that's going to be hard to pass up. I think the Firestones are around $123 once you apply the one free tire discount.

I may end up putting the Firestone Destinations on my Frontier when the time comes. I've always wanted to try them.
 
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I have the RT43's on my Sable wagon. They do well in snow and rain. My only compliant is they are on the soft side. They don't have the best handling due to this. Overall I am still happy with them but prefer a stiffer tire.
 
The RT43 seems like a safe choice to me, we have them on my daughter's Impreza right now and they have been great so far.

I had the Parada Spec X on my old RAV4 and loved them, but I never kept them on for the winter and they wore out quickly (I did drive like a maniac on them). The sidewalls may have been a bit weak, as I came tearing out of McD's once to hit a hole in traffic and found myself unexpectedly sliding towards the curb...all I could think was that the sidewall collapsed momentarily. They are on closeout on TireRack now for under $100 in what I think your size would be.
 
I am going with Mastercraft Touring LSR brand just because that is what my dealer promotes but I would have went RT43's just as fast. When I got the car last month he sold me a set of four at 90% Arctic Claw snow tires for $125 installed and balanced and it snowed that night so I was hooked the way the 2006 Ford 500 performed on the Arctic Claws. Last week I picked up a used set of OEM wheels so I can leave my Arctic Claws mounted for next winter. Since I am getting M&S rated tires I may run them next winter while they are new to see how they do. We have the MN tradeshow that we drive to that is on Super Bowl weekend typically. I was glad we had on the Arctic Claws a few weeks ago. Down here in the south (KY on TN border) snow tires are seldom ran.
 
Well, I ended up pulling the trigger on the Generals. $426 out the door for a set of four from Discount Tire Direct's eBay store. Free shipping. UPS tracking says they will be here tomorrow, so shipping was really fast.
 
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