Initial review - Michelin Latitude X-ice Xi2

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I've never used anything other than Blizzaks since 1996. On my 08 Silverado 2wd I ran DMV1, then DMV2. I thought the DMV1 was better, but anyway I might have to try the Michelin's on my 13 Tahoe. Stock size is a 265/60-17 police tire, and the X2i has the closest size possible in a 255/65-17. I'll finally get to compare the 2 brands if nothing else. Ice braking with the DMV2 wasn't impressive anyway.
 
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Originally Posted By: Traction
I've never used anything other than Blizzaks since 1996. On my 08 Silverado 2wd I ran DMV1, then DMV2. I thought the DMV1 was better, but anyway I might have to try the Michelin's on my 13 Tahoe. Stock size is a 265/60-17 police tire, and the X2i has the closest size possible in a 255/65-17. I'll finally get to compare the 2 brands if nothing else. Ice braking with the DMV2 wasn't impressive anyway.

DM-V2 was disappointment for me too.
Funny how Bridgestone is go to winter tire here, but in Europe, before I moved here they were average at best. I guess that comes with lack of options we have here in the U.S. when to comes to winter tires.
One thing I do not like about Bridgestone is their weight. Geeez!
 
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OK so after waiting for some serious winter weather, it finally arrived to mountains.
After last two weeks of on and off snow in the mountains that finally push base to 35in, we had huge storm last two days. So, yesterday (Friday 01/12/2018) I just could not miss ski day. Over night Arapahoe Basin (where I ski) got 7" and it was still snowing big time when they updated numbers.
I left at 6am, taking HWY24 West since I70 was closed at Eisenhower tunnel for Hazardous truck to use it. They do this when there is big storm that closes Loveland Pass (11,500ft) so trucks with hazardous material have to use Eisenhower tunnel. It is a mess.
Anyway, everything was dry until Fairplay or South Park (South Park, yes cartoon South Park), then over Hoosier Pass toward Breckenridge there was maybe 1-3" of snow depending on area of road. In Breckenridge there was 2-4" of snow on the road and that melt snow, mix of salt and snow. When I passed Keystone toward A-Basin, there was on the road anywhere between 4 and 10" of snow on the road (A-Basin area has very weird climate and a lot of snow. It is like most energy of storm collects there).
Anyway, these XI2 truly impressed me! I was so skeptical about their deep snow performance considering design, but they just plow thru. Now X5 is really not snowplowing vehicle although it is AWD. It is very RWD bias and it is blast to drive in curves, but it is no Audi Q7.
Tires just went thru like nothing. Now, compare to Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 I had for previous two winter and they saw everything, literally, Xi2 are just bit less glued in deep snow. It is almost not noticeable. I can feel it, or this might be autosuggestion, but Blizzak's do start at 13/32 and Xi2 at 11.5/32 and Blizzaks have wider channels. However, Xi2 are SO MUCH better in dry and wet, and so much more comfortable that I have no idea how they achieved such performance in snow with that design. I never had a feeling that tires started to "swim." Steering wheel was always there where I wanted it to be, and although rear end of X5 likes to "dance" it was stable. I tried in parking lot in some 18" of powder how it is working, and it just went thru. I stopped for 2-3 minutes for a car to sink, and got out with no sweat whatsoever.
Now, if I would rate DM-V2 to Xi2 in deep snow 1 to 10, I would give one number higher to DM-V2 in deep snow, but again this might be just feeling. However, in wet, dry Xi2 are light years ahead. Xi2 do not feel like winter tire at all. It has same feeling as my Michelin Premier LTX. It has all season feeling. They are bit softer then Premier LTX but I contribute that to the fact that I role Xi2 on 18" wheel and Premier LTX on 19" wheels.
Now, big question is how they perform in real wet snow, slush. So until then, Xi2 are now for me clear choice for SUV's of this class. I feel now bad not going with Xi3 for my wife's Tiguan instead of R2's, but whatever.
 
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I did not address ice performance. So far I did not have a chance to drive on black ice or regular ice. However, on my way to ski resort there were areas where snow was super packed and maybe there was some ice there. I did not notice anything unusual.
When it comes to braking, they perform same as Blizzak's or some other snow tires I had. I cannot say they are any better or any worse then DM_V2.
I tried to find some glare packed snow in curves to see how they behave there but no luck (or maybe I did not notice and tires just did their job). That was my major beef with Blizzak DM-V2; lateral performance in ice.
 
Thanks for the update!
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Originally Posted By: edyvw
However, in wet, dry Xi2 are light years ahead. Xi2 do not feel like winter tire at all. It has same feeling as my Michelin Premier LTX. It has all season feeling. They are bit softer then Premier LTX

That would be my conclusion as well. Just feels like a all season tire that happens to grip pretty well in on packed snow and ice. I find in even thin slush or snow they like to slide a bit but the grip doesn't drop off much at all as they slide which is remarkable. With an AWD vehicle I think they are perfect as their poor deep snow performance doesn't matter much all. If you live in the hills with a 2wd vehicle someone my want to go to a tire that has better snow performance.
 
I had some Xi2s and could not wear them out. Ran them 5 winters, about 40k miles then left them on the last summer to run the tread down as they were no good for winter again. A great tire for my small fwd manual transmission Hyundai Accent. In 2015 I got a set of Xi3s.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: edyvw
However, in wet, dry Xi2 are light years ahead. Xi2 do not feel like winter tire at all. It has same feeling as my Michelin Premier LTX. It has all season feeling. They are bit softer then Premier LTX

That would be my conclusion as well. Just feels like a all season tire that happens to grip pretty well in on packed snow and ice. I find in even thin slush or snow they like to slide a bit but the grip doesn't drop off much at all as they slide which is remarkable. With an AWD vehicle I think they are perfect as their poor deep snow performance doesn't matter much all. If you live in the hills with a 2wd vehicle someone my want to go to a tire that has better snow performance.

IDK, I went thru 10in of snow in some areas and did not notice any issues with deep snow performance. I went even thru 4-5in of that mix of snow and salt, and no issues. Steering wheel is stable, no pull, no floating. And tires on BMW are 255/55 R18, not the narrowest tires. I really cannot say that they are any weaker then DM-V2, which has really aggressive design and big separation between blocks.
Will see, winter is finally showing teeth in the West, so there will be more chance to check.
 
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