Last year, I had the opportunity to test the Michelin X-Ice Snow tires in the most extreme conditions, under the storm and the violent snowfalls (read all the details here...).
This year, I will be more reasonable. Or not… Because I decided to equip my gleaming family car, a Mazda3 already a few years old, with these same tires, whose performance impressed me on my first test drive.
The X-Ice snow had indeed offered the best performance compared to the competition in a worn-out format. So I’ll have to wait a few months, even next year, to have the same conditions.
However, this time, I will have the opportunity to test them on a hardened surface, just when winter hasn’t hit hard yet, but the roads will be cooled to less than 5 degrees Celsius.
Since I live in the city, I will also be able to validate their urban use, test the braking and make sure that they will be as effective in corners as they were on track last winter. I’ll even encourage my wife to do some testing. She hates winter driving at a level that may seem a bit excessive. But you will have the opportunity to follow our winter adventures on Blackcircles.ca throughout the season.
Michelin X-Ice Snow
Why X-Ice snow? Because they are the newest and most advanced next-generation Michelin winter tires.
This tire was created for optimum performance in Canadian road conditions and was tested here at home. While the Xi2 and Xi3 series tires intended to replace performed quite well on an icy surface, their ability to grip a snow-covered surface was not as convincing. That’s what the engineers were working on: improving handling when there’s a lot of snow on the road.
We’ll see how things go over the next few months. Follow us!
