This is the scene that greeted...
This is the scene that greeted us bright and early in the parking lot outside the classroom area of Infineon. The General Tire guard was present with a fleet of Mustangs, Camaros, Audis, and Mitsubishis.
We're huge advocates of always running high-quality tires that have been developed with an eye towards performance handling. It's always one of the first upgrades we recommend for any car, along with an appropriate set of wheels.
On PHR project cars, we're typically all about running ultra-sticky soft compound tires with practically nil tread wear ratings, or at least ones that fall in the Ultra-High Performance Summer category since they'll offer the most traction in a straight line and cornering grip in dry conditions. But, we also recognize those tires aren't always the best choice depending on how and where a car gets used.
Besides a revised tread pattern,...
Besides a revised tread pattern, the big news is the G-Max AS-03's new patented 3D-sipe technology. Basically this means that the outer tread blocks have 3D elements in the sipe that cause the tread blocks to interlock and create a stiffer lateral and longitudinal tread. Additionally this creates much less tread distortion and provides more precise steering response and grip.
Daily driving duties, for example. All PHR project cars get driven regularly, but aren't our daily drivers. They're really toys reserved for cruising enjoyment, stress relief, and a little friendly competition on nice days- pretty much how most of you probably use your projects as well. Our tires on our daily beaters have to put up with copious annual miles of SoCal commuting, occasional foul weather, even snow up in the mountains. Plus, if they provide respectable fuel mileage and last a reasonable amount of time we can save some money- which we can then throw at our hot rods. In other words, soft and sticky isn't the best choice there; we need good all-season performance tires.
We're sticklers though; if we're going use an all-season tire with a higher tread wear we don't want to give up good handling characteristics. We want something that responds like a true performance tire when we want, or more importantly, need it to.
A few weeks back we were invited to the unveiling of General Tire's G-MAX AS-03. The General Tire crew has been working to redesign and revise their performance passenger car offerings to be top tier in the ever evolving tire market. We were mildly skeptical at first, especially considering the high-for-our-standards 480 tread wear rating- but then we saw the program they had put together to launch the tire.
The revised V-shaped-tread...
The revised V-shaped-tread design offers exceptional hydroplaning resistance by quickly evacuating water without sacrificing dry road handling or ride comfort. Those long strakes also enhance grip on slippery, snow-covered roads by filling and holding onto snow to capitalizing on snow-on-snow adhesion. Sounds counterintuitive, but trust us, it is better. We particularly dig the Visual Alignment Indicators (VAI), which help identify misalignment, and Replacement Tire Monitor Technology (RTM). The RTM reads "Replacement Tire Monitor" when new, but as the tire wears the indicator transforms to read "Replace Tire."
General Tire and its parent company Continental have developed a reputation in the past few years for introducing their latest and greatest tires in impressive fashion to showcase the confidence they have in the performance with multiple types of testing, but for this tire they took it a step further. Our test location? Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Surely they weren't about to give us track time in a test car.
Oh yes, yes they were. Lots of it in fact with five different types of cars; Mustang GT, Camaro SS, Audi TTS, Audi S4, and Mitsubishi Evo X. Plus, there would be wet and dry autocross as well.
We're fairly familiar with Infineon, but for those who aren't it's oft regarded by many drivers as one of their top favorite tracks in the country for its combination of dramatic elevation change, fast and challenging corners, and beautiful surroundings. It's a place you can have a whole lot of fun in a good car with a good tire. It definitely sounded like this new General Tire might be something right up our alley.
First up for us was track...
First up for us was track time, but before we donned helmets there was a brief classroom introduction to the track and the rules for the day. Rather than full run, we'd be doing a lead-follow in groups of five. The faster and more competent the group, the faster the instructors would let us go.
Infineon track map; we ran...
Infineon track map; we ran the full long course outlined in white.
Out on track each of the five...
Out on track each of the five different cars had radically different handling characteristics, but all felt surprisingly planted through Infineon's famous Carousel where speeds can easily get near 100mph even on unprepped street cars if you're on the right line. The SS Camaros had grunt, but they weren't the most balanced out of the box. The G-Max AS-03 managed to make the heavy Camaros feel much surer footed through the corners than on stock rubber. The 3D sipes locked the outer tread and actually made the tires feel like much more aggressive summer tires with low tread wear.
Our Evo X's were actually...
Our Evo X's were actually borrowed from the Jim Russell Racing School. These little guys were down on corner exiting torque, but we loved the ultra-fast shifting paddle shifted dual-clutch manual 6-speed trans. The new generation AWD was a treat as well thanks to the Evo's Active Yaw Control that calculates various vehicle dynamic factors and compensates to maximize grip, these things can pull .99 on the skidpad. It takes a good tire to maximize what these cars are capable of, and the AS-03 did remarkably well. Check out our in-car video here on PHR.com. Sadly, it was one of our slowest laps with a rather conservative instructor, but it gives a nice feel of Infineon's layout.
Out on the wet skid pad we...
Out on the wet skid pad we had another set of Mustang GT's fitted with AS-03's and a couple competing tires that were actually more expensive. The difference with the AS-03 was quite notable. They best way we know to describe it would be that they made the autocross course feel less wet. While the competitor tires weren't bad, the AS-03's were more confidence inspiring and as a result our times were significantly quicker.
We had the Audi TTS on track...
We had the Audi TTS on track as well as on the dry autocross. As with the wet version, the AS-03's helped us drive much more quickly through the cones. The biggest difference we noted was a decreased feeling of understeer. The AS-03 allowed the little turbocharged coupes to take full advantage of their AWD systems.