Winter battle of Michelins
- Thread starter UG_Passat
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I had to drive home 1 time in the snow with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S. Will never do it again..
Too bad Michelin didn't throw in a set of CrossClimate 2 to compare
I just put a set of Michelin Cross Climate on my VW All Track. Bought them from Tire Rack. Wow, are they ever quiet. They are quieter than the Bridgestone Ecopias I took off. The dry traction and handling is really great but I have not yet had a chance to test them on wey roads or in the snow. I am looking forward to that.
That's what I was hoping to see. Other than that, lame.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
I installed my 3 year old Michelin Latitude X-Ice2 on Toyota today. I mean that tire is so quiet it is ridiculous, much quieter than Bridgestone DriveGuard I took off. IMO no one makes tires civilized on the road as Michelin. I am still debating whether to get these Michelin's X-Ice snow or Blizzak WS90 for Tiguan to replace those garbage Nokian's I have on Tiguan.
I did the same on Sport A/S3. That was some scary ****.
Now THAT would have been interesting.
The sad thing is I made 90% of the way home. It was the 3% grade that I couldn’t get a run at that forced me to park at the Home Depot, grab a six pack and walk the mile home to my house. After a 12 hour workday and 3 extra hours on the road getting to Home Depot.
Good times. A lot of our cars come from the factory with MPSS or MP4S. They normally get stranded on the lot just trying to get them into the shop. Perfectly flat pavement.
I managed to make it home from Lake Tahoe in near whiteout conditions in my WRX and a set of Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S. That was really scary. Those had almost no siping and basically the same tread pattern as the P Zero Nero summer tire. They claimed the rubber was softer and the tread patch designed to be smaller, but that was a pretty poor excuse for an all-season tire in light snow - and definitely not appropriate for heavy snow like I was in. They eventually replaced it with a version that was heavily siped.
I've driven on snow ice on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 before, but not fresh now. It wasn't too bad as long as I accelerated or braked gently. That's certainly the big deal - to not make sudden movements and keep it under control.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
A/S3 is pretty much summer tire. A/S4 was Michelin’s ANOTHER attempt to dethrone DWS06. It seems they are closer now then ever.
To hell with DWS06. Terrible tire if you actually like a car that handles.
Fun fact. Being an alignment tech, every single day I get complaints about the car “pulling”. The majority of the time, it is not actually pulling, just the steering wheel is off center, easy fix. BUT!, of the few times the car has had an ACTUAL pull, EVERY SINGLE ONE of them had DWS06 tires. Not some, not a couple, but every single one, and the tires were causing it. Will never find them on my car.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
Could be. I had original DWS and they are good as are my Continental Viking 7 on BMW.
But among HP AS tires they are best in snow based on tire rack data.
That’s what snow tires are for. That is like trying to find a decaffeinated coffee that has the most caffeine.
So far I’m satisfied with my Michelin A/S 4s tires on my ‘02 Jaguar XKR. It’s my daily driver and usually sees 2 months of intermittent snow yearly. Been using them for 3 years now. Much better than the Goodyear and Pirelli A/S tires I had tried using previously.
I have driven an 800 miles round trip on completely snowed in highways 3 times; Oklahoma to Iowa. And also 2 snowy trips thru the Kiamichi and Ouachita Mountains The Kiamichi Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern Oklahoma. A subrange within the larger Ouachita Mountains that extend from Oklahoma to western Arkansas,
Usually there’s been different types of snow on encountered on the same trip; from freshly falling, hard compacted, etc. the only loss of traction was on iced over bridges. Which was expected and no big deal when approached correctly.
Someday I may spring for 2 sets of tires so I can go with an summer only / winter only regimen. But for now the all-season compromise is working OK.
For a smallish car, the Jaguar is pretty heavy, which is probably helping me.
Z
I have driven an 800 miles round trip on completely snowed in highways 3 times; Oklahoma to Iowa. And also 2 snowy trips thru the Kiamichi and Ouachita Mountains The Kiamichi Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern Oklahoma. A subrange within the larger Ouachita Mountains that extend from Oklahoma to western Arkansas,
Usually there’s been different types of snow on encountered on the same trip; from freshly falling, hard compacted, etc. the only loss of traction was on iced over bridges. Which was expected and no big deal when approached correctly.
Someday I may spring for 2 sets of tires so I can go with an summer only / winter only regimen. But for now the all-season compromise is working OK.
For a smallish car, the Jaguar is pretty heavy, which is probably helping me.
Z
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
I absolutely don’t disagree with you. I don’t drive any on my vehicles on A/S tires in winter. But, tell that to those who “know” how to drive and don’t need snow tires.That’s what snow tires are for. That is like trying to find a decaffeinated coffee that has the most caffeine.
I have the AS4's on the BMW. They do great for those "in between" days we get here in New England. I have dedicated General Arctic 12 snow tires, but my Continental Extreme Sports definitely showed their summer tire characteristics on those few surprise cold mornings I had them. The AS4's fit the bill for that, and handle pretty well, but I don't plan on using them in actual snow. I drove a friend's E91 with DWS06 and they were pretty squishy feeling on the handling side of things.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2026
That is what A/S are good for. Here in CO we have really tricky spring and fall. Monday was 80 and this morning 13 degrees.
Or Subaru drivers
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