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Firestone Destination LE2 vs General AltiMAX RT43 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 0 + 1 road tests and 102 + 1,371 owner reviews. How we score

Too close to call: Destination LE2 67, AltiMAX RT43 68.

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General AltiMAX RT43
Tire BGeneral

AltiMAX RT43

All Season

± 7

Tests – · 1 test Owners 67 · 1,371 reviews

Best test result: #3 of 8 in 2022 Consumer Reports All-Season Tires (tested tread life (miles))

“I have the General Altimax RT43 on 19s as my winter tires, and they are perfectly fine. For sure louder than oem, because there is no foam, but for wear, tear and handling, perfectly fine. I am not racing anyone or driving aggressively with those tires on anyway.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 67

    Dry

    AltiMAX RT43 +1
    68
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 67 (est.)≈ 68 (est.)
    Reviews found online6668

    Destination LE2: 60% × 67.2 (est.) + 40% × 66.2 = 67

    AltiMAX RT43: 60% × 67.8 (est.) + 40% × 67.6 = 68

    No road tests of dry for Destination LE2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.41).

    No road tests of dry for AltiMAX RT43. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.41).

  2. 69

    Wet

    AltiMAX RT43 +1
    70
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 70 (est.)≈ 70 (est.)
    Reviews found online6970

    Destination LE2: 60% × 69.6 (est.) + 40% × 68.6 = 69

    AltiMAX RT43: 60% × 70.4 (est.) + 40% × 70.2 = 70

    No road tests of wet for Destination LE2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

    No road tests of wet for AltiMAX RT43. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

  3. 66

    Snow

    Destination LE2 +2
    64
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 68 (est.)≈ 67 (est.)
    Reviews found online6360

    Destination LE2: 60% × 68.1 (est.) + 40% × 63 = 66

    AltiMAX RT43: 60% × 67.1 (est.) + 40% × 59.9 = 64

    No road tests of snow for Destination LE2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.32).

    No road tests of snow for AltiMAX RT43. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.32).

  4. 63

    Comfort

    AltiMAX RT43 +1
    64
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 67 (est.)≈ 67 (est.)
    Reviews found online6162

    Destination LE2: 40% × 67 (est.) + 60% × 60.6 = 63

    AltiMAX RT43: 40% × 67.3 (est.) + 60% × 62 = 64

    No road tests of comfort for Destination LE2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).

    No road tests of comfort for AltiMAX RT43. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).

  5. 68

    Noise

    AltiMAX RT43 +1
    69
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 66 (est.)≈ 66 (est.)
    Reviews found online7173

    Destination LE2: 60% × 66.4 (est.) + 40% × 71 = 68

    AltiMAX RT43: 60% × 66.4 (est.) + 40% × 73 = 69

    No road tests of noise for Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43. The test half is the tested tires’ average (66): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests.

  6. 68

    Treadwear

    AltiMAX RT43 +1
    69
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 1 tests≈ 67 (est.)71
    Reviews found online6967

    Destination LE2: 60% × 67.3 (est.) + 40% × 68.8 = 68

    AltiMAX RT43: 60% × 70.8 + 40% × 67 = 69

    No road tests of treadwear for Destination LE2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

  7. 66

    Handling (owners)

    Destination LE2 +3
    63
    Why this score
    SourceDestination LE2AltiMAX RT43
    Reviews found online6663
Scores at a glance
CategoryFirestone Destination LE2General AltiMAX RT43
Relative Score 67 68
Dry 67 68
Wet 69 70
Snow 66 64
Comfort 63 64
Noise 68 69
Treadwear 68 69
Handling (owners) 66 63

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score
± 7

Destination LE2

± 7

AltiMAX RT43

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Destination LE2

Pros

  • Excellent dry and wet traction
  • Affordable, high-value pricing
  • Quiet and comfortable highway ride

Cons

  • Tendency to pick up and retain small stones from gravel roads
  • Occasional reports of higher-than-expected road noise on specific vehicle models
  • Isolated instances of balancing difficulties or premature wear
All owner themes in the Destination LE2 review

Tire B AltiMAX RT43

Pros

  • Excellent value and lower price point compared to premium brands like Michelin
  • Quiet and smooth ride quality with minimal road noise
  • Strong wet and dry traction with dependable hydroplaning resistance

Cons

  • Occasional balancing difficulties or vibrations reported by some users
  • Softer sidewalls can lead to slightly spongy handling or reduced cornering sharpness
  • Winter and snow performance can diminish notably as the tread wears down
All owner themes in the AltiMAX RT43 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Firestone Destination LE2

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

General AltiMAX RT43

Positive

Community sentiment for the General AltiMAX RT43 is predominantly positive, with reviewers praising its comfort, strong winter and wet weather capability, and solid value as a budget-to-midrange touring tire. However, critics frequently point out soft sidewalls, tramlining on grooved surfaces, and mediocre handling or dry grip under aggressive driving. Tread life reports are mixed, with many reaching 50,000 to 80,000 miles while others report premature wear around 30,000 miles.

odyclub.com ·2013-12-21

“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.”
vwvortex.com ·2017-12-12

“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”
bobistheoilguy.com ·1 upvote ·2021-06-18

“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.”
Top themes
#value and pricing#snow and winter traction#wet grip and hydroplaning#soft ride comfort#soft sidewalls and handling#tramlining on grooved roads#treadwear and longevity

Based on 261 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Firestone Destination LE2 B · General AltiMAX RT43
CategoryAll-Season tireAll Season
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available5—
Rim diameters16″ – 18″—
Tread depth11/32″10 - 12/32″
UTQG520 A B600 - 700 A A - B
Treadwear warranty60,000 mi—
SidewallBlackwallBlack Side Wall - Raised Outline White Lettering
Max pressure44 psi44 - 51 psi

Which one should you actually buy?

Firestone Destination LE2

General AltiMAX RT43

Too close to call: Firestone Destination LE2 and General AltiMAX RT43 are within 2 points overall.

Tire A · Firestone Destination LE2
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Tire B · General AltiMAX RT43
Check price on Amazon

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Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Which is better in the wet, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 69 vs 70 on the wet score, within 3 points.

Which grips better on dry roads, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 67 vs 68 on the dry score, within 3 points.

Which is better in snow, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 66 vs 64 on the snow score, within 3 points.

Which is quieter, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 68 vs 69 on the noise score, within 3 points.

Which is more comfortable, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 63 vs 64 on the comfort score, within 3 points.

Which lasts longer, Destination LE2 or AltiMAX RT43?

Neither, by our numbers: 68 vs 69 on the treadwear score, within 3 points.

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology