NEW Michelin Xice Xi3

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Rand

Rand

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looks interesting.. anyone notice it looks much closer to a blizzack ws-70 than the old version?

My prediction. Michelin's will wear longer, worse deep snow performance. Good winter performance from tread compound with less aggressive tread/siping

Bridgestones. Better in snow, wear faster, handle worse due to more siping.



michelin's
mi_xicexi3_ci1_l.jpg




blizzack ws-70

bs_blizzak_ws70_ci1_l.jpg
 
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well I own the ws-70s and had 2 different sizes of xice xi2's

so I might know about more than the "cover"


but I agree.

It certainly is 100% accurate on some generic looking tires like Michelin ltx etc.
 
My advice? Get the "knock your socks off" snow and ice performance and forget about wear.

How much is an insurance deductible if your beloved ride ends up on it's roof at the side of the road?

I had a brand new set of Pirelli Snow Control for my Honda Fit as they were offered by the dealer as the only OEM sized Winter tires (175/65R/15) and at the sight of ice the tires spin. And it is funny, they look capable enough.

So I went out the second Winter and got Yokohama IG-20 (Ice Guards) that have good snow AND ice performance, and it made it a completely different car. If Bridgestones are as good as the Yokos I may try those next.

Spend the money on GREAT Winter tires, just the peace of mind, control, and driving enjoyment, and the potential collisions you avoid by having proper traction and control are guaranteed to make up in higher wear rate and higher cost.

Forgot to add I owned a set of the first generation of Michelin X-Ice and they were horrible. Compound was too hard for ice and the tread too shallow for snow. Horrible tires. They had slightly better performance than All-Season tires and that is a huge compliment considering how horrible they were.
 
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I owned a set of ig-20's

Id rate them for winter only performance ie not dry road etc.


xice xi2, ig-20, continental EWC, blizzack ws-70


the conti ewc exceeded the ig-20 in all areas including wear, dry, wet, snow, ice
They are not always available though.

the xice xi2 are still very good but focus abit more on "be a normal tire" than snow tire.

The blizzacks imo exceed the conti ewc, but buy an extremely slim margin.

so slim that if I could find the contis for 10-15$ cheaper than the blizzacks I'd buy them instead.

and just a note I'm not knocking teh ig-20's in anyway
they are a capable snow tire more oriented towards ice traction, that wear fast (which they knew as the ig-30's supposedly last twice as long)

so if your wife/gf/partner/children whatever want a tire that handles like an all season and wears well but is great in the winter...the michelin is one of the cheapest due to its long life while retaining excellent handling,wear, noise, characteristics. You would probably never get stuck with it in any snow below your bumper. and its compound is great on ice.


what also affects this is when they were released.

the ig-20 is a previous generation snow tire.. basically its great but wears fast.

the blizzacks are 2-3 years old.. michelins were about the same with a tweak this year. The contis were also
buy any with confidence.


thank you for reading my book.
 
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I agree with you guys saying you can't tell a book by it's cover, but looking at the pic of the Blizzak compared to the Michelin, the Blizzaks look to be of MUCH better design.

And Blizzaks have the track record and positive reviews to back it up. I have never heard anyone complain about Blizzaks, they rave about them.

And they ARE rated higher than my Yokohamas, which I love, so the Blizzaks must be awesome.
 
So the Conti EWC has awesome wear and is rated better than the Yoko IG-20's and are close to Blizzaks?

Up in Canada you have to fight to find the Blizzaks, they are pretty much our Quebec national dream Winter tire.

But the Contis are very attainable... I will give those a try next then, as Rand stated the IG-20's have no dry road performance. I forgot to mention that because I am a basic hypermiler so I never push them. I did once on dry asphalt that had powdered salt dust residue and they really squirm and shimmy.

Forgot to mention Quebec is the ice capital of the World. We can get freezing rain in the dead of Winter, our Eastern weather is horrible. So I may be very ice traction biased, but we do get a lot of snow too.
 
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I own a set of Michelin Xice Xi2's.

I lack the vocabulary to describe how well they do on snow and ice. If these new tires improve on the performance of their replacements, snow/ice performance must be out of this world.

Then again, the worst winter tire is better than any all-season...
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
.........My prediction. Michelin's will wear longer, worse deep snow performance. Good winter performance from tread compound with less aggressive tread/siping....................Bridgestones. Better in snow, wear faster, handle worse due to more siping......


I haven't seen any WS70 vs Xi3 tests yet, but there were 2 tests of the WS70 vs Xi2, and my summary of those is below:

Michelin X-Ice Xi2 vs Bridgestone Blizzak WS70
size 205/55-16

The only head to head comparison tests of the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 that I know of are the 2010 Tire Rack test and the 2011 Test World (Finland) test (published in NAF, Auto Review, etc). Both tested tire size 205/55-16.

In Tire Rack testing, the Blizzak WS70 was superior to the Michelin Xi2 in these areas:
ice braking
ice handling
ice acceleration
dry braking

The WS70 was inferior to the Xi2 in these areas:
wet braking
fuel economy
noise
ride comfort


The results from Test World paint a different picture. The WS70 was superior to the Xi2 in one parameter:
wet braking

The WS70 was equal to the Xi2 in one parameter:
handling on a snow course

The WS70 was inferior to the Xi2 in these parameters:
ice braking (by 5m!)
ice acceleration (by 1.6 sec)
ice handling
snow braking
snow acceleration
fuel economy
noise


Around Oct/Nov of this year, Consumer Reports will have a comparison of WS70 vs Xi2 vs Xi3.
 
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Originally Posted By: SubLGT
These tires were introduced last January, so there are a few reviews out there, and some general info:

http://www.moderntiredealer.com/News/Story/2012/01/Michelin-introduces-next-generation-X-Ice.aspx

http://www.tirereview.com/Article/96142/michelin_ups_performance_with_new_winter_tire.aspx

http://www.beyond.ca/michelin-x-ice-xi3-winter-tire-reviews/12491.html

http://tires.about.com/od/Tire_Reviews/fr/Review-Michelin-X-Ice-Xi3.htm


Right but they werent available last January anywhere I could see.

Just like yokohama released the ig-30 and I have yet to find them in the US.

Its just another improved option in an already outstanding tire category. I've had 7-8 sets of snow tires now I like to feel I'm pretty objective.
 
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Those vs. the Nokian Hakka R's I have would be a tough call. The Nokians are awesome snow tires that do very well in any condition, and do it while being quiet and riding nicely.
 
Originally Posted By: krzyss
Nokian manages to be more expensive than Michelin.

Krzys


The Hakka R's and Xi2's were the same price after the rebate on the Michelins when I got them last fall. I've been looking at other Nokian tires, and they're right in line with Michelin tires after the $70 rebate Michelin always has. So they're hardly more expensive, at least in the fairly common 16" and 17" sizes I've needed.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi


The Hakka R's and Xi2's were the same price after the rebate on the Michelins when I got them last fall. I've been looking at other Nokian tires, and they're right in line with Michelin tires after the $70 rebate Michelin always has. So they're hardly more expensive, at least in the fairly common 16" and 17" sizes I've needed.


Around here, they are sold exclusively through a chain called Kal Tire. To buy them, you need to give up your first born.

For kicks, I wanted to see how much a Nokian tire in 185R14C would be for my trailer tire upgrade. Continental Vanco 2s would be around $110 each. Over $250 each for the Nokian.
 
Originally Posted By: weebl
Originally Posted By: sciphi


The Hakka R's and Xi2's were the same price after the rebate on the Michelins when I got them last fall. I've been looking at other Nokian tires, and they're right in line with Michelin tires after the $70 rebate Michelin always has. So they're hardly more expensive, at least in the fairly common 16" and 17" sizes I've needed.


Around here, they are sold exclusively through a chain called Kal Tire. To buy them, you need to give up your first born.

For kicks, I wanted to see how much a Nokian tire in 185R14C would be for my trailer tire upgrade. Continental Vanco 2s would be around $110 each. Over $250 each for the Nokian.


I got mine through Discount Tire Direct for a decent price. They weren't the most expensive option, either.
 
Originally Posted By: sciphi
..........The Hakka R's and Xi2's were the same price after the rebate on the Michelins when I got them last fall. I've been looking at other Nokian tires, and they're right in line with Michelin tires after the $70 rebate Michelin always has. So they're hardly more expensive, at least in the fairly common 16" and 17" sizes I've needed.


That's surprising. When I looked at those two tires last year from various online dealers, in sizes around 215/45-17, the Nokians were at least $35 per tire higher than the Michelins.
 
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