Anyone ever use these? Professional reviews say they are great. Thinking of an un-studded set for my 240...
General Tire - Off-Road and Performance Tires - The Tires - Winter

 

When i bought snows for the XC it was a toss up between these and the Firestone Winterforce that I got. Alot of guys at Bobistheoilguy.com, rave about the Generals, they are supposedly rebranded Gilsvad Nordfrost 3s. I have had good luck with the Firestones, maybe another option.

 

Yeah, I read that too. I'm going with those I'm pretty sure, not like the 240 handles that bad in the winter with all season tires anyways! Plus they're cheap!

 

I got the Altimax Artics on my V90. They are stamped "Made in Germany", and yes, are the cheaper version of Ginslaved, sort of Chevy vs Cadillac.

Generals are great snow tires, however, when they wear, they become very noisy. Generals replaced Ginslaveds for me, and Ginslaveds once they wear, they become all-season and behave like them. Not so with Generals, IMO.

 

Let me start by saying that I absolutely LOVE this tire. I have been running this tire on my "winter beater" Saturn for 3 seasons already. I live in NW PA and I drive all over the state for my job. I bought this tire primarily for it's ability to get me through the regular lake-effect snowstorms that we are famous for in the northeast. I have been absolutely amazed and pleased with the ability of this tire to get me through our frequent snow storms. I have regularly driven through drifts and fresh snow that my bumper is plowing through and the belly of the car is dragging through. I have never once gotten stuck with this tire.

Since this is a winter tire, I expected it to be good in the snow. But what really has amazed me is the treadlife. Although this is my "winter" car, most of the 30,000 miles of use has been on dry roads. I was expecting that these tires wouldn't last very long due to their very soft tread compound. I have been very surprised at how well they have held up. I might have rotated them once, but probably not more than that, yet the tread wear is very uniform across all four tires, and I still have about 40% tread life remaining. I will admit, given that this past winter was my 3rd season with these tires, I did notice a decrease in their ability to handle the snow. I would say that they still worked better than a new "all-season" tire, but I will be putting on a new set before the next snow flies.

In summary: Snow performance is outstanding, tread life has been much greater than I expected, they are louder than an all-season tire--but only slightly more, and if you remember that these are snow tires and not "performance" tires--you won't be disappointed with the handling. I recommended these to a co-worker who put them on his Accord, and he was very happy. I LOVE these tires!

However, I just purchased an '03 S60 FWD and I am not going to be running a separate winter car anymore. This makes me wonder if there is a better all season option as opposed to the winter-oriented General Altimax Arctic?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!