General Altimax RT45 vs RT43

As grand touring all-season tires, the General Altimax RT45 and its predecessor, the RT43 both offer a balance of comfort, efficiency, and year-round performance.

But is the newer tire better? Let’s find out!

Key Takeaway

So according to my experience and tests, the General RT43 excels in ride and noise comfort, along with wet braking, while the Altimax RT45 stands out in fuel efficiency and handling in both dry and wet conditions. Plus the newer tire also takes the lead in winter conditions too, providing superb steering responsiveness.

Dry Traction and Handling

Performance of a tire in dry conditions is best learned by analyzing longitudinal or directional grip and cornering separately.

Directional Grip

So this type of grip can be put simply as straight line traction.

It tells how well a tire can keep you moving in a straight line and stop when you hit the brakes.

And here, the newer General RT45 has the upper hand.

A big part of this comes down to its beefy central ribs, which are thicker and packed with cleverly angled biters that dig into the road. These ribs are wider and more evenly spaced, giving the tire a solid, consistent grip that translates into shorter braking distances.

But that’s not all. The RT45 also throws in some neat tricks like linear siping, chamfered edges, and Y-shaped biters on the ribs next to the center. These little details work together to boost traction even further, making it a strong performer when you need to stop quickly.

Now, let’s talk about its predecessor, the RT43. While it’s not a bad tire by any means, it doesn’t quite keep up with the RT45 for sure.

Why? Well because its central rib is narrower (looking at all sizes), and the tread design is more open, which means each tread block has to work harder under pressure

Plus the tire is also relatively heavier and this increases its momentum (making slowing down harder, as seen in my 60 to 0 mph tests).

Lateral Grip and Handling

Now handling is where a tire really shows its true colors… it’s not just about one thing but how everything comes together during a turn.

To break it down, let’s look at the three key phases of cornering:

• Entry Phase: which is pretty straight forward, a tire brakes before entering the corner.
• Mid-Cornering: The moment you’re right in the heart of the turn
• Exit Phase: As you come out of the turn, the tire needs to help you realign the car and get back up to speed without feeling wobbly or unsteady.

So the General Altimax RT45 absolutely nails all three phases.

As already discussed, its excellent braking performance makes the entry phase feel effortless, while its precise steering and strong lateral grip keep you planted through the mid-cornering phase.

And when it’s time to exit the turn, the RT45’s heavier steering gives you better feedback, making it easier to straighten out and accelerate smoothly.

In fact, the RT45 is so well-rounded that it shaves off a full second in lap times compared to its predecessor.

Now the RT43 isn’t too bad, but it definitely fall short in a few areas. Its extra weight causes the tread blocks to flex more, which means there’s a slight delay between your steering inputs and how the tire responds.

This is especially noticeable during mid-cornering, where the RT43 feels a bit less precise and takes longer to recover.

Sure it’s not a dealbreaker for everyday driving, but if you’re pushing the limits, you’ll definitely feel the difference.

Wet Grip and Handling

In wet conditions, both tires show competent performance, but to truly grasp their effectiveness, it’s important to understand the roles of sipes and grooves in tire design.

Grooves serve as the main pathways for water expulsion from beneath the tire, while sipes play a key role in absorbing any remaining moisture. These sipes flex to create a vacuum-like effect, drawing in water particles and enabling the rubber and tread elements to maintain consistent contact with the road surface.

Having said that, the General Altimax RT45 generally outperforms, particularly in providing superior steering feedback. This results in faster wet handling lap times on average compared to the RT43.

However, the difference in performance between the two tires is not markedly significant (especially after seeing how well the newer tire does in dry conditions).

In fact the predecessor Altimax RT43 shows up with slightly better wet braking. And that is due to the tire’s better optimized central siping having a curved (multi-angled) structure.

Unlike the sipes on the RT45, these are less prone to stiffening or closing up, especially during aggressive braking. And that closes in the performance gap here (well, for the most part).

But yes overall wet performance is still better on RT45 at the end of the day.

Hydroplaning

The ability to resist hydroplaning is an essential yet often underrated aspect of tire performance, especially crucial for maintaining control and contact with the ground.

But what is hydroplaning resistance exactly? Well it reflects the tire’s capacity to efficiently channel water away through its primary grooves.

And it gets measured by float speeds, indicating the maximum speed at which a tire can travel over water before losing contact with the road surface and beginning to hydroplane.

In this specific area, both the Altimax tires perform almost similarly, exhibiting nearly identical average curved and straight float speeds in tests.

Though if we’re splitting hairs, the older General Altimax RT43 exhibits a slight advantage in certain sizes that feature deeper tread depths. This greater tread depth allows the RT43 to displace a slightly larger volume of water, enhancing its hydroplaning resistance marginally in comparison to the RT45.

Snow and Ice Performance

So first thing’s first, both tires aren’t 3 peak rated, so they aren’t going to perform like all weather tires out there such as CrossClimate 2 for example.

But they are fine in their own league of grand touring all season tires.

And between the two, the RT45 is the clear winner when it comes to snow performance.

Why you ask? Well…

First off, the RT45 has these clever secondary groove patterns that aren’t just there to reduce noise (though that’s a nice bonus).

They’re also designed to grab and hold onto snow (which is important because snow sticks better to itself than to rubber, so when the tire can pack snow into its grooves, it creates better traction).

Moreover, the RT45 also has more effective in-groove notches and a shoulder design that features offset edges. These little details help the tire push snow out of the way more efficiently, giving you better propulsion and acceleration in snowy conditions.

Comfort Performance

Ride comfort is the first thing you notice with any tire. So its the first performance aspect I’m going to discuss here.

And interestingly in this aspect, the predecessor, General Altimax RT43, holds an advantage due to its relatively softer tread compound, which is more effective at smoothing out road imperfections.

Basically, this tire utilizes a dual-zone tread compound: one zone contains high-density silica, which keeps the rubber softer and enhances cushioning, while the other zone is stiffer, providing improved stability.

This combination results in more effective dampening of bumps, though it does lead to a trade-off with a somewhat less responsive steering feel, particularly a dull on-center sensation.

In contrast, the Altimax RT45, while aiming to enhance steering response, does not feature the same “Twin Cushion Silica Tread Compound” (as General likes to put it). So it falls short in overall impact comfort performance, comparatively.

Fuel Economy

Fuel efficiency in tires is influenced by several key factors:

• Tire Weight: The weight, influenced by both the internal and external structure, affects the overall efficiency.
• Rolling Resistance: This metric assesses how effectively a tire maintains contact with the road surface without creating excessive drag.
• Rubber Composition: The integration of specific polymers can enhance fuel economy while still providing adequate grip.

And consider all, it can be seen why the General Altimax RT45 does better here, thanks to its relatively stiffer rubber and lighter structure.

As previously mentioned in the section discussing ride comfort, the RT45 does not employ the Twin Cushion Silica Tread Compound found in the RT43. While this may compromise a bit on comfort, it pays off in terms of fuel efficiency.

And its a great news given that the tire despite giving off superior grip (which increases its rolling friction) still keeps showing better mpg readings (on my tests). Guess its a win win for RT45.

Noise Comfort

Tread noise primarily originates from air particles. They flow in to the tread, especially through the lateral gaps around the shoulders, and their collision (with the tread walls) generates pattern noise and in-groove resonance, resulting in vibrations.

Having said that, it explains the results from comparative tests where the Altimax RT43 is notably quieter. Its shoulder lugs are more compact, effectively limiting the entry of air and consequently reducing noise.

On the other hand, the General RT45, featuring a more open tread design, tends to be louder. Its structure permits more air circulation, leading to increased collisions and, subsequently, higher noise levels.

Info on Sizes

Specification	General Altimax RT45	General Altimax RT43
Rim Sizes	14 to 20 inches	13 to 20 inches
Speed Ratings	T, H, V	T, H, V
Load Ratings	SL, XL	SL, XL
Tread Depth	11/32″ (all sizes)	10, 11, 12/32″ (varies by size)
Weight Range	15 to 31 lbs	14 to 33.4 lbs
Warranty	75k miles (T & H), 65k miles (V)	75k miles (T & H), 65k miles (V)
UTQG Rating	600 and 700 A A	600 and 700 A A

Both tires have Replacement Tire Monitor (RTM) which tells about tread depth and wear, and Visual Alignment Indicators (VAI) which basically tell if alignment is okay.

Internal Construction: Both tires have single ply polyester casing and dual steel belts. Though RT45 comes with a single ply nylon cap, while RT43 offers two layers of spirally wrapped polyamide on top (of its steel belts).

In Conclusion

In conclusion, both tires here have their distinct advantages.

The General Altimax RT43 leads in ride comfort, thanks to its dual-zone tread compound that better absorbs road imperfections, albeit with a trade-off in steering response.

On the other hand, the RT45 shines in fuel efficiency, aided by its stiffer rubber and lighter structure, and also demonstrates superior handling and traction in both dry and wet conditions, despite its slightly noisier ride due to its open tread design.

And yes the newer Altimax RT45 also takes the lead in snowy conditions thanks to its superior biting edges. Overall its a nice upgrade to have for sure.

If you have any questions or need more insights about these two tires, feel free to ask!