Michelin Alpine fails driveway test
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 344
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From: Battle Ground WA
C63AMG, NIssan NX2000, Pontiac Fiero GT
Michelin Alpine fails driveway test
Bridgestones where art thou? I've had three sets of them at my current address with good results on a partially cleared winter driveway . Went to Michelin Alpines and just spent an hour and 4 "dig outs" to get into the garage. Very disappointed. The snow and thin layer of slush/ice had been about 75% cleared. Before trying the C63 my little Nissan NX with worn Bridgestones grass hopped up with no problem. The Michelins only likes 95% blacktop in my opinion. They are slush and ice makers. Do not know how they rate the snowflake logo. Great on the cold roads. Not much better than an MS tire in snow. Think before spending the extra$.
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Joined: Aug 2011
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From: toronto ontario
2010 C63
Bridgestones where art thou? I've had three sets of them at my current address with good results on a partially cleared winter driveway . Went to Michelin Alpines and just spent an hour and 4 "dig outs" to get into the garage. Very disappointed. The snow and thin layer of slush/ice had been about 75% cleared. Before trying the C63 my little Nissan NX with worn Bridgestones grass hopped up with no problem. The Michelins only likes 95% blacktop in my opinion. They are slush and ice makers. Do not know how they rate the snowflake logo. Great on the cold roads. Not much better than an MS tire in snow. Think before spending the extra$.
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2012 C63 coupe
I also had the Michelin Alpin on my M3 and they SUCKED!! They were useless in any snow or ice. I scared myself several times during the winter I had those tires and sold them after only one winter. I now have Blizzak LM-60 on the C63 and the car is really capable in any amount of snow as long as it isn't so deep that I snow plow. The C63 with 443 ft.lbs of torque is a MUCH better car in the snow than my M3 with 295 ft.lbs was but only because of the tires.
Now, the one area where the Michelin shined was on cold dry roads... they were better than the Blizzaks in that regard. IMO, the Michelin's are closer to a performance all season than a winter tire.
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2012 C63 AMG Black Series
You all ned to try Hankook W310s! I swear by these now. On a snow covered road I can overtake anyone easily. The are great in the dry cold too. As well the wear is unbelievable! Im so happy with these tires! I live by a big hill north of toronto and had no trouble going up in snow, ice or slush (there isn't any way to get a good run up either!) This car can be great in the snow! Getting off the line is tough at times lol but not impossible. If you guys want IMO the best all-round winter tire for the money I strongly recommend W310s!
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2012 C63 coupe
You all ned to try Hankook W310s! I swear by these now. On a snow covered road I can overtake anyone easily. The are great in the dry cold too. As well the wear is unbelievable! Im so happy with these tires! I live by a big hill north of toronto and had no trouble going up in snow, ice or slush (there isn't any way to get a good run up either!) This car can be great in the snow! Getting off the line is tough at times lol but not impossible. If you guys want IMO the best all-round winter tire for the money I strongly recommend W310s!
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Joined: Aug 2008
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From: PA
09 C63
They are a good tire. For pure winter performance, they are in between the Blizzaks (best) and the Michelin for snow and ice in my experience (had them on a car a couple of years back). They are better than the Blizzaks on dry pavement though so maybe a better compromise. How do you find the ride? I found them quite harsh.
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Joined: Jun 2011
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2012 C63 AMG Black Series
They are a good tire. For pure winter performance, they are in between the Blizzaks (best) and the Michelin for snow and ice in my experience (had them on a car a couple of years back). They are better than the Blizzaks on dry pavement though so maybe a better compromise. How do you find the ride? I found them quite harsh.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,288
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From: Canada
2014 E63S Wagon
I'm on Blizzaks WS-60s for a pure winter tire (rather than LM-60s), and they've been fantastic so far. No problem with overtaking people on dry days, and snow/wet/icy days they still have a lot of grip. never got stuck on the driveway either!
Going easy on the throttle + c mode during the winter goes a long way too. Being able to start from 2nd gear from a stop is a godsend.
Going easy on the throttle + c mode during the winter goes a long way too. Being able to start from 2nd gear from a stop is a godsend.
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Joined: May 2008
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From: MD
Cars.
I'll be ordering all seasons. I haven't gotten an inch of snow this year...that could be due to the fact that temps have been hovering in the 40's,50's and 60's all winter long, and I'm in Maryland.
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From: Northern VA
W211
245-40R-18 Michelin Alpin Pilot PA3 tires i picked up a set of these w/rial rims from another member on the boards. Member swears by them and got him around during last year's winter with no trouble. This winter, no snow at all of course when i have these on my car right now.
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2012 C63 coupe
W310s are less than a year old. You probably had W300s. The new tire is much improved! The ride is stiff but the car is stiff regardless so its not very noticeable. They improved the snow/wet traction with the new tire so it handles better in worse weather. Dry performance is still great though.
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Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Halifax, Canada
2006 BMW 330i, 2009 C63
Probably, the worst tire I have ever used. I could not go anywhere when it was snowing. I have Blizzak WS60 on the car now and they are amazing. Drove 100 km in a snow storm with no problems what so ever.
George
George
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2012 C63 coupe
I am convinced that folks who like the snow/ice winter performance of the Pilot Alpin don't drive in similar conditions to what we would. In wet snow and slush they are horrible. On powdery stuff they are OK. We had a long debate on M3Post on these tires and there were some guys who swore they were great and others (many more) who felt they were just horrible. We came to the conclusion that they do OK in some winter conditions but east coast weather (snow/rain/ice all mixed in) and they don't do well. I think they are OK for central and western winter weather where snow is more powder like than ice/slush like.
I have owned a lot of different winter tires in the last 24 years and these were by FAR the worst in the type of snow we get here.
In my experience, the winter tires I have owned rated in terms of winter (snow, slush and ice) performance from best to worst would be as follows:
Michelin X-Ice
LM-60 (best compromise for my needs)
Hankook W300
LM-25
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 (scary in bad conditions)
In cold, dry winter conditions, the rating would be exactly reversed for me... the PA3 are by FAR the best.
Last edited by gthal; Mar 3, 2012 at 09:14 AM.
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From: Denver, CO
'09 SL Black, '12 ML63, '13 SL63, '14 E63 Wagon, '14 458 Italia
Just have to put in a good work for Conti DWSs - I run them in the winter months here, and I have never gotten stuck (had them on my C63 and have them on my CLS63). Since Denver sees a lot of dry-but-cold days too, I also really appreciate that these tires handle impressively close to summer tires when pushed - very little mushy feeling at the limit.
