Author Topic: X-Ice Performance Reviews (Read 2123 times)

spyglass · « **on:** December 04, 2004, 02:55:23 pm »

I'm in Sudbury and the past few days we've had a crap load of snow 15+cm, ice and slush and since I recently got 8 x-ice tires I thought post some feedback.

I'm very disappointed by the tire. In the deep snow they were adequate, I plowed through a parking lot with virgin 15+cm of snow without too many problems, so I thought they might not be that bad, but the real test came when I started to do road driving with lots of slush on the road. My ABS was on constantly even where I could see the road was relatively clear but wet. My old Toyo's were ten times better, and I'd even put the Crappy tire icetraks better than these.

As for quiet, they're definately quiet, and a bit more squishy than I'm used to. I don't know about the wear, but with that much slipping I was really pissed off. I've only put them on my Golf TDI, and they're not mounted yet on my Accord V6. I'm going to return the X-Ice set for the accord to Costco and try and get a hold of some KW19's or Crappy Tire IceTraks if any are still around.

Other opinions welcome, lets hear some feedback on these "new and improved" tires from Michelin. I'd put the alpins on my friends car as better performers than these. Ofcourse it could be that the tires need to be broken in more, who knows, I'll keep this post updated.

(Message edited by spyglass on December 04, 2004)

ericthejet · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2004, 06:51:07 pm »

I have 4 Alpins on my civic, 2nd year. They work great on my car and I have been happy with their performance in most conditions. They work great on dry and wet roads, so-so in slush and deep wet snow.

bluebook · « **Reply #2 on:** December 04, 2004, 06:57:02 pm »

thanks spyglass for posting your impressions. I was going to buy the X-ice tires. Tell us when you have them broken in a bit... Maybe I'll just get them Blizzaks. Have you ever tried the Blizzaks?

Jay

panda_tsx · « **Reply #3 on:** December 05, 2004, 05:31:24 am »

how many kms do you have on the tires?

I had 0 kms on mine when winter first came, it was raining all day then it froze at night giving tons of ice. I put the tires on when i got home, went out for a drive and they were really slippery on the ice. I have now about 500kms, and things are feeling alot better, i usually do heavy braking on ice/hard packed snow to test the performance and i must say you have to give the tires time to break in a little before they'll seriously bite.

I have the Nokian RSi's btw, but i've read a norweigian test on the Xice's and they are similar in performance... so before you give yourself a headache, give them some kms if you have any dry roads around.

gigahertz99 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 07, 2004, 04:30:10 pm »

Well let's just say I've been running my x-ice for the last month so the breaking in has been done on dry pavement. For the last week we had everything from slush, ice and snow on our road and I have to say my x-ice have been proving me that I've done the right choice. I'm a Artic Alpine fan and from now on I'm a X-Ice fanatic. I'm the kind of F1 driver when it come's to getting behing the wheel, and the traction is awesome.

I give the X-Ice a 10 in ratings.

zoomzoom_girl · « **Reply #5 on:** December 08, 2004, 11:24:09 am »

I'm in Sudbury too and, as you know, yesterday we got quite the storm! Freezing rain followed by ice pellets then 16+cm of snow/slush. Pretty much the ultimate test for any winter tire. I was considering the Michelins too but opted for the Yokohama Iceguard IG721 on my Mazda3 Sport. Aside from a bit of spin going up a very steep hill (on Frood Road), they were incredible! Dealt with over ankle deep unplowed snow, slush, ice with fantastic traction. Mind you my driving style (careful, no speeding in a blizzard unlike most other Sudbury drivers) probably has alot to do with winter performance, but for those who haven't gotten their winter tires yet I can highly recommend the Yokohamas.