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

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