SUV Winter Tires

Bridgestone Blizzak ws80 vs General Altimax Arctic

SUV Tires Tires VS Winter Tires

In this article, two incredible good SUV Winter Tires will battle to find out which one is the best. They are the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 and General Altimax Arctic Winter.

Bridgestone Blizzak WS80

Bridgestone Blizzak WS 80 SUV Winter Tire

Bridgestone Blizzak is a tire every driver must know. Since 1993, when Bridgestone started using this name, the Blizzak was a synonym for an excellent winter tire.

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The Blizzak WS80 continues the line of its predecessor, the Ws70, and increased stability and handling of the car on dry roads. Also, it increases the stability on wet surfaces as well but braking on wet surfaces seems to take a bit longer than usual.
The tire uses a strange zigzag pattern that improves traction in snowy and icy conditions by adding more biting edges. This, combined with the Bridgestone brand concludes for a great winter tire for every type of car: sedan, coupe, SUVs, light trucks, etc.

General AltiMAX Arctic Winter Tire

General AltiMAX Arctic Winter Tire
General AtiMAX Arctic Winter Tire

If you want a good SUV Winter Tire for a decent price the General AltiMAX Arctic Winter might be just what you are looking for.

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More importantly, even if this is a studless tire it can become studded if you purchase the additional studs.
Due to its technologies, like Reactive Contour and Center Stability Rib, the tire provides excellent traction and stability in snow or on ice.
These tires are quite cheap, compared with the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 but offer similar traction and grip in winter conditions.

Blizzak WS80 vs Altimax Arctic in the snow

Both tires were installed on similar cars ( same engine, same gearbox, etc). When tested in snow, both tires performed extremely well but the Blizzak WS80 gave us the impression of better handling and traction. The difference was quite small, but it was there.

We have tested the tires for several miles, with various corners, both uphill and downhill to simulate almost every possible scenario and corner you might encounter in day to day driving.  

On light snow, both tires performed identically while in deep snow that zigzag pattern of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 provided a bit of extra grip and traction compared with the General AltiMAX Arctic.   

Blizzak ws80 vs General altimax arctic on icy roads

Ice is the main problem of all winter tires, this is a known fact. The main problem is that any tire will find it hard to find a grip on such a slippery surface as ice. Even so, some Winter Tires perform better than others on icy roads.

In our test, when accelerating the Bridgestone Blizzak WS 80 found grip faster and the car felt more stable compared with its rival, the General AltiMAX Arctic.

Braking felt similar to the acceleration test. The car equipped with Blizzak WS 80 braked faster by 1 meter compared with the car equipped with General AltiMAX Arctic.

We didn’t test the General AltiMAX Arctic equipped with studs, because Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 cannot be equipped with studs, thus any test would be irrelevant.

Altimax arctic vs Blizzak WS80 on dry roads.

On dry roads, and freezing conditions both tires performed identically. The difference between them was insignificant.
But we discovered something else: on dry roads, the General AltiMAX Arctic is a bit noisy compared with the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80.
Both tires showed similar values for acceleration, braking, and handling on dry roads.

General altimax arctic vs blizzak WS80 Pros and Cons

Bridgestone Blizzak WS80:

  • Good grip on ice
  • Better grip and traction in snow compared with AltiMAX Arctic
  • Comfortable ride
  • Decent grip and traction on dry roads
  • Good handling
  • A bit unstable at high speeds

General AltiMAX Arctic:

  • Tread-life not great
  • A bit noisy
  • Excellent grip on dry roads, better than Blizzak WS80
  • Good grip on wet and slushy surfaces
  • Good grip in snow

Blizzak WS80 vs Altimax Arctic Conclusions

Bridgestone Blizzak WS80

As far as the testing went, the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 raised to its predecessors’ name. It is one of the best Snow and Winter Tires available on the market, and probably the best on ice.

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General AltiMAX Arctic

The General AltiMAX Arctic is not the quietest or the most stable Snow and Winter Tire, especially on a warm day. On freezing temperatures, on the other hand, it is one of the best SUV Winter Tire available on the market.

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The winner of this test is the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80, but both tires are on decent places in our Top 5 Best Winter Tires for SUV, the Blizzak WS 80 on 3rd place and the General AltiMAX Arctic on 4th.  

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