Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring vs General AltiMAX RT43 — Compared

“Bought them and they are surprisingly good handling (on a Malibu) and quiet on the highway. We'll see about durability.”

“any experience with Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring A/S? My gf's AWD 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer (very fun but thirsty for its size car) have Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring A/S. The Lancer's OEM tires were very harsh and loud and surprisingly are rated as LRR in a painful attempt for Mitsubishi to get its economy up. Replacing the stock Yokos with Coopers really helped. Incredibly smooth and quiet, not to mention improves the driving dynamics immensely especially in rain. So my new 2018 Volt LT has only 5000k mile on it and I'm looking to swap and keep my Energy Savers A/S for Cooper CS5 Ultra touring for winter. My driving needs require strong winter grip as I live in a rural area with poorly maintained infrastructure. My second option are kelly A/S, both are budget friendly priced from my local small town mechanic.”

“I didn't see anyone recommending these tires in any of the tire threads, so I thought I'd share my experience with these as time goes by, as I think they're a nice value. I ended up getting them for $155 each installed. I researched extensively before deciding on these and had a hard time fine many negative reviews. I looked into Michelins and Pirellis, the usual recommended here, and some others. Quiet was my biggest concern, as I live in upstate South Carolina and weather isn't a huge issue. It does rain a lot here but my commute is only 8 miles round trip. I can't say that I had something great to compare to on this car, as the previous owner took great care of the car but put on some of the worst tires I've ever experienced. Champiros. Fronts we're almost bald after 17k miles. I've had the Cooper's on for a few days and holy cow I wasn't experiencing the full greatness of this car. It seriously rides like a new car. My initial impression of the CS5 Ultra Touring is that they're a very solid tire. Great ride. Great price. I will update after 5k miles and see if my experience changes.”

“Update -- in the middle of a snowstorm tonight, the Altimax RT43 did very well. The best description for the RT43 in snow would be "predictable" -- if there is a bit of slide the steering response is easy to control. Better handling overall than the Optimo H727, now over 800 miles and still very quiet.”

“I keep seeing graphs like this with the off-brand tires and cannot be convinced that they would actually perform in a panic braking situation. The Laufenn takes 44 additional feet (three carlengths) to stop on a wet road from 50 MPH than the budget favorite, the General RT43; 77 feet (5 carlengths) longer than the Michelins . I am buying a set of the Michelin Premier A/Ss for my wife's car when the OE Continentals wear out (it came with the regular OEM-style ContiProContacts which are okay but kind of noisy - looks like they will last around 30-35k miles). Source = TireRack”

“I haven't tried the Contis, but I took my RT43s off last month after wearing them down to 4/32 after ~50K miles (5K miles rotations.) While hydroplane resistance was good, everything else about the tire was pretty bad. Dry grip was abysmal and the sidewalls were way to soft. Wet grip was decent when rolling but from a stop and/or while turning felt quite dangerous if I was pulling out into traffic (one wheel peel like crazy.) The Sumitomos A/S P02s I had before were better in every way except noise. No idea on the snow performance, I run dedicated snows in the winter.”