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General AltiMAX Arctic 12 Reviews

Winter Passenger tire

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  • SimpleScore™

    Our proprietary rating system
    for the modern tire buyer.

    8.4

    Great

    Score breakdown:

    8.6

    Long lasting

    Great

    8.3

    Handling

    Great

    8.5

    Traction

    Great

  • General Altimax Arctic 12

    If you live in a place where there’s heavy snow that stays on the road for weeks at a time (and turns into slush and ice), you know better than anyone that all-season tires are just not cut out to perform when these conditions get bad. And if there’s a lot of ice to deal with, even premium winter tires can lose traction and put you in the ditch (or worse). Nope, if road conditions are that terrible, the only thing that’s going to get the job done is studded tires, or at least tires that are pre-drilled for installation of studs. Studded tires are hard on pavement surfaces, which is why they’re illegal or at least restricted to certain months in many states (check your local and state laws to be sure), but if you’ve had the experience of driving on sheet ice with studded tires you know how helpful they are.

    This is where the General Altimax Arctic 12 comes in. The Altimax Arctic 12 from General is a winter tire with an aggressive, directional winter tread pattern and comes pre-drilled for studs. It’s a strong enough performer in winter conditions to earn the tire industry’s Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) grade for severe winter service. Best of all, the General Altimax Arctic 12 delivers on all this without any serious compromises in road manners, handling and ride quality.

    So what is it about this tire that makes it such a great performer in winter weather? Let’s unpack that with this General Altimax Arctic 12 review.

    Features and Benefits

    Here’s just some of the features and innovations that help the General tire deliver confident, reliable traction in difficult winter road conditions:

    • Specialized winter rubber compound is designed to stay flexible and pliable for traction in subfreezing weather
    • Directional winter tread pattern with arrow-shaped, rigid central rib that improves steering response and straight-line stability and road manners at highway speed
    • Tread contour is designed for a wider footprint that puts more rubber in contact with the road to enhance stability
    • Designed with a high void ratio, angled grooves, and wide lateral notches that all work together to remove snow and slush from the tread
    • Strategically angled tread blocks and dense sipe pattern provides extra biting surfaces to dig into snow and slush
    • High turnup polyester casing with two wide steel belts
    • Spiral wound polyamide cap ply enhances handling and high-speed durability and stability
    • Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for use in moderate to severe winter weather conditions
    • Molded for easy installation of TSMI #12 silver metallic studs, where permitted, to further enhance traction and performance in severe winter weather conditions

    Pros and Cons

    You know what to expect with a tire like the General Altimax Arctic 12:

    PROS:

    • Phenomenal traction in even the roughest winter conditions
    • Decent ride quality and handling
    • Predictable handling
    • Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified
    • Can be pinned with studs, where permitted, to further enhance traction

    CONS:

    • Noisy, especially when pinned with studs
    • Should not be used when temperatures are consistently above 45 degrees Fahrenheit
    • Not backed by a limited manufacturer tread life warranty

    SimpleTire’s view on General Altimax Arctic 12 tires

    General Altimax Arctic 12

    Winter tires are a specialized technology that can make all the difference when you’re trying to get through snow and slush – as in, “zero to hero” kind of a difference. And then when you need to get through ice, studded or studdable tires have that same sort of performance edge over regular winter tires. The General Altimax Arctic 12 is that next-level tire that you need for those kinds of conditions.

    Everything in the General Altimax Arctic 12’s design is oriented toward enhancing traction and performance in snow, slush, and ice. From the design of the tread grooves to the specialized rubber formulation to the Snow Traction Ridges built into the grooves, this is a tire that’s designed for safe, dependable traction in difficult conditions. As for the cons mentioned above, it’s not surprising that a winter tire would be noisy (especially once studs are installed). Also, no winter tire is designed for all-season performance; the softer, more pliable tread formulation they use will wear quickly in warmer temperatures, and tire manufacturers advise against using them if temperatures are consistently above 45 degrees.

    All in all, the General Altimax Arctic 12 is a tire that won’t disappoint if you have to deal with nasty ice, deep snow or slush on the roads.

    Vehicles the General Altimax Arctic 12 is a good replacement tire for

    Here are just some of the sedans, minivans and crossovers that could be good candidates for the Altimax Arctic 12 from General:

    • Chevrolet Traverse
    • Chrysler Pacifica
    • Ford Fiesta
    • Honda CR-V
    • Hyundai Tucson
    • Jeep Grand Cherokee
    • Kia K5
    • Mazda6
    • Nissan Altima
    • Subaru Outback
    • Toyota Camry
    • Volkswagen Jetta

    179 reviews

    14 on SimpleTire165 from Google Shopping

    4.8

    overall rating

    100%

    Would you buy again?

    Write a review

    Review breakdown

    • 146 out of 100
    • 27 out of 100
    • 2 out of 100
    • 2 out of 100
    • 2 out of 100

    Scorecard

    Dry

    4.5

    Wet

    4.8

    Winter

    5

    Comfort

    4.8

    Noise

    4.6

    Treadwear

    4.7

    14 SimpleTire reviews

    Steven
    4.5
    Subaru Legacy 1998 GT Limited
    Verified Customer
    Feb 21, 2022

    Used in snow only once so far but they REALLY stick and stopping is really great as well

    Kim
    5
    Chevrolet HHR 2008 LS
    Verified Customer
    Jan 18, 2022

    I have had these tires installed, and already driven them in heavy rain, snow and ice. Thanks to living in upstate New York. They have had no problem in any of the road conditions, and are on a light weight Chevy HHR. If they wear for any length of time, they will be my go to tire for life.

    Patrick
    5
    Verified Customer
    Feb 5, 2020

    So far seems to be a very good tire

    Marty
    5
    Verified Customer
    Apr 2, 2019

    This is our third set of winter tires - great tire - great value!

    McKinley
    5
    Verified Customer
    Oct 14, 2018

    I received fast delivery of my tires from Simple Tire, and would not hesitate to purchase more tires from them, when needed. They are a first-rate tire company, and i have already begun recommending them to all of my friends. I could not be happier with my purchase.

    John
    5
    Verified Customer
    Sep 26, 2018

    This is by far the best winter tire I've purchased.

    Taylor A
    4.5
    Verified Customer
    Jul 12, 2018

    I've had many sets of the previous generation Altimax Arctics, and was a little worried that these would not live up to the aggressiveness of the old ones in deep snow. My fears were abated quickly though - these worked amazingly well on my '03 BMW Z4 3.0i, and allowed me to get through the rough MN winter without much trouble, which is no small feat for a torquey RWD roadster. Many top-down drifts were had. Treadlife seems to be even better than the old model - though I am a very aggressive driver and like to kick the tail out when I can, and usually get <10,000 miles per pair of rear tires - I put about 8-10k on these and the rears are still at half tread. My fronts look to be nearly new tread depth yet. Can't say enough good about these. They're worth it, and $500 is far better than your insurance increase when you rear-end someone in the winter by having subpar tires.

    Steven
    4.5
    Verified Customer
    Jul 11, 2018

    I only use general altimax arctics on all my vehicles. great snow traction and decent tread life.

    Michele Suzanne
    5
    Verified Customer
    Jul 11, 2018

    Bought snow ❄️ tires for the first time last winter. I have a front wheel vehicle so I put them on the front. I was very happy with their performance and price.

    Ryan
    4
    Verified Customer
    Jul 11, 2018

    Seriously some of the best winter tires end of story. I've had Perelli, Dunlop, Goodyear and these are hands down the best for the money. I've been in over a foot of unplowed Wisconsin snow and never had any issues in my 2003 CR-V. One thing that surprised me the most about these is how well they wear, I've put nearly 50,000 miles on them and they still have a fair amount of tread left. I cannot more highly recommend this tire. They're a little noisy as they wear but still a great tire.

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