The General Tyre Altimax range was launched in South Africa 2015
Following the launch of the General Tyre Grabber series – 4×4 market – comes the General Tyre Altimax for passenger cars. To introduce the new tyre, we were invited to Gerotek to experience the superior performance and stability of the Altimax tyres compared to cheaper brands.
Now firstly I must state that I am always sceptical about these tests so I immediately grabbed the pressure gauge. All of the tyres were set to 3.5bar. Why so high? This was done purposefully to place higher demands on the tyres and thereby make any faults or weaknesses more apparent. Since this was the case for all tyres, no crooked business here.
Introduced in 1915, General Tyres are known for performance, reliability and heritage. In 1955 General Tyre was appointed OE supplier to GM vehicles and four years later established the largest tyre testing facility of its time. General Tyres form part of the Continental brand but targeted at a more price conscious market – positioned below OE tyres but still offer similar handling. General Tyres are put through the same processes as Continental tyres, meaning stringent standards are met.
Currently available is the General Tyre Altimax Comfort (13-15 inch) and the Altimax Sport (16-18 inch.) The Altimax Sport is distinguished by its open shoulder blocks and wide circumferential grooves. These assist with dispersion, reliability and rolling resistance. Other notable innovations for the General Tyre Altimax range are the Vehicle Alignment Indicator which allows customers to monitor the vehicle’s wheel alignment through visible markings on the tyre. A Replacement Tyre Monitor will clearly display ‘Replace Tyre’ when tread wears to below 3mm.
In a local market where cheap Asian import tyres account for 40 per cent of the market, the guys at General Tyres were understandably keen to show us the differences between the Altimax Sport and a cheaper competitor – still SABS approved and sold through major retail channels. Two tests were set out; a wet dynamic track and a reconstructed aquaplane scenario. On the cheaper tyre the car handled unpredictably; traction varied from oversteer to understeer to four-wheel slide. In the aquaplane test, cars fitted with the cheaper tyre displayed lairy shifts in balance and the car battled to hold the intended line. With General Tyre Altimax Sport fitted, grip levels were far higher, more consistent and neutral. Around the 500 metre wet handling track, cars fitted with Altimax Sport were on average two seconds quicker.
As mentioned earlier, I rarely believe such results but this was by far the best demonstration I’ve ever seen. The difference between the cheap tyre and General Tyre range could literally come down to life or death. And what’s R300 more per tyre over the course of say 40 000km when we put that money into the fuel tank for a fraction of the mileage?
