Skip to content
Head-to-head Updated September 2026

Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS vs General AltiMAX RT43 — Compared (September 2026)

Our Relative Score blends 60% objective test data with 40% owner-review signal — so any two tires can be compared even if they were never tested on the same day.

Tire A Dunlop

Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS

All Season Premium Touring tires

Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS tread pattern
Objective (60%)
–/100
No test data yet
User signal (40%)
73/100
16 owner reviews
Dry
90
Wet
83
Snow
50
Comfort
88
Noise
–
Treadwear
82
Handling
95

Prices change daily — check the retailer for your size.

VS
Tire B General

General AltiMAX RT43

All Season Premium Touring tires

General AltiMAX RT43 tread pattern
Objective (60%)
–/100
No test data yet
User signal (40%)
92/100
817 owner reviews
Dry
95
Wet
91
Snow
65
Comfort
92
Noise
90
Treadwear
89
Handling
93

Prices change daily — check the retailer for your size.

VerdictWinner: General AltiMAX RT43 — better snow, wet and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.
Read full

TireWheelGuide may earn a commission from purchases made via links on this page.

Category breakdown

7 categories, side by side

Each bar is the Relative Score for that category. Expand a tile to see the test results and owner ratings behind it.

Dry

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) AltiMAX RT43 leads by 5
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
90
B — General AltiMAX RT43
95
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 92 75
America's Tire owners – 96

Wet

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) AltiMAX RT43 leads by 8
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
83
B — General AltiMAX RT43
91
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 82 73
America's Tire owners – 92

Snow

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) AltiMAX RT43 leads by 15
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
50
B — General AltiMAX RT43
65
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 50 65

Comfort

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) AltiMAX RT43 leads by 4
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
88
B — General AltiMAX RT43
92
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 97 67
America's Tire owners – 92

Noise

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100)
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
–
B — General AltiMAX RT43
90
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
America's Tire owners – 90

Treadwear

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) AltiMAX RT43 leads by 7
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
82
B — General AltiMAX RT43
89
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 97 76
America's Tire owners – 89

Handling

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) SP Sport 01 AS leads by 2
A — Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
95
B — General AltiMAX RT43
93
Why this score
SourceSP Sport 01 ASAltiMAX RT43
Tyre Reviews owners 95 67
America's Tire owners – 93

Scores at a glance

Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS vs General AltiMAX RT43: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryDunlop SP Sport 01 ASGeneral AltiMAX RT43
Relative Score 82 88
Dry 90 95
Wet 83 91
Snow 50 65
Comfort 88 92
Noise – 90
Treadwear 82 89
Handling 95 93

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Personalize

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Neutral
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Important
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Neutral
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Neutral
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Neutral
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Important
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Neutral
NoneLessNeutralMoreMost
Recomputed
Headline score

Tire A

Tire B

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

From owners

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews across retailers and review sites — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS

The Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS is generally regarded as a high-performance tire that excels in ride comfort, cabin quietness, and dry-weather handling. While many users praise its refined road manners and surprising capability in varied conditions, the consensus is heavily tempered by concerns regarding rapid tread wear and inconsistent performance under high-torque applications.

Pros

  • Exceptional ride comfort and low noise levels
  • Strong dry-weather grip and handling precision
  • Surprising all-season capability, including performance in snow
  • Superior longevity compared to some competing high-performance OEM tires

Cons

  • Rapid tread wear, particularly on high-performance vehicles
  • Poor traction and stability under high-torque, high-horsepower acceleration
  • Vulnerability to sidewall damage
  • High replacement cost relative to tread life

Observations

  • High-horsepower vehicles, such as the C63s AMG, struggle with traction, suggesting the tire is ill-suited for extreme torque outputs.
  • Owners of luxury cruisers like the Lexus SC430 appreciate the stiff sidewall construction for maintaining tracking stability and handling precision.
Tire B General AltiMAX RT43

The General Altimax RT43 is widely regarded as a high-value, versatile all-season touring tire that excels in providing a comfortable, quiet ride and reliable traction across varied weather conditions. While the vast majority of users praise its longevity and performance-to-price ratio, a small subset of reviewers report inconsistent manufacturing quality, such as balancing issues or premature sidewall failure.

Pros

  • Exceptional value for the price point compared to premium brands.
  • Strong wet and light-to-moderate snow traction.
  • Quiet and comfortable ride quality.
  • Impressive tread life and durability, even on gravel roads.

Cons

  • Occasional reports of balancing difficulties and vibration issues.
  • Some users noted a decline in snow performance as the tread wears down.
  • Isolated reports of sidewall failures or premature tread separation.
  • Softer sidewalls can lead to a less responsive feel during aggressive cornering.

Observations

  • Owners of minivans and SUVs (e.g., Sienna, Odyssey, RAV4) frequently report significant improvements in ride comfort and noise reduction over OEM tires.
  • Subaru owners noted the tire handles well in varied terrain, though some performance-oriented drivers find the sidewalls too soft for spirited driving.
  • Users with high-mileage commutes appreciate the tire's longevity, though some noted a slight decrease in fuel efficiency compared to dedicated low-rolling-resistance tires.
Community buzz

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

General AltiMAX RT43

Positive

The General Altimax RT43 is widely praised by the community as an exceptional value-for-money all-season touring tire, often compared favorably to more expensive premium brands like Michelin. Users frequently highlight its strong wet-weather performance, solid tread life, and affordability, though some note it can become slightly noisier as it wears down.

r/TeslaModel3 ·6 upvotes ·2020-01-02

“Replacement tires I have about 25k miles on my original tires (LR AWD, 18” Aeros) and evening though I have rotated then every 6-7000, I am not going to make it past 30k. So, anyone have any recommendations for replacements? Should I go for the standard Michelin’s? Anyone used anything else? For the record, Ian not concerned with the foam and road noise is fine. I’d like something less expensive, longer wearing, or both, without sacrificing much in the way of performance. For my usage, wet weather handling is more important than high performance. I drive it hard occasionally, but I am most concerned with how it performs on day-to-day commute and driving. (70 mile commute, round trip, 3-days/week). Thanks. Edit: thanks for the info everyone. I talked to my local tire guy and he recommended General Altimax RT43s. He also said the sound dampening foam is mostly a gimmick (which is what I suspected). He quoted me $198 (his prices include EVERYTHING). I could get them from Tire Rack for $152 and local install for $30 + 3 (disposal) which would save me a mere $13 per tire. But based on past experience with this tire shop, it is easily worth the extra $13 for convenience and peace of mind if I need flat repair or warranty claims. Related to that, he said the RT43 is a 60k tire but I should only expect 40-50 on my Model 3 and at best a $15 credit per tire. Frankly, I’d be happy with 40k. Probably going to keep the current rubber for another month, then get the Generals.”

r/CX5 ·2 upvotes ·2026-03-18

“Anyone running General RT45? Looking to replace the shitastic Toyo A36 on my 2023 PP that I just picked up. Was going to try to make them last until fall, but having picked a screw in one, im probably going to bite the bullet and change them now. I ran the RT43 on both my NA Miata as well as my 5-GT and was happy with them. Tire Rack is running a $140 rebate on a set of 4 right now. Just curious as to people's thoughts. Or, should I just bite the bullet and go with Continental Cross Contacts? Read more”

r/tires ·1 upvote ·2026-08-25

“I have general grabbers on my vanagon and they just don’t wear. I had rt43s on a Tiguan before and they had 4/32nds left at around 60k miles”

r/tires ·1 upvote ·2026-08-25

“I had great luck with 2 sets of the RT43s years back. The only my comment was they were a little less grippy than other tires for high G lateral forces. IE taking curves WAY above intelligent speeds. Otherwise, they were sure footed in any other situation. Including incliment weather.”

Top themes
#value for money#wet weather performance#tread life durability#comparison with michelin#winter and snow traction#road noise and comfort#successor rt45 transition

Based on 38 community posts

Specifications

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS B · General AltiMAX RT43
CategoryAll Season Premium Touring tiresAll Season Premium Touring tires
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Tread depth—10 - 12/32″
UTQG—600 - 700 A A - B
Sidewall—Black Side Wall - Raised Outline White Lettering
Max pressure—44 - 51 psi
Final verdict

Which one should you actually buy?

Dunlop

General

Winner: General AltiMAX RT43 — better snow, wet and treadwear. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire B You drive through snowy winters

General AltiMAX RT43 scores 65 vs 50 on snow.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

General AltiMAX RT43 scores 91 vs 83 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

General AltiMAX RT43 scores 89 vs 82 on treadwear.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

General AltiMAX RT43 scores 95 vs 90 on dry.

Tire A · Dunlop SP Sport 01 AS
Tire B · General AltiMAX RT43

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements) normalized against the best tire in each test and weighted toward recent tests. 40% comes from thousands of owner reviews collected from retailers and review sites. When a tire has only one of the two, we use what exists and say so.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.