Michelin demonstrated the X-Ice Snow's winter performance capabilities in a variety of handling, braking and cornering courses at Circuit Mecaglisse. See more from the ride 'n' drive!
Madeleine Winer is Editor of Tire Review magazine. She joined the Tire Review staff as a senior editor in 2017. Before joining the tire industry, she worked as a producer and reporter at the Louisville Courier Journal. She is a graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and speaks Spanish fluently.
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After a 20-in. snowfall in the St. Saveur mountains 80 miles outside Montreal, Michelin North America took members of the media to motorsports complex Circuit Mecaglisse to experience the company’s newest winter tire – the Ice X-Snow.
Built with a new tread design and compound package, the X-Ice Snow and X-Ice Snow SUV replace Michelin’s X-Ice Xi3 and Latitude X-Ice Xi2. At the track, Michelin demonstrated the X-Ice Snow’s winter performance capabilities in a variety of handling, braking and cornering courses. Scroll down to see more from the ride ‘n’ drive.
The snowfall outside Manoir St. Saveur, about 45 minutes from Montreal, where Michelin hosted dealers, distributors and members of the media for the launch of the X-Ice Snow. A side-by-side comparison of the Michelin X-Ice 3 (left) and new X-Ice Snow. A snow-covered Circuit Mecaglisse played host to Michelin’s X-Ice Snow tire launch with different stations set up around the rally track to test the tire’s performance capabilities. The complex features more than 9 miles (15 kilometers) of various courses, which Michelin used to test the X-Ice Snow’s handling, cornering and braking performances in deep snow, packed snow and ice. Michelin tested the X-Ice Snow in a worn state (4/32-in. of tread depth) against its competitors in a deep snow handling course at Circuit Mecaglisse.The X-Ice Snow was tested against its competitors in new and worn states on Hyundai Elantras in addition to Ford Escape, which were equipped with all-wheel drive. The Michelin X-Ice Snow features a V-shaped tread design that uses 100% of the tire’s contact patch to for grip on snow, wet, ice and slush, Michelin says. Michelin tested the X-Ice Snow on a handling track at Circuit Mecaglisse using all-wheel-drive Ford Escapes. Participants tested the tire against its top competitors taking the tire around sharp turns in a slalom course and steep corners in the rally track. The Michelin X-Ice Snow features two different types of sipes on its tread compound for additional biting edges on snow and ice. The sipes are built to last until 2/32-in. of tread depth, Michelin says.Participants tested the X-Ice Snow in a deep snow course at Circuit Mecaglisse, about 80 miles north of Montreal. The X-Ice Snow features improved compounding from the Michelin X-Ice 3, the tire’s 8-year-old predecessor it’s replacing. The tread is built with Michelin’s Flex-Ice 2.0 compound, a full-silica compounding that allows the tire to stay flexible in frigid conditions, and the company’s EverGrip Technology, a rigid polymer-based inclusion tread compound that helps with improved grip on both snow and ice throughout the tire’s lifetime.
The Kenda Klever M/T2 is a second-generation tire that features Kenda’s T3 Triple Threat sidewall, an optimized tread compound and interlocking tread blocks for aggressive off-road performance, Kenda says.
Madeleine Winer is Editor of Tire Review magazine. She joined the Tire Review staff as a senior editor in 2017. Before joining the tire industry, she worked as a producer and reporter at the Louisville Courier Journal. She is a graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor's degree in journalism and speaks Spanish fluently.
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