Topic: General Altimax acceptable for an SUV?

[aaronk]

Hi there,

A little late for a winter tire thread, but I put a new set of General Altimax snow tires on my car this year and I'm very impressed. We ran our 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe on factory all-seasons this winter, which turned out to be OK, but I would like to put on some snow tires next winter. I would like to get another set of these Altimax tires mounted on black rims, but are there load concerns with putting 'car tires' on an SUV? Where can I find more info on load ratings of these tires?

Thanks

[EV Dan]

On tirerack find Altimax for your vehicle, then click on its picture and then on the Specs tab. It will give you complete info for your selection.

[davidy]

I have P-rated General Altimax Arctic tires on my Ranger 4x4. Just ensure that the tire's load rating meets or exceeds your stock tire (see door jamb sticker).

Dave

[ktm525]

I ran them on my 02 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab which is sort of SUV like. A little squishy but they performed great.

[aaronk]

On tirerack find Altimax for your vehicle, then click on its picture and then on the Specs tab. It will give you complete info for your selection.

Hey great tip, thanks for all the responses. On TireRack the only spec I think that would apply would be "max load" and for that tire it reads 2,205 lbs. So if a 2010 Santa Fe V6 weighs roughly 4,100 lbs, what does that mean? So does 2,205 lbs/tire give a maximum of 4x that weight (4 tires)?

"Squishy" on the Ranger eh? Sometimes winters generally feel 'squishy' because of the softer tread, so I'm not sure if that's related to weight threshold or just the different compound/tread.

Any more thoughts are welcome, thanks again.

[ktm525]

On tirerack find Altimax for your vehicle, then click on its picture and then on the Specs tab. It will give you complete info for your selection.

Hey great tip, thanks for all the responses. On TireRack the only spec I think that would apply would be "max load" and for that tire it reads 2,205 lbs. So if a 2010 Santa Fe V6 weighs roughly 4,100 lbs, what does that mean? So does 2,205 lbs/tire give a maximum of 4x that weight (4 tires)?

"Squishy" on the Ranger eh? Sometimes winters generally feel 'squishy' because of the softer tread, so I'm not sure if that's related to weight threshold or just the different compound/tread.

Any more thoughts are welcome, thanks again.

Squishy on a Dakota Quad which had to be around 4800 lbs. Most was due to the deep tread. sidewall was ok.

[Angry Chicken]

On tirerack find Altimax for your vehicle, then click on its picture and then on the Specs tab. It will give you complete info for your selection.

Hey great tip, thanks for all the responses. On TireRack the only spec I think that would apply would be "max load" and for that tire it reads 2,205 lbs. So if a 2010 Santa Fe V6 weighs roughly 4,100 lbs, what does that mean? So does 2,205 lbs/tire give a maximum of 4x that weight (4 tires)?

"Squishy" on the Ranger eh? Sometimes winters generally feel 'squishy' because of the softer tread, so I'm not sure if that's related to weight threshold or just the different compound/tread.

Any more thoughts are welcome, thanks again.

The load rating is for that one tire so yes, the combined load rating would be 2,205 lb x 4 tires.  We have a Santa Fe, too (2007).  While it looks like a truck, it's really a big station wagon (I know, I used a bad word!) so unless you're hauling a ton or more of cargo inside the vehicle on a regular basis, passenger car tires are absolutely fine.  Mine are sized 235/70R16 btw and are on black steelies.

[aaronk]

Awesome! That's the advice I needed, thanks. That's interesting you went with 70/16's, I suppose that's an option for us too as our factory wheels were 65/17's. Do you find the ride to be 'vague' compared to the all-season or summer tires you use? I'm thinking if I go to such a thick sidewall there will be too much play in the corners.

[HeliDriver]

On tirerack find Altimax for your vehicle, then click on its picture and then on the Specs tab. It will give you complete info for your selection.

Hey great tip, thanks for all the responses. On TireRack the only spec I think that would apply would be "max load" and for that tire it reads 2,205 lbs. So if a 2010 Santa Fe V6 weighs roughly 4,100 lbs, what does that mean? So does 2,205 lbs/tire give a maximum of 4x that weight (4 tires)?

There is more to it than simply adding up the maximum load for all four tires and comparing it to the total weight of the vehicle. For one thing, the tire will only carry that maximum load of 2,205 lbs when inflated to the maximum pressure on the tire sidewall. At Hyundai's recommended pressure the tire's load capacity will be less.

What you want to be looking for in a new tire is to make sure the load index of the new tire is the same (or higher) than the OE tire. You can check the load index directly (Load Index), or you can make sure the new tires are also marked with a maximum load of 2,205 lbs or greater.

[Angry Chicken]

@helidriver:  fair enough, though the load capacity (and the load index, btw) scale to the volumnal capacity of the tire.  This means that a larger tire in the same model line of tire will have a greater load capacity with few exceptions.  It is unlikely that his OE tires have a greater load capacity than 2205 lb.  The bridgestone desert dueler II's that are OEM on my Santa Fe (size 235/60/18) are load capacity 2205 lb @ max inflation pressure with a load index of 103.  Seems pretty consistent, and a useful (but relative) guage for comparing tires and ensuring that they are not under capacity.  My Mazda3 is an example of an exception in that the 50-series winter tires are XL (eXtra Load) to make up for their relatively low volumnal capacity given their load carrying requirements on the corners of a 3200 lb car. 

I don't know where I heard it, but a good rule of thumb seems to be 2X the sprung weight for the corner of the vehicle where the tire is fitted.  This takes into account weight transfer due to cornering, braking and accelerating, as well as the extra mass of people and cargo (assuming that the GVWR for the vehicle is not exceeded). As you pointed out, it isn't that simple but you have to start soMewhere in your calculations.  The kind of use the vehicle will see (racing, business, pleasure, cargo) goes into it too.

To the OP:  I have found that there's no great discernible flex in the relatively tall sidewalls of my Hakkapeliitta SUV winter tires.  They ride hard anyway, and seem to be pretty stiff in the sidewall.  Not likely that I'll be auto-x'ng the wife's SUV anyway!  ;-)

[aaronk]

...
To the OP:  I have found that there's no great discernible flex in the relatively tall sidewalls of my Hakkapeliitta SUV winter tires.  They ride hard anyway, and seem to be pretty stiff in the sidewall.  Not likely that I'll be auto-x'ng the wife's SUV anyway!  ;-)

I'm glad you brought these up, these are still my first choice for next winter but they seem to be hard to find. A friend of mine has Hak's for his car and swears by them. Also interesting to hear your Santa Fe came with Bridgestone tires - ours came with horrible all-seasons, I think Kumho. No offense to those who use Kumho tires, but I think OEM equipment is probably the cheapest possible tire in this situation. They will be fine for warmer months but traction in winter was ZERO. I have run several brands of all-seasons through winter before (I know, I know, I'm a terrible motorist) and have never noticed a significant problem until we tried these things.

[Minou]

I went from OEM 235/65-17 to Continental Extreme Winter Contact 235/70-16 on steel wheels on my Santa Fe with no issue.  Load index is listed at 106 and one reason I chose the Contis is that this particular size is NOT labeled XL as I don't tow/carry heavy loads and am not interested in a harder riding winter tire because of the stiffer sidewall and cold weather.  But, if this is what you want and are looking for more payload, look around and a few brands are listed as XL in that size or OEM size too.  The Winter Contis 235/65-17 are actually listed XL and carry a load rating of 108 vs 103 for the Kumho OEM's.

No surprise to hear that your OEM Kumho's are crap in the winter, they're low friction fuel economy oriented 3 season tires for all I know.  I don't know where you are located but this is not the first time I read complaints from people very disappointed at the OEM's winter performance.

BTW, my Contis did great this winter and I recommend you check them out.  They ride well and silently on pavement and provided good traction on my FWD vehicle in the several storms I hit.  Driven with caution on snow, I didn't see the electronic nannies lights flashing often.  I sometimes had to push it a bit more to see that they were actually working.

[Angry Chicken]

...
To the OP:  I have found that there's no great discernible flex in the relatively tall sidewalls of my Hakkapeliitta SUV winter tires.  They ride hard anyway, and seem to be pretty stiff in the sidewall.  Not likely that I'll be auto-x'ng the wife's SUV anyway!  ;-)

I'm glad you brought these up, these are still my first choice for next winter but they seem to be hard to find. A friend of mine has Hak's for his car and swears by them. Also interesting to hear your Santa Fe came with Bridgestone tires - ours came with horrible all-seasons, I think Kumho. No offense to those who use Kumho tires, but I think OEM equipment is probably the cheapest possible tire in this situation. They will be fine for warmer months but traction in winter was ZERO. I have run several brands of all-seasons through winter before (I know, I know, I'm a terrible motorist) and have never noticed a significant problem until we tried these things.

My Haks have become quite growly but his was due to an alignment issue on the Santa Fe.  It caused the tires to get rather badly step-worn.  I was considering replacing the 2 front tires since the sound was driving me batty but the lease is up in another couple of months and I thought I'd grin and bear it.  Had I chosen to replace the tires, high on my list was the General Arctic Altimax.  I understand (I hope I'm not perpetuating a myth here) that they are identical to the Swedish tire, the Gislaved NordFrost 3...General having acquired Gislaved.  If this is the case, these are an excellent tire choice and have ranked consistently high in European tire tests.  I believe there's a thread on them here in this forum.  Might be worth searching around.