Winter Tires - Bridgestone WS80 vs. Michelin Xi-3

"DasWauto" (DasWauto) 12/03/2014 at 09:30 • Filed to: more grippy because slippy

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I'll be putting winter tires on my Golf shortly and the two tires above are my most likely candidates. I know there are people here with the Bridgestones and the Michelins are supposedly excellent and accordingpy popular so there must be some of those here as well. As such, what is your opinion on them and does anyone have experience with both?

Based on the appearance of the tread patterns, I feel like the Blizzaks will deal better with snow accumulation, slush and wet weather (because bigger channels between lugs) while the X-ices would be superior on fuel economy, dry and ice grip (because tighter spacing on treadblocks for less rolling resistance, less movement for handling and more sipes). Conversely, the bigger lugs/spacing would negativepy affect dry/ice grip and fuel economy of the Bridgestone compared to the Michelin, which wouldnt be able to divert as much water/slush/snow with it's tighter treads. What little I've read on the interwebs about each seams to jive with that. Thoughts?

Mk7 Golf pre-production winter testing because it seemed relevant.

Reposted for the morning crowd in the hopes of some more feedback. Thanks.

bob and john > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 20:42

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we were micihilen ppl through and through befroe hand.

now, for winter we run marangoni 4 ICE+

seriously, best winter tire ever. our FWD audi A3 TDI with those out performs out AWD is250 on x-ice 2's in the winter

Racescort666 > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 20:56

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Tire rack ranked the Blizzaks above the Michelins. I know there's at least one opponaut that's got the Blizzaks but Im not sure if he's provided an update on them yet.

IMO, either would be an excellent choice but check the reviews on tire rack before making your final decision.

DasWauto > Racescort666 12/02/2014 at 21:14

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I will do that. I should also see if they ship to Canada and if I might save any money buying and shipping from there. Thanks for the tip.

Agrajag > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 21:15

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I jus put Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2's on my GTI. From everything I've read they're pretty much the standard in Europe and Russia. Nokian invented the winter tire.

DasWauto > bob and john 12/02/2014 at 21:17

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I've never even heard of that brand but I'll look into them. Where did you buy them?

bob and john > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 21:20

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we got ours from the audi dealership.

my dad was VERY skeptical. "what do the italians know about winter tires?" the dude at the dealship got him to try them, and now hes changed for life. I think our lexus will be getting them this year as well.

they also LAST. we have had ours for 5 years now. still has 1/2 the tread. so no grip lost between tire changes

DasWauto > Agrajag 12/02/2014 at 21:20

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I've seen them mentioned in high regard elsewhere but I can't seem to price them out on any Canadian sites. I think someone has exclusive sales rights (can't remember who) to them here in Canada so I might have to find their nearest store and call it.

DasWauto > bob and john 12/02/2014 at 21:24

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High praise. The nearest Audi dealer is at least an hour away so I'll see if my VW dealer has them and look around online.

How do you find the handling compared to summer or all season tires and do you notice much of an effect on fuel economy?

Agrajag > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 21:31

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Also important to note they had zero impact on my fuel economy. Driving conservatively I averaged 37mpg on the 3.5 hour trip to my Dad's. On the way back I drove less conservatively (normally)and still managed 31mpg.

bob and john > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 21:32

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there is a drop in fuel econ (3-4mpg?) on avg. keep in mind this is on our TDI.

they are also quite noisy in comparison to our summer tires (continental contisportcontant)

handling: just like the contis, but in the cold and wet and slush and snow. couple that with the AWESOME ESP in the audi, and i honestly have no issue driving at what I would call a spirited pace in the summer during the winter months.

DasWauto > bob and john 12/02/2014 at 21:39

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So <10% impact on fuel economy? That's perfectly livable, especially since a small reduction in fuel economy typically accompanies winter anyway. Thanks for the recommendation.

bob and john > DasWauto 12/02/2014 at 21:43

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yep.

we cant recommend these tires enough. almost to the point where my dad want to try a set of their summer stuff to see how that works out in comparison to the contis (VS getting pilot sports for a A3 tdi)

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > DasWauto 12/03/2014 at 01:09

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I have the WS80s on my FiST and I like them, although I haven't tried the x-ice 3's so I can't help you there. I got mine from Costco and I'm in Alberta. My dad likes his x-ice 3's. I saw fuel consumption go from 8.1l/100km to 8.3l/100km.

DasWauto > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. 12/03/2014 at 09:30

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Excellent, thanks for the feedback. Costco is what I was looking at as well. They have both of the above tires and prices are comparable so I couldn't decide just on that. I'll head over to the nearest one this week or weekend if I get the chance.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > DasWauto 12/03/2014 at 09:36

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I basically figured the WS80s would have the edge since they are a bit newer. I do feel like the ice handling isn't quite as good as the snow handling, which is excellent.

Nibbles > DasWauto 12/03/2014 at 09:40

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I bought a set of WS80s last week. Haven't had any snow yet, so I can't report on their ability. They apparently sell out everywhere and have excellent reviews online, so there is that

spanfucker retire bitch > DasWauto 12/03/2014 at 09:46

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TireRack currently has a video out of ice capabilities (they said they're waiting for more snowfall for the "real world" tests).

Michelin and Bridgestone were ranked the highest in terms of time to accelerate and time to stop on the ice rink. Then in a very close third and fourth were the Yokohama iG52c and whatever the Dunlop ones were called.

So, at least in terms of ice performance, you can't go wrong with either the Blizzaks or X-i-3. But the Blizzak WS80s haven't been on the market quite long enough yet for a real, real good comparison between the two.

spanfucker retire bitch > Agrajag 12/03/2014 at 09:47

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Yeah, Nokians are pretty much the best winter tires, hands down. But god are they expensive.

DasWauto > spanfucker retire bitch 12/03/2014 at 12:40

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I actually ended up watching that video last night, I like their methods and it's pretty informative.

George McNally > DasWauto 12/11/2014 at 22:18

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Tread pattern is only part of the story....the real magic are the compounds each manufacturer uses.

Anima > DasWauto 03/12/2015 at 16:57

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Just picked a random old post to comment on since our great overlord Kinja doesn't have a private message function, nor the function to see where your post are being shared to.

And that is what is was wondering. What blog did you share/repost my post to? I'm totally fine with it, just curious. :)

DasWauto > Anima 03/12/2015 at 17:07

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The notification doesn't tell you? I thought it did. Anyway, I shared it to Oppositeblog , which has pretty well taken over the function of the Best of Oppo. It's a sort of reader's digest for Oppo and I know the Jalop editors use it to pick posts to share sometimes as well.

Anima > DasWauto 03/12/2015 at 17:11

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Ok, thanks! And nope, Kinja apparently no longer deems it necessary for you to know what happens with your posts.