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Tires - General Altimax RT43 - All season.

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by rjdriver, Dec 31, 2015.

  1. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    Anyone had any experience with these? For an all season tire, they seem to have an unusually good rating in the snow, and an excellent rating overall, combined with a nice tread life rating of 75,000 miles. Sounds like the holy grail of all season goodness to me. And this has come from both professional and user reviews. The price is right as well.

    Have been riding on the amazing X ice 3s in the winter, and the stock Bridgestones the rest of the year. But if I can avoid the tire change, it would be nice.
     
    #1 rjdriver, Dec 31, 2015
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2016
  2. minkus

    minkus Active Member

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    Tirerack ratings, for reference.

    One note is that they're not low rolling resistance tires, so your mpgs will likely suffer when there's no snow, but you'll save on snow tires and in snowy weather.
     
  3. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    I made the leap. Bought a set of these last Friday. So far, they seem a little noisier than I expected, but no more than the Winter tires I was riding on. Depends on the surface. Well worn asphalt or cement is louder than fresh asphalt. Gas mileage on first day of commute (today) was close to where it normally is: 55 mpg. Will need to get more trips under my belt to establish an average, and see if the lack of LLR will make a difference. The X Ice 3s didn't seem to effect my mileage much, so I don't expect these will either.

    Ride and handling is smooth, sure, and predictable on dry pavement. Will report back after I get more varied conditions to play with. Continental (General's owner) had to cut corners somewhere to get a tire with such good ratings on the market at such a low price. Will take some time to find out where.
     
  4. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Any update on these. I am considering them for my '08 Prius. If I read correctly, despite not being LRR, they get good mpg -- comparable to the Conti True Contact, which is LRR
     
  5. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Wife can't want, so went ahead and ordered the General Altimax RT43 for her 2008 Prius. $335 total cost (which includes a rebate, which I may or may not see). Seems to be an awesome price -- $130 less than the conti I was considering.
     
  6. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    A little too early to report on snow performance (reason I bought them), and only a few 1000 miles, but on dry and wet roads they are good tires. They are not the best tires I have driven for plowing through standing water. There was a now discontinued Bridgestone Turanza that was the king at that. But these will do. There is some hi speed vibration. Will see how that fares after first rotation.

    Will advise on snow in a few months.
     
  7. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    But as far as gas mileage goes, I notice no real difference from previous tires, either Winter Xice 3s which were not LLR or stock Bridgestone Turanzas which were.
     
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  8. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Well have driven just over 50 miles on the General Altimax Rt43 (T-rated) and they are getting exactly the same mpg as the Goodyear Fuelmax that they replaced (46.6) and about 3 mpg better than the other two tires I previously had on the car -- both of which were LRR.

    Running at the Toyota factory specified PSI. Handling, well, I have only gone 50 miles, mix of highway and urban. While these are not rated as LRR tires, they are doing pretty well so far.
     
    #8 Stevewoods, Sep 11, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    so, is this whole lrr thing bogus?
     
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  10. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    I really don't know, Bisco (look at my avatar).

    I do know that Continental's True Contact, on TireRack testing gets 0.3 better mpg than the General Altimax RT43. The Conti is LRR, the General is not. General is owned by Continental, by the way.

    Looking on tire rack at their tests of each tire, in the exact same BMW sedan, the General hit 32.3 mpg and the Cont hit 32.6 mpg.

    The Altimax is costing me $335 -- the True Contact would cost me $470.

    I have not researched enough to know why/how tire makers decide to proclaim a tire is LRR. Is it a bit like all the supermarket products that proclaim to be "natural," which really does not mean anything?

    Or do they have to meet some standard -- and who decides if they meet that standard. Is it like the UTQG (Temperature A, Traction A, Treadwear 700), which is basically decided by the maker?

    Interesting questions? I do know that I was considering the True Contact, but when I saw the $ difference as well as the mpg figures, for me, the General was the choice -- I mean 0.3 difference in mpg....

    Anyway, an LRR -- what does it really mean -- thread might be a good idea. But, knowing this forum, there probably is one around somewhere already.
     
    #10 Stevewoods, Sep 11, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't recall ever reading the definition. let me try doc google.

    update: u.s. dept of energy, alternative fuels data center. 3 gov agencies have been tasked with developing regulations for passenger vehicle tire fuel efficiency standards by december 2017. with some exceptions.
     
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  12. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    Good research! I poked around a bit but did not find anything that said anything!

    So, all these tire posts on PriusChat are relying on LRR ratings, which, apparently do not necessarily mean anything??

    Is that what I am seeing. WOW!

    When looking for a new tire, I went by the TireRack review of the tire's performance on the track, as well as by the comments by actual buyers before I decided on the RT43. Threw out the $500-plus tires.

    Sort of glad I went with the General tire now. I may regret it later, but the Goodyear FuelMax it replaces was no stellar performer.

    Having said that, there was the Goodyear TripleTred on my Camry and that tire is pretty awesome, but it is now in the $500 plus range, so as a replacement -- you guessed it-- RT43.

    The ratings on the RT are impressive for a tire that costs so little -- well, sort of little.
     
    #12 Stevewoods, Sep 11, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
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  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    interestingly, the gov dot site links tire rack. so mfg.'s are doing their own testing for now, and tyre rack is testing, but they can't define the term. i guess we'll just have to wait. there was also a c/r article that said lab testing and real world weren't necessarily compatible.
     
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  14. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    This is like the tire world's dirty little secret!!!!
     
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    they are like mattresses.
     
  16. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    Good thread, fellas. LRR tires bogus? Misleading? Marketing ploy? Just plain bunk? (Reminds me of the 2016 Prius Two "Eco" model... but don't get me started on that! My Three gets just as good gas mileage, or better.)

    I agree, I don't think the "LRR" tires are all that their hyped-up to be. Gas mileage improvement, if any, might be just minimal? Or none.
    There are hundreds of articles and various opinions on the internet about LRR tires.
    What You Need To Know About Low-Rolling-Resistance Tires on Edmunds.com

    I don't think I will buy a new tire based on if it's "LRR", or not. Like everybody else, I just want a good tire that performs decently under various conditions. Wet, dry, braking, ride, noise.
     
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    dot gov said all new vehicles come with lrr tyres, but after market purchases weren't regulated yet.
     
  18. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    I have gone from the LLRs that came on the car 4 years ago to Winter tires which were not LLR and now to the RT 43 which are also not LLR, and haven't seen enough difference in mileage to be worth noting. Perhaps in certain conditions there might be. But based on what bisco and Stevewoods have uncovered it's like the word "natural" to describe a food. No regulation. No government standard (yet). Pretty much a tire manufacture's marketing dream at this point. "Hey Stan, shall we call our new tire an LLR? Why not Bob. No one knows what that is anyway."
     
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  19. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    TireRack says they're LRR:

    Michelin X-Ice Xi3

    I'm sure LRR snow tires are not in same league as an all season LRR. Also, the definition is very loose and wide. Just curious: were your snow mounted on separate rims? Reading between the lines I think not. If they're loose tires, consider getting some corolla steel rims or similar, get them mounted. Makes swaps much easier, easier on your oem rims.
     
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  20. Coast Cruiser

    Coast Cruiser Senior Member

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    So do you guys believe there really is such a thing as LRR tires? Or is it just a "name" a tire company slaps on there (and a few more PSI, as in the Two Eco's case.) What is the actual "physical" difference between a LRR tire and a standard all-season tire? Any MPG difference?

    The same Dunlop tire I saw on the Two Eco, was also on regular Two models, and Threes, and a couple of Four models. (They just increase the PSI on the Eco model. What a crock.)