Considering how many light trucks, SUVs, and crossovers there are on the roads, it’s no surprise that all-terrain tires are a pretty big segment of the tire market. After all, if you’ve got a vehicle that’s equipped with four-wheel-drive (4WD) or all-wheel-drive (AWD) and you go off the pavement even occasionally, the best way to get the most out of your vehicle’s traction and control is with a set of all-terrain tires.

All-terrain tires have come a long way since the heavy, noisy, clumsy all-terrains of a generation ago. The best all-terrain tires today can offer a perfect balance of capable off-road traction and durability, along with ride quality, noise levels, handling, and road manners on the pavement that are more like what you’d expect from an all-season or Grand Touring passenger tire. The Grabber A/T Sport from General is designed to check all those boxes, as a tire that’s equally at home on a boulevard the Interstate, or a tough ranch road. Let’s get in there and get a closer look at what this tire has to offer with this General Grabber A/T Sport tire review:

Features and Benefits

When it comes to the General Grabber A/T Sport, this is a tire that has a lot to like. Here are some of the design features and innovations that the General Grabber A/T Sport brings to the game:

• General Tire’s Duragen design package gives the Grabber A/T Sport exceptional durability and stability
• Aggressive all-terrain tread with a staggered lug pattern
• Heavy-duty tread formulation resists cuts, punctures, abrasions, premature wear
• Wide grooves are designed to easily shed mud, gravel, and debris, protecting the casing against damage and ensuring there’s always a clear section of the tread to dig in as the wheel turns
• Notched shoulders with lugs that extend down onto the sidewall, enhancing lateral grip for cornering control and clawing out of ruts
• Tread footprint is optimized to put the most rubber in contact with the road for improved braking, handling, wear properties, and control
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to keep road noise low by negating certain frequencies and overtones
• Grip in wet or wintry conditions gets a boost from the Grabber A/T Sport’s network of sipes, hundreds of hair-thin edges that multiply traction by chewing and slicing through snow and slush
• Initial tread depth 11/32” for exceptional traction, long wear
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service
• Internal construction includes a polyester casing with a high-tensile steel belt package and nylon cap ply for added stability

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Durable, consistent performance off the pavement and good grip in snow, mud, gravel, loose dirt
• Ride quality and handling on the pavement are capable, composed, and predictable
• Low noise on pavement

CONS:

• Not good in heavier mud
• Not good for aired-down rock crawling use
• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

SimpleTire’s view on General Grabber A/T Sport tires

Here at the SimpleTire team, we’ve been pretty impressed with everything from the General Tire lineup so far, and the General Grabber A/T Sport is no exception.

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary rating system that was developed by the SimpleTire team to give you an easy overview of any tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s technical details, manufacturer’s information, specs, customer reviews, and other data points, and then we process all that to a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and durability, along with an overall average SimpleScore number. For the General Grabber A/T Sport, the SimpleScore ratings break down this way:

General Grabber A/T Sport:

• Traction: 8.4
• Handling: 8.2
• Longevity: 7.8
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.1

The Grabber A/T Sport is designed and constructed with General Tire’s Duragen package, an entire design suite that includes:

• Ultra-high-strength steel belts, a package of steel cord that’s strong enough to lift a 7,000 lb vehicle
• Microfiber 3-ply casing that’s up to 18% stronger than competitors
• Broad casing contour puts more rubber on the ground with a fatter footprint
• Stone bumpers built into tread grooves to easily shed debris from the tread
• General’s Replace Tire Soon monitor is molded into the tread so it’s only exposed when the tread reaches a minimum depth
• Traction notches built into the tread for added performance in mud, snow, loose dirt
• Comfort Balance Technology, an added layer in the tread plies that are designed specifically to soak up vibrations, impacts, and roughness before passengers can feel them

That all adds up to a very durable and competent tire for challenging off-road conditions as well as performance on pavement that’s refined and civilized. The Grabber A/T’s five-row tread block arrangement means contact in every direction and at several distinct points in the tire’s footprint for aggressive grip and control in mud, sand, loose dirt, gravel, or snow. Its alternating shoulder scoops enhance lateral grip and control in unforgiving terrain and soft surfaces as well as on the highway.

Ride quality is pretty supple with this tire, although it can be a little firm (but still controlled) on irregular pavement surfaces. The steering response is nimble and quick, with straight-line stability at highway speed that’s solid and sedate with little need for constant tweaks and correction. In the corners or on curvy roads and onramps, the Grabber A/T Sport exhibits few vices and shows handling that’s accurate and predictable, although it might not be up to what you’d expect from a performance tire.

With the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certification (a rating that certifies a tire as meeting or exceeding the Rubber Manufacturer Association’s requirement for traction in deeper snow and winter weather), the General is confident in winter conditions, and its durable, damage-resistant tread compound is designed to stay flexible and go on delivering traction even in subfreezing weather. All in all, it’s our take here at the SimpleTire team that the Grabber A/T Sport from General is a near-perfect split of quality, value, and performance either on or off the pavement, and its aggressive look is a great addition to just about any light truck or SUV.

Vehicles the General Grabber A/T Sport is a good replacement tire for

While the General Grabber A/T Sport isn’t featured as OEM on any vehicles, it would make a great aftermarket replacement tire on light trucks and SUVs such as:

• Ford Explorer
• Ford Escape
• Ford Freestyle
• Jeep Wrangler
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Ford Bronco
• Ford Ranger
• Ford Maverick
• Ford Expedition
• Jeep Compass
• Chevrolet Traverse
• Buick Rainier
• Nissan Murano
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Toyota RAV4
• Toyota 4Runner
• Honda CR-V
• Honda Ridgeline
• Honda Pilot
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Chevrolet Equinox
• GMC Acadian
• Dodge Durango
• RAM 1500
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• GMC Yukon
• Kia Sorento
• Kia Telluride
• Kia Sportage
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Hyundai Tucson
• Hyundai Palisade
• Hyundai Santa Cruz
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Volkswagen Atlas
• Volkswagen Taos
• Mazda CX-5
• Mazda CX-3
• Mazda CX-9
• Mazda CX-50