I recently just got a set of new rims and tires. I have had a couple people ask what I thought of the tires, so after having them for a little over a week now and been able to put some miles on them, I figured I'd write up my own little review about them.

Link to Tire Rack information on tires : Click Here
*FYI.. these tires are now also available from American Muscle in their wheel/tire kits

General G-MAX AS-03 in size 255/35 ZR 20

Comparing against :

• Pirelli PZero Nero 245/45 19 (stock on 19" Premium GT rims for 2010-2013)
• BFGoodrich gForce TA 235/50 18 (stock on 18" Premium GT Bullitt rims for 2006-2009)
• BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2 275/35 18 (on my previous Mustang)

Suspension setup

For full disclosure, I'm still on the stock springs/shocks (with 93K miles on them, new ones ordered today). The car also got an alignment after the new wheels/tires, and I found out that it was somewhat out of whack in the front.

Highway ride

For my job, I regularly make the drive from San Diego to northern LA. It's a 155 mile one way trip. I've driven that stretch with the stock BFGs, the Pirellis, and now the Generals. When I switched from the stock BFGs to the Pirellis, I did notice a slight degradation in the ride, but it was tolerable. As the Pirellis wore down (and probably due to the alignment being off at some point), the car started to pull and track with every groove in the road. (It wasn't nearly as bad as my previous Mustang with the BFG KDW 2, that was horrible). I was anticipating that the summer tread pattern would either be the same as the Pirellis, or almost as bad as the BFG KDW 2, but it isn't. The new tires do not track/pull at all, it's as smooth as the pirellis in a straight line. I'm attributing the tracking/pulling of the Pirellis to the alignment being off.

Highway Mileage

Again, over the same stretch of 155 miles I routinely get around 22 MPG at 75-80mph. This was consistent between the stock BFGs and the Pirellis. My last trip, I got about the same so I see no difference for mileage.

Highway Noise

My previous Mustang, with the BFG KWD 2s... they were way loud on the freeway. I could hear them over the Borla exhaust. The General tires are no louder than the BFG or Pirellis I ran on the current Mustang.

Twisting and Turning

The one nice thing about my office in northern LA, I'm just north of Malibu. Mountain roads. I've taken many an office or after work jaunt through these mountain roads, on all three sets of tires (not the BFG KDW 2). Malibu Canyon Rd is a nice 45-60mph road, not too tight of curves, mostly 3rd gear stretch of road. Also, Westlake Blvd (highway 23) south from Thousand Oaks to Mulholland Highway is a nice, tight, 25-40 mph road with a lot of tight turns, primarly run in 2nd gear only.

Running both of these roads, I really noticed the difference in grip on Highway 23. Where the BFG and the Pirellis would push into a corner, the Generals stick. It makes the car feel more neutral. I can also lay the power down a little quicker and earlier in the bends because the back tires stick better than either the BFG or Pirellis.

Final Thought

For me, given the increase in grip without a perceptible increase in noise, without a decrease in mileage, and without a decrease in highway comfort, I'm really pleased with my choice in these tires.

 

Geez Brian......thank you for taking the time to post all of that.
I'm sure it will be useful to alot of people on here.

Thanks again for your efforts.------Bill

 

Old thread, but bumping it to thank you for the post. I'm considering new tires and these are on my list as well as the BFG Sport Comp 2's.