Snow time driving

Gotta love an autocorrect typo!! ...and for the record the answer is 7

 

Another advantage of winter tires, especially on separate rims, it allows you 4~5 months to detail and store your OEM's, keeps them out of winter's salty worst.

Another thing: I had a slow leak in one of our summer tires, finally found and fixed it when it was off the car.

 

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If you look at Consumer Reports test results the Michelin Xi 3 tire is very poor at stopping on wet or dry roads. I chose the Primacy Alpin PA 3 Michelin Tire instead because it does better on those surfaces, and still retains excellent snow and ice performance. The Primacy is the Replacement model for the disconti nued Pilot Alpin PA 3.

 

If you look at TireRack.com test you will see Michelin Xi3 is top rated and does very well on dry and wet surfaces keeping in mind we buy snow tires for superior performance in "chain up" conditions of ice, snow and slush and the Michelin Xi3 excels in those conditions.

Having spent recent weeks driving around in the Great Blizzard of 2012 I can attest that Michelin XI3's went in all conditions even where four wheel drive trucks without snow tires were spinning their wheels. If you want the security of knowing you can go in the harshest winter conditions, the Xi3 lives up to its rating as one the top DOT winter rated snow tires.

 

Speaking of gettin lucky,I got a set of like new snows on alloys w/ lugnuts off Craigslist from a coast guard guy transferred to Alabama .He was asking $200,so that's what I gave him.

Steve....cape cod/brooklyn,CT

 

If you look at Consumer Reports you will see Michelin Xi3 and Xi2 are the No. 1 and No. 2 rated winter tires and both topped the dry and wet pavement tests. The Alpin PA is not even tested. Your information appears to be wrong.

 

I looked at Consumer Reports this evening. Your information appears to be wrong again, Proxy.

While the Michelin Xi3 and Xi2 top CU's 'Winter Tire' category ratings for snow traction and ice braking, they bottom the ratings for wet and dry braking:


CU's recommendation for this tire class:

But wait, there is more:

Isn't that the 3rd tire here in CU's 'Performance Winter Tire' class, with a much better score and wet and dry braking then your Michelin Xi3 and Xi2s?:

 

Most people everywhere do not use winter tires. That's one reason there are all the funny ice driving videos on youtube. One of the "advantages" people in Minnesota have is the temperature. Traction is worst within 5 degrees of freezing and if it is sufficiently cold pretty much any tire works.
In any conditions with snow, however, dedicated snow tires have better traction. Even in conditions where you have enough traction to get the car moving, the car with snow tires will steer better and stop better than the car with all-season tires. And that is the reason I am driving on X-Ice tires this winter.

EDIT: the problem with the above charts is the lack of numeric data. Does the black circle mean 5 feet longer stopping distance or 50 feet? I'll stick to reports that present the data and allow me to interpret the results.

 

I think the thread is more about integrating winter tires into one's driving routine.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

 

Per Consumer Reports, the Xi3 is a true winter tire while the Alpin is in a different category of "winter performance tires". It is why the Alpin does not appear in winter tire comparison by Consumers and why tires that do cross over like the Nokian Happapalita are rated lower than the top rated winter tire, the Xi3.

 

ProximalSuns has been reincarnated again.

CU put Winter Tires and Performance Winter Tires to the very same tests, but with different tire sizes typical of the likely users.

"Snow traction:
Snow traction reflects the distance our test car needed to accelerate from 5 to 20 mph on moderately packed snow.

Ice braking:
We tested ice braking on a skating rink from 10 to 0 mph.

Dry braking:
Dry braking is from 60 to 0 mph."

The Michelin X-ice tires look like an excellent choice for colder inland folks continually driving on snow and ice.

But for lowland coastal folks like me, winter driving is 95+% on very wet roads with just a bit of snow and ice time at Stevens Pass or Mount Hood Meadows. For this use, the X-ice's bottom-ranked wet and dry braking and below average hydroplaning resistance is a deal breaker. There are better choices available.

 

Well I would disagree. I spent the last 9 years living in Colorado and the law there does NOT reqiuire winter or snow tires to go through mountain passes until the weather is severe enough to require chains to travel. When restrictions are put in place, the requirement is to have "M&S" (mud and snow) rated tires. This rating is present on virtually all "All Season" tires. The CDOT FAQ states "This level requires the use of snow tires or traction devices such as cable chains, etc. Snow tires must have the mud and snow (M/S) or all weather rating from the manufacturer on the side wall."

Living there for 9 years and traving ove 12,000 foot passes each year in the winter, I never had the need for dedicated snow tires. Note this was while driving an AWD sports sedan, not a Prius.