Snow Tires - Blizzak versus X-Ice ??

Hi - I'll be experiencing my first ever true winter this year,
as I've never lived this far north before. A lot of people up
here swear by the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 (for an Accord) as
THE dedicated winter tire of choice to fend off "non-desirable
non-directional travel" during ice and snow storms. I see some
positive comments about the Blizzak on this board as well. But
a salesman at Canadian Tire was trying to sway me on the Michelin
X-Ice, which he said is "a vastly superior tire to the Blizzak".
So I asked him, "Have you ever driven it?" and he said "Yes".
But then I mentioned that the X-Ice is brand new (in Canada,
at least), so he admitted that he had HEARD they were better,
but didn't know from first-hand experience, and proceeded to
fly into a speech about every eighth block of rubber on the
tire being specially designed, etc. etc. etc. Has anyone in the
States (where the X-Ice has been out for awhile) driven the X-Ice?
Online reviews are pretty sparse, but I'd really like to know about
this tire versus the Blizzak WS-50. Thanks. - Paul

 

Hi Paul,
Michelin's press release on this tire
(http://www.michelinman.com/difference/releases/pressrelease02132004a.html)
indicates it was offered for sale in the US in August of this year,
so it doesn't seem likely you will find much experience with it.


Given that it is a much newer tire than the Blizzak, I would
expect it to be better, and more expensive. That said, the Blizzak
is an excellent tire, although it does wear quickly and won't
tolerate being left on in hot weather. Michelin doesn't claim
that their tire will wear well (usually a strong point of
Michelin's) and in fact, has wear indicators on the tread, so it
may be little different from the Blizzak.

If it was me, I don't think I would reward the Canadian Tire
salesman for lying to me by buying tires from him though.
There are lots of good (usually independent) tire shops around.

It is a good idea to have separate steel rims for your winter tires,
and it is imperative to put them on all four wheels.

Dan

(This account is not used for email.)

 

Paul, I'm glad you brought up this topic.

I too was wondering about the X-Ice Michelins but figured I'd go with tried
and tested rubber... I don't want to spent $700can for a set of tires that
are just OK.

I am shopping for either Blizzaks or Nokian Hakkapeliitta 1 tires for my '04
Accord . I've had a set of Blizzaks on our '98 Chevy Malibu for the past
four years and can say from first-hand experience that they (Blizzaks) are
amazing.

Rob's Tires on Yonge quoted a price of $125ea for Blizzaks... that'll be
around $1200 for my wife's Malibu and my Accord. Seems like a lot until ya
figure 4yrs on a set of snows, so 1200/2 cars/4 years=$150/car/yr.

 

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/topics/winter/wtirlise.htm

 

Hi Dan - Thanks for your suggestions - that was very helpful. After
all the positive remarks I've seen re: the Blizzak, that will be the
way I'll go in the absence of a "track record" (no pun intended) with
the x-ice. And yeah, Canadian Tire have kind of disappointed me with
their automotive department service (or lack thereof), so a good
independent tire center as per your suggestion will definitely be on
my agenda. I'll also take your advice on the separate steel rims.
Thanks again! - Paul

 

Hi - Rob's Tires on Yonge? Great - I appreciate the tip, as I'm new to
Toronto and still trying to find my bearings. Seems like there are
about six or seven (maybe more) "Firestone and Bridgestone" tire
shops up in SW Ont area, and Piil's in Hamilton quoted me the
following for my accord:

4 - 185/70/14 WS50 installed, balanced, valves & Alignment
with taxes at $586.22 CDN Seems like a pretty good deal.

I'll keep pricing this out at a few other places in Oakville,
Burlington, Hamilton, and Mississauga. Along with Rob's Tires,
of course. Thanks for your response. - Paul

 

Hey you wild Canucks,

I was just digging around on the web yesterday looking for a good
price on WS50's for our new Accord. I had good luck a few years ago
buying Blizzaks from tirerack.com for its predecessor (an old saab
900)...you might look into whether they'll ship to Canada.

I left my notes at home, but I think the price was about 500-600 U.S.
for a set of 4, without shipping (they occasionally will offer free
ground shipping). That's mounted on steel wheels, and balanced, and
incl. some plastic wheelcovers. I just swap 'em myself each spring
and fall.

Rob

 

Thank you Yankee! ;-)

 

I've decided to get a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi tires.

They even have a neat tread depth gauge built into the tire labled 8-6-4. As
the tires wear the numbers wear off from highest to lowest indicating the
current tread depth.

Looks neat too.

http://ca.geocities.com//RSi.jpg

 

Rally car drivers in North America use almost exclusively Blizzak's for
their superior traction. the tradeoff is of course they wear faster than
Michelin Alpine's. I'm not sure how the X-Ice compares. Michelin's tend to
sacrifice some traction for longer life but again i'm not sure how the
X-Ice's stack up.

 

Hi - Thanks for your input. I went ahead yesterday and got the
Blizzaks put on my '92 Accord, though I decided to keep the Michelin
HydroEdge on my new '04 Accord. I'm in Toronto, and went out whizzing
around on Hiway 401 at rush hour to get a feel for how they handle.
The Blizzaks definitely grip the pavement more than any other tire
I've ever driven, though an attempt at fast acceleration (if one can
even speak of such things with only 125 hp) met with screeching tires
and ineffective results. The moral is to slow things down a bit with
this tire, but of course I should be doing that anyway in winter
driving. Its logical that the Blizzak feels somewhat "bouncy" with
all that extra rubber (a bit more sway as well), but I really do feel
safer in them. Some parts of the northern GTA got ice last night, and
I managed to hit a few good patches this morning with no sliding and
no white knuckles. So far so good, though the rest of the winter will
ultimately tell the tale. - Paul