Asics GT-4000 vs GT-3000 Comparison Shoe Review

Curl up with a cuppa as Josh shares his review of the new Asics GT-4000 running shoes and weighs in on how they stack up against their predecessor, the GT-3000. They're engineered for overpronators and are surprisingly lightweight for the stability shoe category.

Standout features include an internal heel counter to lock in your heel, DuoMax arch support and responsive FlyteFoam cushioning.

The outsole has strategic density zones, being firmer and extra durable at the rear to accomodate heel strikers and softer at the forefoot for smoother toe-off without going overboard on flexibility.

Check out the full review with transcript below. 

Hi guys, Josh from Sportitude here and it’s shoe review time. Today we’re going to be reviewing the Asics GT-4000.

It’s a completely new shoe in the Asics range for 2019 and being a new shoe there’s a lot to talk about. I am holding the men’s sample in front of me. I don’t have the women’s one today, but clicking here will take you to the Sportitude website which will show you all the colours and widths available.

Like all my reviews I will talk all things outsole, midsole and upper and how they all blend together. Without further ado, let’s get stuck in.

With the GT-4000 being a completely new shoe, it has come in a replaced the GT-3000. The two shoes are different in the sense that there is a considerable amount of engineering change that you wouldn’t be able to roll from a GT-3000 to a GT-4000 and expect the same performance.

However, the same foot type can run in the GT-4000 as the GT-3000, with just a subtle difference between performance and feel.

Outsole

I’ll flip the shoe upside down and we’ll talk all things outsole first and foremost. This shoe has a very durable lateral rubber configuration. The actual density of the rubber, or the yellow rubber and white rubber is different.

The yellow rubber is a lot harder, therefore it does take a little more to break it down. Hence, they place it at the back of the shoe, the heel strikers first main point of contact with the ground.

As you transfer through to midstance you’ll see it has a Trusstic beam splitting the rearfoot and forefoot.

Then the white rubber on the outsole is actually a little softer. It’s not soft to the point of the cushioning system inside the shoe, but you can actually tell the difference in softness between the yellow and white rubber by touching the shoe.

It does provide a slightly smoother feeling on toe-off. However, because this shoe is designed for heel strikers, most of that vertical force will be taken out on the back of the shoe. As we transfer through from midstance to toe-off that softer rubber will add a bit of plushness to that last phase of your gait cycle.

Diving back into the forefoot rubber, I’ve got here the encapsulated flex grooves. We’re looking at flex grooves one, two and three under the first metatarsal. Encapsulating these two flex grooves is really important to provide extra rigidity on toe-off, just to protect that big toe ever so slightly.

If you remove those encapsulated figures from this shoe it would be too flexible on toe-off and defeat the purpose of what the shoe is trying to achieve by minimising overpronation.

There is also the Guidance Line that Asics has been running for a number of years and some of their shoes are continuing with it. The Guidance Line is a vertical line that keeps the foot on a consistent line of path, from the lateral heel right through to the optimal toe-off position, first and second metatarsal toe-off.  

Midsole

Let’s talk about the midsole. Being a stability shoe in their range Asics have stuck with their DuoMax arch support system on the medial side, DuoMax being 'duo' double density foam on the medial side. However, it doesn’t feel as noticeable as what I have experienced in the past.

With your traditional DuoMax shoes you can always feel that arch support and over a number of years, overpronators sit there and go, “That’s OK, I know I need arch support. I’ll run with it and I’ll put up some discomfort and wear into the shoe”.

However, when you put this shoe on you don’t notice this arch support as much, or I didn’t notice it as much as I have previously in some of the DuoMax arch support shoes.

For the cushioning system, we have a couple of different layers of foam to talk about. You can see the yellow or lime green cushioning system on the lateral side, that is the Asics FlyteFoam cushioning.

Then the top layer, the grey midsole that comes around ever so slightly to the forefoot is their SpEVA or silicone particle EVA that Asics have had in their range for a number of years now.

You get a perfect blend of both. You have the dampening FlyteFoam bottom layer to absorb that vertical impact on heel strike and then as you come through to midstance to toe-off, having that top layer of SpEVA just helps with a little bit of propulsion as you get out of your gait cycle. It’s a really nice blend of both cushioning and response in this shoe. It’s a big tick from my perspective, love it.  

Upper

Moving on to the upper, we’ll start from the back. Let’s talk about the heel counter. The heel counter is an internal heel counter. Therefore there is no external beams to structurally hold that heel in position, it’s all taken care of inside this little heel device.

When the foot hits the ground obviously Asics have focused a lot of attention on what’s going to happen from the outsole and midsole in controlling that foot stability.

However, the upper plays a critical role in holding that calcaneus in position on that first point of contact with the ground. As we then first transfer through to midstance you’ll notice a new clever design.

I’ll flip this shoe around on the medial side. I’m hoping you can see these overlays here. Remember, we are talking about a foot type that does pronate and roll in. Not only are you getting a little bit of stability from the DuoMax, Asics have focused on getting some control in the upper on the medial side.

These wraps up here will assist the upper, keeping that foot in a nice, cradled position through midstance to keep the foot stable and to then toe-off. A really nice design. It can also help in getting more of a customised fit through that arch region.

As we come in through to the forefoot, there’s no intrusive stitching around that toe box. It’s all nice and free. You get plenty of depth in that toe area which I like as well. It’s not shallow by any means so you don’t feel restricted. It’s a really nice forefoot. There’s plenty of breathability through this shoe which is great.

Widths and offset

While we’re talking all things upper, I’ll just dive into the widths. In my hand we’ve got the 2E width for men’s and then there is usually a D width available in the ladies’ as well, so that is the slightly wider options. They also do engineer a traditional width which is D for men’s and B for ladies.

Again, here will take you through to our Asics GT-4000 page on our Sportitude website and you’ll see the colours available in the widths.

Just to focus more on some of the details. We’ve got a 10mm offset in both men’s and women’s in terms of the stack heights.

Weight

It is a supportive shoe, but they’ve come in a pretty competitive weight. Men’s come in 320 grams for a size 9 and ladies’ is just a touch over 250 grams for a size 7. Not too bad in terms of the weights.

We can see really posted shoes get up around 350 to 360 grams in the men’s category and a little bit higher towards the 300s in the ladies’ category. They’ve kept it nice and light, probably due to the FlyteFoam cushioning system and a couple of tweaks in the upper.  

As I’ve said, the GT-4000 is a new shoe and has replaced the GT-3000. The GT-3000 was known for having what they classified as late pronation support. Therefore, the DuoMax used to go down almost right to the first metatarsal. It was pretty noticeable from the back of the heel right to the forefoot. They did taper it off in the GT-3000.

Underneath, what Asics have achieved in keeping that support for a late stage pronator is having this Trusstic beam come through a little bit further to the forefoot. Also, having encapsulated rubber on the outsole provides a little extra support on toe-off.

Asics put a bit of time thinking of the exit point in a runner inside this shoe. By exit point I’m talking about the first and second metatarsal. If it's pretty rigid under that last exit point, it doesn’t provide a really plush, comfortable running shoe.

You want it to be a little softer through that toe-off phase, hence that silicone particle EVA (SpEVA), and also that softer rubber they’ve decided to use through the forefoot. It is a little bit softer, but it is a little bit thicker as well so it does offer cushioning and support on toe-off.

Other than that, this shoe is pretty similar. You’ve got the rearfoot GEL and the Twist GEL through the forefoot to provide extra dampening on that toe-off phase.  

That's my rap on the GT-4000. I have done about 50km in my pair and I can tell you right now, they are comfortable. I really liked them. They have a nice consistent feel underneath the foot.

I am not a heel striker, I am a midfoot striker. It does have full encapsulated lateral support for a midfoot striker. I did find it nice and stable on that first point of contact with the ground.

There you go guys, the GT-4000 that you certainly should consider. If you have any questions about this shoe, please drop a comment to our Sportitude shoe experts.

Of course, if you haven’t subscribed to Sportitude’s YouTube channel please do. We’re here to help you all around the world to find the most appropriate running shoes for you.

Happy running guys, we’ll see you next time.