Michelin Winter Tires — For Special Weather Conditions

Michelin winter tires help deliver extreme grip on ice and snow, excellent braking and handling, and exceptional confidence in challenging winter driving conditions without compromising the tread life of the tires. Basically winter tires are those specifically designed tires which provide increased traction on snow and ice or in extreme cold weather conditions. Good winter tires are differentiated from their all-season counterparts in look and feel due to their tread pattern and rubber compound used. For example, new Michelin X-Ice and Michelin Latitude X-Ice are some of the top rated winter tires to help every driver to overcome ice and snow covered roads.

Basically, the Michelin winter tire Michelin X-Ice has been created for passenger vehicles and minivans, while Michelin Latitude X-Ice in ten additional sizes for light trucks and SUVs. Sipes, or narrow slits found in each tread block, are other features common to winter tires. These contribute to both the flexibility and the biting ability of the tire in cold weather, e.g. in Michelin X-Ice dense pattern of cross directional z-shaped sipes engineered for excellent braking and traction while maintaining handling. Basically these are tread pattern and the rubber compound which are essential factors to perform on the snowy or icy roads in peak winter seasons.

Basically, winter tires maintain flexibility at lower temperatures for good traction and their specially designed treat pattern and their longitudinal zig zag grooves also provide exceptional deep-snow traction. Michelin's newest winter tire products are designed to improve braking, traction and handling for passenger cars and vans, light trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUV) in snowy and icy conditions. Moreover, Michelin's new evolution Stress Equilibrium Casing is responsible for extended and even tire wear. According to a document issued by the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC), the rubber compounds used in 'Michelin all-season' tires begin to lose elasticity at temperatures below seven degrees Celsius, So, the compounds used in winter tires are designed to maintain their flexibility at lower temperatures, a characteristic essential to good traction. The RAC also notes that while tires must provide a minimum of 10 percent better traction in severe snow conditions to earn the title, most provide between a 30 and 50 percent improvement over standard all-season tires.

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