Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 vs Michelin X-Ice Snow: We have covered the winter & Nordic segments quite often and even did a comparison of Continental’s TS870 vs Viking Contact 7 to showcase the differences of the 2 segment. We would like a second go at it from a Michelin point of view to compare its winter segment product “Pilot Alpin 5” vs its Nordic segment product of “X-Ice Snow”. The Pilot Alpin 5 is a relatively old tire as it was launched in 2015 while the X-Ice Snow is quite new as it was launch in 2020. In the Continental’s winter vs Nordic fight, we saw a big gap between the summer and winter performances. It would be interesting to see whether this would also hold true for the Michelin’s.
Table of Contents
Are Michelin X-Ice Snow studded?
No. Michelin X-Ice Snow tires are sold as studless and does not have empty stud holes to fit any potential studs.
Results
Results below were taken from tire rack’s “Testing Winter / Snow Tires 2021” test. A total of 3 tires were tested this time around. The graph below shows the comparison between Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 vs Michelin X-Ice Snow based on the relevant performance category. The Pilot Alpin 5 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
Note that for handling evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if the tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%.The tire size of interest is a 225/50R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A4 & Honda Accord. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decrease in a 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. As the winter segment are highly focused in wet, it is not surprising to see Pilot Alpin 5 being way better in wet braking. The X-Ice Snow stopped a whooping 8.8 meters later than the Pilot Alpin 5 !
While in wet handling, the performance edge in wet braking was transferred into a 4.21 seconds advantage in lap time for the Pilot Alpin 5. While in subjective rating, the Pilot Alpin 5 was also rated 1.1 points better compared to X-Ice Snow. Overall in the wet category, Pilot Alpin 5 dominates completely.
X-Ice Snow:
- -20.5% in wet braking
- -5.5% in wet handling (subj)
- -10.9% in wet handling (lap time)
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 consistence level. The strong performance continue for Pilot Alpin 5 as it out braked the X-Ice Snow by 1.95 meters. While in subjective dry handling there was a clear difference as the Pilot Alpin 5 clocked a 7.19/10 rating while X-Ice Snow only managed a 5.44/10 rating. The Pilot Alpin 5 was 0.86 seconds ahead of X-Ice snow in the dry handling lap time. Once again the dry performances are dominated by Pilot Alpin 5.
X-Ice Snow:
- -8.6% in dry braking
- -8.7% in dry handling (subj)
- -2.7% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Normally in a winter & Nordic segment, the noise & comfort is usually not the main requirement. People are more focus on being able to get enough grip while ensuring the car stays on the road. The Pilot Alpin 5 was again the better tire with an overall rating of 7.42/10 compared to the 7.04/10 of X-Ice Snow.
X-Ice Snow:
- -1.9% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Snow
As both tires have the 3 peak mountain sign, we would expect both of them to perform at a high level when it comes to snow. Both tires are required to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation.
When it comes to snow, the X-Ice snow dominated across all test as it should be being the dedicated Nordic segment tire. It stopped 0.26 meters early than Pilot Alpin 5 from a speed of 40 km/h to 0. While it was also quicker in lap time and also subjectively better in snow handling. X-Ice Snow is clearly the better snow tire.
X-Ice Snow:
- +4.1% in snow acceleration
- +1.7% in snow braking
- +2.3% in snow handling (subj)
- +2.1% in snow handling (lap time)
Which Michelin tire is best in snow?
From the results above, it is safe to say that the X-Ice Snow is the best Michelin tire in Snow.
Ice
While there was some differences in snow performances between 2 tires, the real big differentiation comes on ice. With the biggest deficit recorded in the test, the X-Ice Snow managed to out brake the Pilot Alpin 5 by 2.34 meters which translate to 26.6% difference. While it took X-Ice Snow 0.47 seconds faster to accelerate till 60 feet compare to the Pilot Aplin 5. Once again the X-Ice Snow totally “destroyed” Pilot Alpin 5 in ice.
X-Ice Snow:
- +26.6% in ice braking
- +11.7% in ice acceleration
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command on of the highest priced tire in the market. To our surprise, Michelin do not have a price premium for either segments as their prices are very similar to each other.
Tire size: 235/40 R18
Pilot Alpin 5 : $278
X-Ice Snow: : $276
Difference: +0.7% more expensive for Pilot Alpin 5.
Summary
As both tires are from different segments, it can be clearly seen what key performances it is focused on. X-Ice Snow being a Nordic tire, excels strongly in ice & snow while the Pilot Aplin 5 being a winter tire excels strongly in wet & dry performances. There is no clear winner here for this match up as it really depends which part of the world you are using your tires. 🙂