All-Season Truck Tires

Best tires for on-road driving

The new General Grabber HTS (*Est. $95) is the best all-season tire you can buy for your pickup or SUV, reviews say -- and it's also one of the least expensive.

The Grabber HTS shows few weaknesses in reviews we evaluated for this report. It handles better than any other tire in one top test, and its ability to brake on wet roads is unmatched. On dry roads, few tires can brake as well as the Grabber HTS. Testers say it is also quiet and comfortable, and it resists hydroplaning. The Grabber HTS carries a 45,000- to 60,000-mile tread life warranty, depending on size and speed rating.

In a head-to-head expert test at Tire Rack, the Grabber HTS outclasses two pricier competitors -- the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza (*Est. $145) and Pirelli Scorpion STR (*Est. $120) -- on every single measure. Testers say the differences were particularly obvious on the wet track, where a Porsche Cayenne SUV outfitted with Grabber HTS tires exhibited less understeer and more traction than the other two tires.

Owners who post reviews at Tire Rack like the Grabber HTS better than any other all-season truck tire. It gets the highest marks in 10 of 11 categories -- including dry, wet and winter performance, comfort and treadwear -- taking second place only in the "tire noise" category, where it still gets a superior rating.

Owners and experts both rank the Grabber HTS ahead of highly rated all-season tires such as the Continental ContiCrossContact LX (*Est. $105) and Michelin LTX M/S (*Est. $150). Owners say the Grabber HTS outperforms those other tires on winter roads. However, keep in mind that owners are basing their impressions of the Grabber HTS on only a couple of months of winter driving on brand-new rubber, because the tire just hit the market in late 2008. According to one leading expert test, the Grabber HTS gets good traction in snow, but its braking performance on ice is only fair. That test ranks the Michelin LTX M/S No. 1 among all-season tires on snow and ice, although the Michelin can't match the Grabber on dry or wet roads.

The General Grabber HTS outclasses the critics' former favorite all-season tire, the Goodyear Fortera SilentArmor (*Est. $135), in every respect in owner surveys at Tire Rack. The Fortera SilentArmor still gets some nods in older reviews, but it doesn't compete in recent expert tests.

One of the Fortera SilentArmor's main claims to fame is its long life; it carries a 70,000-mile treadwear warranty, and its government treadwear rating (based on the manufacturer's own tests) places it in the top two percent of tires for treadwear. However, several owners who post reviews at Tire Rack say their Fortera SilentArmors have worn out more quickly than expected. As for the "SilentArmor" part, some owners say the tire is indeed quiet, and others don't notice any difference. But critics say they don't really care how quiet the Fortera SilentArmor is -- they just wish it drove better on snow and ice.

In the past, experts have recommended three-season tires for people who drive trucks and SUVs in warm climates (or for those who switch to snow tires in the winter). Three-season tires have traditionally been designed to deliver the very best performance on wet and dry roads. But this year, the General Grabber HTS outperformed all three-season tires in expert tests, and no three-season tire was highly recommended in reviews.