June 27, 2022
Grand Touring All-Season tires continue to be many drivers’ go-to choice for capable year-round traction, luxury, and long tread life. However, not all tires in this category focus on the same mix of traits, and manufacturers are tasked with blending these qualities based on available technologies and, of course, cost. Each tire in this test seems to have positioned itself smartly in the marketplace by aiming to offer pleasing amounts of ride and noise comfort, appropriate levels of traction, and a focus on longer tread life at a solid value for consumers.
The Cooper Endeavor is a recent addition to the category and is currently untested in the space. It’s designed to deliver a practical blend of comfort, handling, and durability for the daily drive. The tire’s high sipe density creates ample biting edges to maintain grip in inclement weather. Optimized construction and a carefully engineered tread pattern reduce noise and evenly distributes contact pressure.
The General AltiMAX RT45 replaces its venerable predecessor as one of the latest Grand Touring All-Season releases. The AltiMAX RT45 leverages a familiar formula with its symmetric tread design built with robust interlocking elements, large circumferential grooves, and a durable compound.
With these two newcomers seemingly checking all the right boxes, at least on paper, our team set out to test them against two similar competitors that they’ll most likely be compared to when drivers are replacing tires. The BFGoodrich Advantage Control brings some advanced technologies to the table designed to satisfy consumers on their everyday drive. The Vredestein HiTrac All Season will also serve as a strong benchmark in this test, with its previously impressive test performance and strong consumer rating. To find out how they compare, our evaluation used 2022 Subaru BRZ Limited test vehicles fitted with new, full tread depth 225/45R17 tires mounted on 17x8.0 wheels.
Our 6.0-mile loop of expressway, state highway and county roads provides a great variety of road conditions that include city and highway speeds, smooth and coarse concrete, as well as new and patched asphalt. This route allows our team to experience noise comfort, ride quality and everyday handling, just as you would during your drive to school or work.
On-road performance during the daily drive is no doubt a large influencer in a customer’s decision when purchasing a touring tire. The requisite smooth, quiet ride might even be the highest priority for the daily drive or on a long road trip, so our team expected each tire to excel in the on-road portion of our testing. The HiTrac All Season established itself as the subjective leader of the test with very nice ride quality and noise comfort. Our team was impressed with its comfortable and succinct, well-damped ride that soaked up the rougher portions of pavement along our route with relative ease. While some mild resonance over concrete was present, overall, tire noise was well mitigated, mostly consistent, and only mid-volume. The Endeavor also delivered some of the best noise attributes of the test with its mostly blended tones that managed to fade into the background. The Endeavor did seem to absorb most of the resonance over the cross-cut concrete, which was an impressive feat on the surface at highway speeds. Perhaps the feather in the Cooper’s cap was its crisp, responsive handling that felt right at home at all speeds along the test route. Its minimal dead spot on-center resulted in well-metered, small inputs at highway speeds which maintained their consistency at lower speeds along the local roads. The General AltiMAX RT45 also had nicely weighted steering and a natural buildup of effort with inputs that our team appreciated. It was also mostly comfortable over the larger impacts along our route but transmitted more of the smaller road imperfections. The AltiMAX RT45 generated a little more tread noise than the others with some lower pitched grinds that combined with higher pitched whines that stood out at times for our team. While still fine for a touring tire, it was noticeable after driving the group back-to-back. The BFGoodrich Advantage Control rounded out the on-road portion of our test with a compliant ride over bumps, but it lacked some damping after the impact, which could feel discomposed at times. Tire noise was also a complaint from our drivers, with noticeable tread interaction that changed pitch with speed along with several multi-toned harmonics over most surfaces. Combined with the tire’s vague steering, particularly when loaded, the Advantage Control seemed to miss some of the refinement found with the other tires in the test.
Our 1/3-mile per lap test track course includes 90-degree street corners, a five-cone slalom and simulated expressway ramps. Run in both dry and wet conditions, the test track allows our team to experience the traction, responsiveness, handling, and drivability normally only encountered during abrupt emergency avoidance maneuvers or competition events.
Road trips and commutes aren’t always sunny and pleasant, and with safety in mind, it’s obvious why many drivers put a heavy emphasis on wet traction and stability. Based on our wet testing, the HiTrac All Season has what it takes, and then some, to satisfy drivers on wet roads. With braking from fifty miles per hour bringing the car to a stop twenty-six feet before its closest competitor, the Vredestein established its wet braking advantage quickly. Its lateral traction advantage was similarly untouchable by the rest of the group, and subsequently, laps were dramatically quicker around our course. The team happily readjusted their driving style due to the additional traction each time they got into the HiTrac All Season, and while they would have liked some slightly more responsive steering, the Vredestein was a clear subjective favorite. The Cooper Endeavor continued to provide its sporty steering on the track, which was satisfying in the slalom and faster corners. Our team would have liked more overall traction to back up the tire’s sporty demeanor. The extended braking distances made it feel particularly unbalanced. The General AltiMAX RT45 struggled with a similar lack of traction but suffered from somewhat vague steering and a tendency to quickly spin up the rear tires and kick the rear axle out of line, limiting acceleration out of corners. The BFGoodrich Advantage Control found itself behind the group in objective braking and lateral traction with a lack of precision that wasn’t conducive to sporty laps. However, the Advantage Control did communicate its modest levels of traction well, which was missing from some of the other tires in the test. This resulted in more consistent laps that were a step quicker than their less balanced counterparts. While still a massive leap behind the leader, our team found its balance admirable, even if the overall experience could be frustrating at times.
Dry lapping around a track is certainly not the primary focus of Grand Touring All-Season tires, but it still let our team decipher the difference in more aggressive handling traits outside the scope of the daily drive. In the dry, the HiTrac All Season found its objective traction advantage had mostly disappeared, but its ability to blend inputs and maximize its available traction remained. Laps were precise and consistent and ultimately, the quickest once again. The AltiMAX RT45 made up for a slight lateral traction deficit by responding well to larger inputs. While steering required constant inputs to keep it in the sweet spot, the General felt athletic through the corners even if it lacked some finesse. The Endeavor’s responsive front end once again helped our drivers manage the slalom with ease, but it tended to overwhelm the traction in the tighter corners for moments of disappointing understeer. The Advantage Control rounded out the group in the dry with slower response that demanded the driver stay within its window of traction or suffer the consequences.
Snow and ice are some of the least predictable conditions a driver can face, and understanding the strengths and limitations of your tires is crucial information when inclement weather strikes. This was a competitive test, with differences emerging for each tire, and objective and subjective scores remained very close.
The AltiMAX RT45 displayed group-leading snow acceleration and stopping distance thanks to confident straight-line traction. While on the track, it provided very usable lateral traction in the corners and turned in lap times on par with its peers. Vredestein’s HiTrac All-Season once again impressed in difficult situations among this group, just edging out General’s entry among our team’s impressions of its lateral cornering. Our testers felt they could push the HiTrac All-Season just a little harder and a little further than the other tires. Although the loss of traction felt abrupt, it recovered nicely, which would be reassuring for drivers if they need to make hard corrections in the snow. The Advantage Control performed adequately, with very respectable acceleration and braking times in the snow that were ahead of Vredestein and just behind the AltiMAX RT45. However, steering felt numb in the snow, not as sporty or responsive as the others, though it again proved to be predictable and communicated with the driver when it was losing traction, even if it was slow to recover. Cooper’s Endeavor, a fun and sporty tire in the other conditions, found itself once again struggling to find traction. Despite staying in line with the Vredestein in stopping distance and only slightly slower in acceleration, the Endeavor’s ability to hold traction during sudden steering felt knife-edged to our testers: suddenly there and suddenly gone.
On the ice, the General again held its ground, leading the group in acceleration and braking on the slickest of surfaces. The Vredestein recovered some ground here, staying very close to the AltiMAX RT45 in both categories, for a reliable alternative on ice. The Advantage Control sauntered its way behind the Vredestein in acceleration, but the BFGoodrich tire’s leisurely approach extended to its braking, which finished last in our testing. Cooper inverted these figures, being slow to find longitudinal speed on the ice, but impressively halted in the second-shortest distance of the group.
Each tire in our test offers a competitive value that should satisfy street drivers with reliable tread life and traction. The Vredestein HiTrac All Season is an impressive combination of pleasant road manners with excellent traction in nearly every environment we tested. By excelling in both, the HiTrac All Season is our team’s overall favorite on both the road and track. The Cooper Endeavor is also a strong package that impresses almost equally on the street as the Vredestein, but when pushed, gives up some ultimate traction compared to the other tires in most conditions. Its sharp, natural, and responsive steering is a nice addition to the road and complements the tire’s test-leading noise comfort. The General AltiMAX RT45 is an apple that doesn’t fall too far from the tree, and that’s a good thing. It’s a worthy successor to its predecessor, with solid on-road performance alongside wet and dry traction on par with its competition. Where the AltiMAX RT45 truly shines is in winter performance, taking top marks in nearly every objective test, combining reliable snow and ice traction at speed with stopping power. The BFGoodrich Advantage Control is a compliant option for the street but sacrifices some composure and noise comfort at times. Its predictable handling at the limit is commendable if drivers find themselves in emergency maneuvers and shouldn’t be overlooked as faint praise.
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