Meet one of the best budget high performance all season tire, the General G-Max AS-05. This baby gives you a year-round performance and grip, with its innovative design, characterized by a potent central rib and stable shoulder blocks. Let’s see how good this tire really is.
Table of Contents
Sizes with Specs
The General G-MAX AS-05 comes in 16 to 22 inches wheels. And all of those sizes have following specifications.
- Speed ratings: W only.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: 10/32″ on all.
- Weight range: 16 to 32 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 50k miles.
- UTQG rating: 500 AA A.
Tread Design
The General G-MAX comes with a very biting asymmetric tread design.
Let’s me describe its tread features starting from right to left.
So on the very right, you can see two very similar ribs, featuring a very open tread design (where lateral voids meet up with two circumferential grooves prominently).
Here lugs have a very linear siping, which are then attached to small notches facing the left.
Moving on, the middle most rib is made continuous, though it does have more number of biters, where (slightly curved) lateral notches and siping pattern is seen.
And in a similar fashion, the last two ribs on the left are even more pronounced, meaning as we move from right to left, the tire becomes more aggressive. These ribs have many biting edges, arranged in both horizontal and vertical directions.
Find all the tires compared with G-MAX 05.
Dry Performance
Evaluating the dry performance of a tire revolves around its grip and handling capabilities.
Here, “grip” tells you about the ability of the tire to maintain directional stability, often assessed through braking distances, while “handling” refers to its proficiency in cornering.
Let’s check them out.
Overall Traction
Now the one thing this tire has is the grip. One might say, its way too much (you’ll know what I mean in the steering section).
The General G-MAX AS-05 basically comes with a high silica compound, which offers a combination of somewhat soft yet durable texture.
So you get pretty great adhering properties of its rubber (compared to other premium all-season tires, I mean).
Moreover, its central most rib is made continuous running, allowing for maximum rubber to road contact, resulting in pretty decent directional grip.
And with multi-directional biters on the surrounding ribs, and in-groove notches on the shoulders, the tire also offers one of best lateral traction values as well.
But keep in mind, this does not mean, the tire is able to pull off better handling overall (as seen on lap times), and that can be explained by its lacking steering response.
Steering Response
Now the problem with the tire’s steering response is that, it’s way too eager and vocal.
While entering the corner, it gives you way too much confidence at first, which results in under steering (as you don’t decelerate as per needed).
And if you accelerate aggressively out of turns (usually where the vehicle isn’t aligned properly), the rear can become unstable.
But why is this happening?
Well, this is mainly because of it’s relatively more pliant shoulder lugs (compared to its central tread area).
In essence, as the tire corners, its tread lugs tend to shift in the opposite direction (basically its called lug flexing).
And the General G-MAX AS-05, possessing this characteristic, struggles to maintain a consistent understeer/oversteer balance, compromising handling feedback.
Fuel Consumption
In analyzing the tire’s fuel efficiency, I factored in aspects such as rolling resistance, tread composition, and the overall weight of the tire.
And looking at all, let me tell you that you won’t get disappointed by the tire’s performance here.
This is because for one, the General G-Max is pretty light in weight and two, it features a harder rubber compound with reinforced foundations underneath all its ribs.
But how these factors help?
With its lighter structure, the tire exerts less pressure on the lugs, reducing their susceptibility to bending. And this is further aided by the utilization of a harder compound.
Minimized lug flexing means less energy is expended in molding the tread, which, in turn, optimizes fuel economy. So overall, the synergy between a lightweight structure and a harder compound contributes to a more efficient and economical tire performance.
Wet Traction and Hydroplaning
Just like the dry, General G-Max AS-05 lacked in overall wet traction due to its overly responsive steering.
I mean sure it offered pretty decent gripping values, thanks to its full-depth interlocking sipes and multiple in-groove biters, the tire wasn’t able to control that grip effectively.
Though in tire’s defense, you do get pretty impressive resistance to hydroplaning, where its 4 longitudinal grooves in the middle offer pretty decent straight aqua speeds. While the interconnected lateral tread voids also ensure you get decent curved aqua traction with that as well.
Side Note: The tire’s tread has a secondary rubber layer is which harder relatively, so with wear, the wet traction is further compromised.
Just an FYI: Among its direct competitors, the best wet handling is offered by Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06+ (yea, its a mouthful).
Winter Performance
When it comes to navigating winter terrains, the General G-Max AS-05 unfortunately doesn’t hit the mark optimally, primarily attributed to the lack of sufficient siping and its stiffer rubber composition.
Basically on snowy tracks (especially ice), you need a lot of micro biters in the form of siping, like generally seen on winter tires.
And G-Max is not only lacking with those, but its rubber composition exhibits limited adaptability to colder temperatures, resulting in its biters stiffening and further losing their effectiveness.
Moreover, its biters in the form of in-groove notches (for the most part), also aren’t able to provide the needed snow to snow contact, as all of its ribs (except for one) are continuous running.
So, the tire offers greater snow to rubber contact, which does not generate ample friction.
(Basically snow particles stick better to each other instead of rubber, and the GMAX lacking that feature does not perform adequately, and its seen clearly when you compare the tire with it’s direct Ultra High Performance All-Season competitors.
(And yes, needless to say, the tire does not come with 3-peak mountain snowflake certification, indicating its unsuitability for severe snowy conditions).
Side Note: If you are looking for the top performing winter tire (in the category), you should check out the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 (review).
Tread Life
Tread wear is influenced by a myriad of factors, where a few notable ones include the tire’s construction (both internal and outer), and rolling resistance values.
And considering all, its safe to say the General G-Max AS-05 gives you a decent performance here.
This tire is designed with a very rigid outer rubber layer, coupled with stability-enhancing cap plies within its internal structure, which collectively contribute to increased durability and resistance to rapid wear.
However, its abundant biters and extensive rubber-to-road contact generate substantial rolling resistance. While this is advantageous for traction, it concurrently accelerates the rate of rubber wear.
Nevertheless, considering that this tire is classified in the high-performance category and comes with a 50,000 miles warranty, it can be regarded as a satisfactory option.
Side Note: I’ve complied a detailed article on how to improve overall tread life, which can further improve things for you here.
Noise Generation
In terms of noise comfort, the General G-Max AS-05 unfortunately lacked a little compared to others in the category.
The tire produces certain high-pitched tones, distinguishable and slightly prominent, and the impacts from bumps resonate noticeably within the vehicle’s structure. This tends to draw more attention to the bumps than the sensation alone would elicit.
Additionally, the tire consistently releases a moderate volume of white noise, with subtler tones becoming more prominent on less smooth surfaces.
So what’s causing all that? Well, this has to do with air.
Air particles come in (mostly through shoulder area), and hit the tread walls. And this creates two types of sounds.
The first arises from the collision of air particles with the walls, creating the high-pitched noise referenced earlier.
And the second is due to in-groove resonance, which is basically the sound bouncing back off the tread walls, creating an echo effect. This contributes to the consistent background white noise observed for this tire.
Impact Comfort
The General G-Max AS-05 also lacked in the impact comfort performance, which is significantly dictated by the tire’s material composition and structural design.
The tire with its somewhat rigid rubber compound, doesn’t quite meet the mark in delivering optimum comfort, where it’s yet even stiffer internal cap ply isn’t helping the overall scenario either.
I mean sure, this really helps with the tire’s tread life and dry cornering, the overall ride is a bit less cushioning.
Though this only goes for smaller bumps, as the tire still did a great job mitigating larger impacts. Though this was concluded on an averaged subjective tests.
Take Home Points
So what’s the verdict here? Well, the General G-MAX AS-05 offers a mixed bag of results.
While it provides you with excellent grip and traction due to its high silica compound, and powerful cap plies, its over-responsive steering impacts overall handling, particularly in cornering situations.
Moreover, the tire performs decently in wet conditions but falls short in snowy terrains, overall, due to insufficient no. of biters, and a stiffer rubber composition.
And yes, this rubber also affects the comfort level of the tire, though it also has a pro, and that’s tread life, backed up by tire’s 50,000-mile warranty.
