Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 vs Michelin X-Ice SNOW: If you are living in an area which has a cold and long winter, you probably heard of Nordic tires. These are the tires which are designed specifically for snow & ice usage only. In terms of winter performances the typical ranking goes like this, All Season –> Winter –> Nordic–>Studded. We have cover this segment quite a bit with the undisputed best Noridc tire, Continental’s Viking Contact 7 which is the best you can get in this segment. For this time around we would like to bring on 2 different challengers in the form of Bridgestone’s WS90 which was launched in 2019 and also Michelin’s X-Ice SNOW which made its debut in 2020. Let’s put these 2 tires head to head and see who comes up on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Testing Studless Ice & Snow Winter Tires” test. A total of 4 tires were tested this time around in Tire Rack’s own proving ground. The graph below shows the comparison between Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 vs Michelin X-Ice SNOW based on the relevant performance category. The Blizzak WS90 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark. Note that for subjective evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%.
As we are evaluating the Nordic segments, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were also evaluated. However for summer performances, only wet/dry braking & noise were tested as the main focus was on winter tests. The tire size of interest is a 225/50 R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A4 & Honda Accord. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle is a rear wheel drive 2020 BMW F36 430i Gran Coupe with a 17×7.5 rim.
Ice
As what vanilla ice said in his famous song “Ice Ice Baby”, the song sums up the key needs for this particular segment. As the usage conditions are usually around lower than -10°C, ice is the most wanted criteria. This is where we got a mixture of results from the 2 competitors. In ice braking, Blizzak WS90 managed to out-brake X-Ice SNOW by 0.9 feet (0.27m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. Things however turned around for ice traction as X-Ice SNOW took 0.09 seconds less to get to 60 feet.
X-Ice SNOW:
- -2.8% in ice braking
- +2.1% in ice acceleration
Snow
Unlike in ice where things were pretty close, X-Ice SNOW clearly dominates in snow performances. It stopped 4.6 feet (1.4m) earlier than Blizzak WS90 from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was also extremely good when it came to snow acceleration as it took 2.3 feet (0.7m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). While it was also quicker in lap time (3.2 seconds !) and also subjectively better in snow handling (+0.5 points). Overall, X-Ice SNOW as stated in the product name is clearly the better snow tire.
X-Ice SNOW:
- +9.9% in snow braking
- +9.3% in snow acceleration
- +2.5% in snow handling (subj)
- +4.8% in snow handling (lap time)
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. X-Ice SNOW was second best as it trailed Blizzak WS90 7.5 feet (2.3m) in distance at a braking speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
X-Ice SNOW:
- -5.5% in wet braking
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. While things overwhelmingly favored Blizzak WS90 in the wet, it continued in dry as Blizzak WS90 managed to brake 3.8 feet (1.2m) earlier compared to X-Ice SNOW from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
X-Ice SNOW:
- -4.1% in dry braking
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and X-Ice SNOW came out slightly ahead at 7.75/10 rating compared to the 7.17/10 rating of Blizzak WS90 with ride quality & noise being the main differences.
X-Ice SNOW:
- +2.9% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was in alignment as X-Ice SNOW was 36 dollars more expensive than Blizzak WS90.
Tire size: 225/50 R17
X-Ice SNOW: $212
Blizzak WS90: $176
Difference: +17% more expensive for X-Ice SNOW.
Summary
Overall, X-Ice SNOW showed clear dominance in snow & comfort while Blizzak WS90 just was better in wet & dry. With price & the main winter intended usage in mind, X-Ice SNOW is our winner for this duel !