The G-MAX AS-05 is General’s Ultra High Performance All-Season tire designed for the drivers of performance sedans, sports cars and sporty coupes looking for a tire that effectively blends performance handling in the dry and wet with confident traction in all seasons, including light snow.
General G-MAX AS-05
Utilizing an all-season compound molded into an aggressive, asymmetric tread pattern, the G-MAX AS-05 features SmartGrip Technology to combine sporty handling with all-season traction. Large, stable tread blocks on the outboard and inboard shoulders deliver high levels of grip for confident high-speed handling, and the strong center rib provides solid on-center feel and responsive steering. Wet traction is addressed through the tread’s high silica content, with four wide, circumferential grooves for increased hydroplaning resistance. Specifically designed block edges and strategic placement of tread sipes complete the all-season equation by creating the biting edges necessary for grip in wintry weather.
The G-MAX AS-05 features two-ply sidewall construction for improved handling responsiveness along with added durability. The casing supports two wide, high-strength steel belts, and a one- or two-ply polyamide reinforcement provides added strength for high-speed capabilities.
Founder at Tiresout. Used to be working as an engineer at Bridgestone Tires Akron Technical Center. The responsibilities included but were not limited to technical computing, indoor & outdoor testing of new tires.
I was initially very impressed and excited when I bought these tires. The handling is excellent both wet and dry, especially for the price, and the ride quality including noise and smoothness of ride was great as well. However, after over a year of ownership, I would definitely not buy these again. The duability of these tires is abysmal. My car was freshly aligned when these were installed, but the tread has worn down almost twice as fast as advertised. That’s terrible, but even worse is the sidewall durability for handling impacts like potholes. Even the smallest of potholes or rough roads will blow the sidewalls of these tires out. I have lost 5 tires to this in less than a year’s time! I am a car enthusiast and generally good at dodging potholes, but the reality is that you can’t miss them all in Detroit, and you can sit on the side of the road and watch lines of cars hit the same pothole that left you stranded. Thank goodness for the road hazard protection at TireRack. Don’t buy these tires unless your local roads are of the highest quality.
Best bang for the buck of all ultra-high performance all-season tires
An improvement in noise and ride over original equipment with no notasable loss of wet traction. Now that we have moved back to WI will be able to see how well snow conditions are handled. When I purchased these tires we were wintering in SC so I gave less weight to traction in snow. I grew up with bias ply tires so I am not to worried. (Although I did once throw out a set of Michilens with less than half wear because of the dangerously bad wet and snow traction)
I just bought my 3rd set of these tires which should speak volumes. I rated the mileage at 40K because that is what I got out of my old tires before I bought this most recent set that maybe has 100 miles on them. I love these tires. My rating is very honest in the fact that this tire, as is true for any tire doesn’t do everything perfectly. The handling and traction is supherb. The treadlife is very good. The ride is very tight to the road and therefore not always the smoothest ride but you don’t buy an “ultra high performance” tire if you just want to float down the highway. I highly recommend this tire. All that being said the price is really great too. I would buy this tire for any vehicle I own but it does have some limitations in sizes so it’s not always available for every car unfortunately.
Currently have spent a little over two years and approximately 20,000 miles on these tires. Car is a 2013 Ford CMAX Energi Plug-In Hybrid. Driving style is very average, 15 miles to work each way, combined city / highway driving. Generally dry, warm / hot conditions in Palm Springs, CA.I got these tires when they were still a newly launched model. For the first year and a half these were amazing tires. Super quiet, great stability / cornerning. A perfect tire. However, in the last 12 months the ride has hardened and noise increased. Also two of the tires have developed a persistent “thump-thump” / small vibration noticeable at speeds above 35 mph. Original Firestone installer and Costco have rebalanced the set but both stores determined two tires are “out-of-round.” Tires were beyond the warranty period so I’m still living with it, but am already looking for replacement tires.