General Altimax 365AW vs Radar Dimax 4 Season tires

In the tire industry, all-weather tires are one of the newer sub-categories and one that many drivers might need to be more familiar with. Is there a fundamental distinction between all-season tires (the most popular tire category) and all-weather tires? The difference is a pretty simple one; the tread designs, sipe patterns, tread formulations, shoulders, and internal construction of all-weather tires are all centered around delivering an edge in winter traction in snow and slush, which are the kind of conditions where many all-season tires fall short and can’t get the job done. Aside from that, all-weather tires are designed to check many of the boxes you’d expect for premium Grand Touring or all-season tires, meaning their handling properties, extended wear, low noise, stable road manners, and comfortable ride. All-weather tires might not come to quite the same level of traction in snow and slush as dedicated winter tires, but there’s also the fact that winter tires will wear quickly on warmer days and shouldn’t be used if temperatures are above 40-45 degrees F. That means drivers who use winter tires will have to have them mounted when winter gets rough, then removed and stored someplace until next winter - and that’s a headache that many drivers (understandably) just don’t want to deal with.

That gets us to today’s comparison piece, with the General Altimax 365AW going head-to-head against the Radar Dimax 4 Season. Both are capable all-weather tires with similarities and differences and are dependable for year-round performance, including traction in challenging winter weather. In this comparison, you’ll see us refer to the SimpleScore ratings of these tires. If you’re unfamiliar with it, SimpleScore was developed by our team at SimpleTire to give you a quick, at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We go through specs, customer reviews, and other data points and then distill that information into a numerical value from 1-10 for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall average SimpleScore for each tire. For the General Altimax 365AW and the Radar Dimax 4 Season, the SimpleScore ratings shake out as follows:

General Altimax 365 AW

• Traction: 8.7
• Handling: 8.7
• Longevity: 9.0
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.7

Radar Dimax 4 Season

• Traction: 8.0
• Handling: 7.8
• Longevity: 7.0
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.6

Those SimpleScore numbers are a handy guide, but they’re also a 30,000 foot view that doesn’t give you a more detailed idea of what these tires are all about. To get those kinds of insights and a good compare/contrast perspective, we need to zoom in for a closer look at this product comparison:

General Altimax 365AW tires

General designed the Altimax 365AW as a great one-tire solution for year-round traction and at a surprisingly affordable price. The Altimax 365AW is loaded with great features and innovations to give it that kind of versatility, along with handling and road manners that are crisp and precise and a refined and quiet ride. The Altimax 365AW has the tire industry’s 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) certification for severe winter service, thanks to a system of circumferential and lateral grooves that evacuate water and slush from the tire’s contact patch, angled tread blocks with open shoulders and unique sinusoidal sipes that multiply the tire’s surface area and traction with hundreds of biting edges to slice through snow and slush.

Rigidity is crucial to good handling and cornering, so a tire’s shoulders and tread can resist the inertia of hard maneuvers without deforming, and the Altimax 365AW links its lateral grooves and waved longitudinal grooves to boost that rigidity. The tread formulation of the Altimax 365AW is engineered to stay flexible and deliver traction in subfreezing weather when many all-season tires stiffen up and lose grip. It’s also a durable, long-wearing tread compound; General covers the Altimax 365AW with a 60,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. In addition, General equips their tires with wear indicators molded into the tread, revealing the words REPLACE TIRE SOON when tread depth has worn down to a safe minimum.

Radar Dimax 4 Season tires

Like the General Altimax 365AW, the Radar Dimax 4 Season is a 3PMSF-rated all-weather tire, but the two tires have some significant differences in design and performance. The Dimax 4 Season is designed with an asymmetrical all-weather tread that includes four circumferential grooves (including one with a serrated edge) and high-density lateral sipes for good winter traction and resistance to hydroplaning. It also features a run-flat design, with reinforced sidewalls that can support a vehicle’s weight and allow a driver to keep going up to another 50 miles at 50 mph even in the event of complete inflation pressure loss.

The tread formulation of the Dimax 4 Season is designed for flexibility at subfreezing temperatures without being so soft that it will wear quickly on hot days. The noise/vibration/harshness team at Radar has tuned and randomized the tread pattern of the Dimax 4 Season to neutralize certain frequencies and resonances, helping to ensure a quiet and comfortable ride on the highway.

General Altimax 365AW vs. Radar Dimax 4 Season tires on traction

How do the General Altimax 365AW and Radar Dimax 4 Season stack up against each other regarding traction? The General shows a SimpleScore of 8.7 in that category vs 8.0 for the Radar. Those are respectable numbers, but it show a clear advantage for the General Altimax 365AW. The General’s unique sinusoidal sipes and a system of circumferential and lateral grooves give this tire an edge on safe, dependable performance in snow and slush as well as on wet roads, the kind of performance that the Radar can’t match. Our call:

ADVANTAGE: General Altimax 365AW

General Altimax 365AW vs. Radar Dimax 4 Season tires on handling

The General comes out in the handling category with a SimpleScore of 8.7 vs. 7.8 for the Radar Dimax 4 Season. Reviews point to the Radar being sluggish on steering response and driver feedback and introducing more lean and understeer. Road manners and driver feedback are better with the General Altimax 365AW, and handling is more neutral and predictable around corners and during hard maneuvers.

ADVANTAGE: General Altimax 365AW

General Altimax 365AW vs. Radar Dimax 4 Season tires on longevity

This one’s pretty straightforward, too, although it does come with a bit of a caveat that we’ll get into in a second. The General gets a SimpleScore of 9.0 for longevity vs SimpleScore of 7.0 for the Radar. That’s quite a disparity, and the General has a 60,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty vs no no-mileage warranty for the Radar.

That being said, that lack of a mileage warranty is offset somewhat by the fact that the Radar has a run-flat design (something that’s becoming more common across all lines of tires). Many run-flat tires don’t offer a treadwear warranty, and run-flat technology gives drivers an added measure of peace of mind in knowing they’re safe if there’s ever a blowout or loss of inflation pressure. Still, our call is:

ADVANTAGE: General Altimax 365AW

When to use each

What is the weather like where you live? If you’re in a part of the country where you regularly see brutal winter weather that turns roads slick as a hockey rink and leaves a few inches of snow that lingers for days, all-weather tires like the General Altimax 365AW and Radar Dimax 4 Season would make great sense. They both have the 3PMSF rating, are designed for year-round performance, and represent a great balance of year-round traction and Grand Touring ride comfort and handling levels. They’re also affordable compared to tier-1 premium all-weather or all-season tires if that’s part of your buying decision.

Which one should you choose?

The Radar and the General come in at affordable prices – the Radar Dimax 4 Season starts at $102.96/tire vs $112.99/tire for the General. That makes them more affordable than you might expect, but we believe the Radar Dimax 4 is in second place in performance. As you can see from SimpleScore numbers, it’s lagging in all the categories – traction, handling, longevity, and overall average score – compared to the General Altimax 365AW, with more of a discrepancy in performance than that price spread would suggest. With that in mind, our recommendation would have to go to the General Altimax 365AW – especially considering its 60,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty; we feel the superior value between the two.

Still trying to decide which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help. Our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.