General Grabber HTS60 vs Firestone Destination LE3

In the competitive world of all season highway terrain tires, two giants, the Firestone Destination LE3 and the General Grabber HTS60, stand out, each promising unparalleled performance. Let’s see which tire is a better fit for your needs.

Being a tire engineer, I can tell you that the Firestone Destination LE3 excels in dry grip, wet traction, tread wear, and fuel economy due to its lighter build and tread design. Meanwhile, the General Grabber HTS60 shines in winter conditions and offers superior impact comfort with its unique design and deeper tread.

Specification and Size Variants

The General Grabber HTS60 comes in 15 to 22 inches rims, and they have the following specs.

• Speed ratings: S, T and H.
• Load ratings: SL, XL and E only.
• Tread depth: 10 to 14/32″.
• Weight range: 28 to 55 lbs.
• Treadwear warranty: 65k for S and T rated, while 50k for H (speed) rated sizes.
• UTQG rating: 680 A B.

Check its detailed review here: https://tiredriver.com/general-grabber-hts60-review/

On the other side, the Firestone Destination LE3 comes in 15 to 22 inches wheels. And all of those sizes have following specifications.

• Speed ratings: T, H and V (most sizes have H).
• Load ratings: SL and XL.
• Tread depth range: Almost all sizes have 10/32″.
• Weight range: 21 to 40 lbs.
• UTQG: 700 A B
• Winter ratings: No 3PMSF, only M+S.
• Tread mileage rating: 70k miles warranty.

Check its detailed review here: https://tiredriver.com/firestone-destination-le3-review/

Structure of Both Tires

The Grabber HTS60 features a symmetric tread pattern with five distinct ribs.

It’s central rib maintains continuous contact with the road, ensuring optimal dry grip.

(While its wave-like siping there enhances wet traction).

The adjacent outer ribs have more spacious blocks characterized by longitudinal notches and multi-directional siping.

Meanwhile, the shoulder lugs possess a denser structure.

They although feature lateral grooves, they are all joined up together by a continuous running rib.

Here the shoulder lugs are characterized by wave-like siping, while the attached (secondary shoulder) rib come with notches and linear siping patterns.

Internally, the tire is constructed with a 2-ply polyester casing, reinforced by 2 steel belts and 2 spirally wound nylon cap plies. And yes, there’s also an added layer atop these cap plies, specifically designed to absorb road bumps.

Moving towards the Firestone LE3.

This tire although features similar (symmetric) tread pattern, its still pretty unique with its punctuated S and F shaped grooves.

I believe, they are FireStone’s initials.

They sure add to the tire aesthetics, though that’s not their purpose, as they are actually engineered to provide excellent wet traction.

These distinct patterns are confined to the central lugs within the three primary ribs, which are also equipped with V-shaped notches, chamfered edges, and full-depth interlocking siping.

While shoulder lugs are characterized by a more streamlined pattern, though they also have similar siping and notches pattern on them too.

Internally, the tire comes with single ply polyester casing with 2 steel belts and a single ply nylon cap ply.

Winter Performance

All-season tires are typically recognized for their appreciable performance on snowy terrains, where they show their proficiency in handling, braking, acceleration, mainly on snow and ice.

And considering all, it can be seen why the Firestone Destination LE3 is slightly a more lacking here.

This is mainly because of the tire’s stiffer rubber compound which lowers the efficacy of its biters. Basically its compound is not as thermally adaptive compared to its counterpart, meaning it hardens up more, in sub-zero conditions, inhibiting the flexibility of its traction elements.

In contrast, the General Grabber HTS60 offers superior braking and handling, thanks to its central rib adorned with offset edges, paired with adjacent ribs featuring multi-directional biters.

Together, these components optimize snow-to-snow contact, leading to improved steering responsiveness and (faster), consistent lap times.

(Snow sticks better to itself, than rubber, so this type of contact is pretty important here).

Note: Neither tire holds the coveted 3-peak mountain snowflake rating.

Dry Longitudinal Grip

When assessing a tire’s straight-line grip, often referred to as its longitudinal grip, the tread’s central section plays one of the most crucial roles.

But why the center? Well, this is because that area bears the majority of the vehicle’s weight, ensuring the most substantial contact with the road surface (as the tire rolls straight).

That’s why it makes sense why the Firestone Destination LE3 stands out here.

The tire although does not offer as continuous running central most rib like the Grabber, it still takes the lead with its lighter weight and greater overall rubber to road contact patch.

Essentially, while a larger contact area directly results in improved grip, the tire’s reduced weight further enhances this benefit. As lighter construction of the tire, means lower inertia, allowing for quicker braking.

On the flip side, the General HTS60 even with its broad continuous running central rib, still can’t offer similar contact patch, with its voided up adjacent ribs.

And so you get a lacking overall directional grip, where its heavier construction, creating more momentum inertia, isn’t helping either.

Dry Overall Handling

For cornering grip, the shoulder area of the tire plays a pivotal role. This is because, during turns, that area gets the most weight concentration on itself.

And here again, the Firestone LE3 takes the upper hand.

I mean sure, its not the best in its category here, but its still above average, and definitely outperforming its more aggressive (highway terrain) competitor, the Grabber HTS60.

So what’s going on here?

Well, the General tire has a sluggish steering response. And this deficiency can be attributed to the tire’s thicker tread (going up to 14/32″) and its heavier build.

These variables, basically, increase the tire’s inertia, making it feel somewhat harder to control when cornering. And so needless to say, the overall balance of the vehicle in terms of over/understeering is disrupted more in comparison.

On the other side, the Destination LE3 with its stiffer compound and a tread depth of only up to 10/32″, excels in this aspect, providing a ride that is more communicative and controllable.

Fuel Economy

Fuel consumption is largely dictated by rolling resistance, which is then related to the tire’s construction, (where tread design, composition and weight are considered).

And this is where the Firestone Destination LE3 shines the most. But why is that? Well consider following points.

• It features a shallower tread depth of only 10/32″, compared to the 14/32″ (seen on Grabber).
• It uses a harder tread compound.
• It overall construction is comparatively lighter.

All these factors basically mean, there’s less strain and bending of the lugs, so energy is more focused towards the rolling of the tire, instead, enhancing fuel economy.

In contrast, the General Grabber HTS60 lacks with its weighty build, featuring extra plies underneath its thicker rubber, which is also much dense as its fortified with DuraGen Tech.

So the tire faces more lug bending. And this results in more energy being spent on deforming the lugs instead of propelling the vehicle, making it less fuel-efficient.

Wet Traction

When it comes to overall wet performance, there are again two things, the tire’s wet grip, and its steering feedback.

And in both the Firestone Destination is taking the lead. This is mainly due to its more effective siping structure, where its tread features a combination of full depth interlocking sipes, thick lateral slits and in-groove notches.

These sipes although may seem as mere cuts on tread, they are pretty important, as they suck up water particles coming underneath (and later spray them out, as the tire rolls over).

So they create a relatively drier surface, for its biters to grip on.

And the result? You get 2 seconds faster wet laps compared to Grabber HTS60.

Road Noise

Tire noise often stems from the interaction of air particles with the tire’s tread walls. I mean, air mostly comes in through the shoulder voids, and circulates around the tread, hitting and bumping around, generating noise.

And so here, it makes sense why the Grabber HTS60 offers a pretty decent overall performance, thanks to its densely packed shoulder area, which effectively limits the entry of air, thereby reducing noise.

Though its still not enough to outperform its competitor here. I mean compared to Firestone, it still generates greater decibel levels.

So, why is that?

Well, this is because the Firestone Destination LE3 comes with a more sophisticated overall design, where it features a shallower tread depth, measuring only 10/32″.

This means there’s less surface area for air to interact with.

Furthermore, it employs a more advanced variable pitch technology, (which has also seen improvements from its predecessor).

This technology basically minimizes in-groove resonance, effectively diminishing the amplification of sound waves.

Impact Comfort

Impact comfort evaluates the tire’s ability to absorb road shocks, an area where the General Grabber HTS60 excels a lot.

So why is that? Well this is because of the following 2 points.

• It offers a “dedicated” layer beneath its rubber, (in its internal construction), designed to neutralize road shocks and vibrations. This results in a smoother driving experience.
• Its deeper tread depth provides additional space, (or you can say more room), to dissipate bumps before they reach the driver.

On the flip side, the Firestone Destination LE3 lacks with its stiffer rubber, and shallower tread depth. So its not able to provide as much vibration dampening.

Tread Wear

When it comes to tread longevity, both tires bring distinct advantages to the table.

Now out of the two, the Firestone Destination LE3’s 70k-mile warranty suggests superior tread life, of course, but this is particularly impressive given its shallower 10/32″ tread depth.

I mean, even with shallower tread depth, it takes more time to reach down to 2/32″ legal limit (as per US standards), comparatively.

This is mainly because of its more robust rubber compound that resists wear remarkably well.

On the other side, the General Grabber HTS60 is also pretty impressive, especially when you consider its an aggressive highway terrain tire, and that its just lacking 5k mileage when it comes to warranty (compared to Firestone).

Its performance can be credited to its DuraGen Technology, which strengthens its wear resistance, especially on mild off-road tracks. Furthermore, its generous 14/32″ tread depth is also pretty helping here.

To Conclude

Both tires have their strengths and weaknesses, offering different advantages in various conditions.

Starting with the Firestone Destination LE3, this tire offers impressive dry longitudinal grip, and overall handling, superior wet traction, and enhanced fuel economy, mainly attributed to its lighter construction and specialized tread design.

It also stands out in tread wear, despite its shallower tread depth, due to its robust rubber compound.

On the other hand, the General Grabber HTS60 shines in winter performance with better snow-to-snow contact and excels in impact comfort, owing to its dedicated shock-absorbing layer and deeper tread depth.

Moreover, while the Grabber offers reduced road noise due to its densely packed shoulder area, the Firestone still manages to outperform it with its advanced variable pitch technology.