Can One Tire Really Work In Every Climate? Michelin CrossClimate2 Is Made For Any Weather3-Peak Mountain Snowflake Tire That You Can Use Year Round.How is it possible for a tire to perform well in all four seasons? How does something that has the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake, which is a certification of winter performance, also have wear characteristics that hold up to hot summer temperatures, all while stacking up against today’s best all-season tires?
source/image(PrtSc): Engineering Explained
First off, I think there’s some important backstory. I was looking for a tire for my Crosstrek that I could genuinely leave on four all four seasons. Why? Because I’m lazy. In my research, the best tire I could find was the Michelin CrossClimate+, an all-season tire certified for winter conditions. So, that’s what I bought. Well, as it turns out, Michelin had already been working on another version of the this tire, the CrossClimate 2, and they asked me if I’d be interested in trying it out early.
So overall – what’s the strategy? On one hand you can have a winter tire. It’s great in deep snow & ice compared to other tires, but not as great at dry or wet braking in higher temperatures, nor great for dry handling. On the other hand you can have a summer tire – excellent performance in dry and usually wet as well, great handling when the temperatures are nice, but you definitely don’t want to drive on these in snowy or icy conditions, or even really cold temperatures depending on the tire.
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Very big picture, what we have here is a tire that uses a compound that’s quite similar to a winter compound, but it uses a tread pattern that’s more similar to a summer tread pattern, in that it has very few sipes and cuts, which puts the tire in a very unique position. The ability to be a certified 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake Tire, and thanks to the tread pattern, significantly less wear than a traditional winter tire when it’s driven on in summer months. Watch the video for all the details!//via/read more: Engineering Explained
