Best Passenger Car Michelin I've Ever Had
Written: Jun 09 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High-speed dry handling, improved wet traction, good traction on snow
Cons: None discernible at this point - half tread life
The Bottom Line: You can buy cheaper tires, but I am willing to pay extra for high-speed handling, all season versatility and confidence. The X-Ones deliver all three.
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| fidotiger's Full Review: Michelin X-One Passenger/Performance Tire |
A small confession: for the last 25 years, I have had nothing but Michelin tires, so this assessment is against other Michelin tires. Before getting to the specifics of the X-One, I need to say that I have driven in the worst blizzards that Canada can produce and have never once been stuck with Michelin all-seasons - and that is with a rear wheel drive car (for the curious, Peugeot 5-series - one 505 sedan, a 504 wagons and a 505 wagon - some of best chassis-engineered cars on the road and a perfect match for the tires) I have passed SUVs upside down in the ditch, but the Michelins (and the Pugs) have always pulled me through. That said, I have noticed that aside from excellent handling, some of the earlier Michelins were a tad slippery on wet roads. I once had to do an emergency stop on wet roads with a set of XZX's on my 504 wagon, and I learned a lot about the friction coefficient of tires on wet roads. As a result of that, and experiencing full hydroplaning with an aircraft at about 100 knots, suffice to say that although I will drive fast on dry roads, I am usually the slowest guy on the road when they are wet. I cannot believe how fast people dare to go - and with the wrong vehicles!
OK, back to the X-Ones. I was at first reluctant to accept the recommendation of my mechanic to try them out. The wide, deep groves and apparently limited sipes (the cross cuts) seemed to suggest poor winter grip. The tread pattern looked intuitively wrong for anything but wet roads! Still, I trust my mechanic and he said he used them and liked them, so, still with some skepticism, I told him to go ahead and install them. It turns out that my doubts were unfounded. As I said, when the road conditions are right, I tend to drive fast. My car regularly sees extended stretches at 90-100 mph, sometimes a whisker more. The Michelins are very stable, good, positive control, and, at the right pressure, they run cool.(Like another reviewer, after a long drive, I feel both the tires and the lug nuts to detect tire and bearing/brake problems that would be revealed by excessive temps). Wet weather handling is significantly better than other Michelins - thanks to those big grooves that vent the water. Surprisingly, the winter traction has been good - and I have tested the tires extensively in that environment. I have not noticed a drop in performance at low temps (down to about minus 30) as reported by others. They are probably quiet tires, but at the speeds I drive, my car makes so much wind noise, I couldn't tell!
Once, I got a puncture from a nail in a rear tire, coming out of a parking lot. The tire deflated slowly, allowing me to detect the change in the car's handling and I was able to change the tire before the car went down onto the rim. My mechanic was able to patch it properly.
The Michelin X-One will definitely be my first choice in the future.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 85 a pop
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Epinions.com ID:
fidotiger
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Reviews written: 1
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