Founded in 1915, General Tire has revolutionized the tire market to become a technology leader in the industry. Over 100 years of experience translates into the company’s tires that are built for strength and durability. General is a part of the tire manufacturer Continental, and delivers tires for paved and unpaved roads.
The General Altimax RT45 is an all-season touring tire that’s designed to replace the reliable Altimax RT43. The tire boasts a balanced ride in all seasons and comes with an exceptional warranty and perfect balance between road handling and performance.
However, does the General Altimax RT45 provide a comfortable and smooth driving experience without sacrificing other important aspects? We will find out everything you need to know in this General Altimax RT45 tire review.
Features and Benefits
Touring tires are designed to deliver a longer tread life and are more suited for regular drivers. Moreover, touring tires ensure a smooth, quiet, and comfortable ride in dry, wet, and light winter conditions. The General Altimax RT45 is a grand touring tire, which means it also ensures good performance for performance vehicles while fitting the description of a touring tire.
Designed for use on coupes, sedans, CUVs, SUVs, and minivans, the Altimax RT45 provides a balance of all-season traction, durability, performance, and comfort. Let’s take a closer look at the features and benefits of General Altimax RT45.
- Responsive Handling: Built with four circumferential grooves, the tire evacuates water to promote responsive handling in wet road conditions.
- Excellent Dry Grip: The symmetric tread pattern and all-season rubber compound ensure excellent dry grip.
- Visual Aids For Alignment: The Altimax RT45 comes with Generals’ Visual Alignment Indicators (VAI) on shoulder blocks indicating proper alignment.
- Visual Aids For Tread Wear: The Replacement Tire Monitor (RTM) on the center rib wears down to read “Replace Tire” when it’s time for a new set of tires.
- Quiet and Comfortable Ride: The tread pattern is optimized to ensure lower road noise for a quiet and comfortable ride.
General Altimax RT45 tires are available in multiple sizes from 14 to 20-inches and can be used on a variety of sedans, coupes, CUVs, and SUVs.
Pros and Cons
Now that we know more about General Altimax RT45, let’s make the decision easier for you by weighing the pros and cons of the tire. Let’s take a look at the pros first:
- Offers reliable performance in dry, wet, and light winter weather conditions.
- The visual indicators and Replacement Tire Monitor help drivers visually check the alignment and the tread wear of the tire.
- Optimized for a quiet, smooth, and comfortable ride.
- Comes with an excellent 75,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty for T- and H-speed rated sizes, and a 65,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty on V-rated sizes
Now let’s take a look at the cons of General Altimax RT45, which might alienate some drivers.
- Not suited for heavy winter conditions
- Not intended for off-road driving
SimpleTire’s view on General Altimax RT45 tires
If you are looking for a set of touring tires that provide excellent grip on dry, wet, and light winter conditions for your sedan, coupe, CUV, SUV, or minivan, then the General Altimax RT45 might be the right choice for you. The symmetrical tread pattern, circumferential grooves, VAI and RTM, ensures good utility from the tire. However, the most attractive feature of the tire is its exceptional tread life warranty, which will certainly attract long-route drivers.
Performance wise, the Altimax RT45 offers similar performance to the Bridgestone DriveGuard and Toyo Extensa A/S II and does so at a similar warranty and slightly lower price point on most sizes.
Vehicles the General Altimax RT45 is a good replacement tire for
As the General Altimax RT45 comes in a variety of sizes, it can be used on several passenger vehicles, including SUVs and CUVs, such as Mazda CX-5, Toyota Camry, Ford Edge, Dodge Grand Caravan, Kia Optima and more.
