An Eye-Opener Thanks to Michelin
To introduce their newest winter tire, the X-Ice Xi3, Michelin recently held a winter tire test on Ile Ste-Helene in Montreal. The event, open to the press as well as some lucky facebook contest winners, was presented by Carl Nadeau, racing driver, drifting instructor and Michelin Academy chief instructor. For the occasion the Michelin people setup sections of the parking lot to simulate specific driving conditions which inevitably catch drivers off guard during winter. Notably, straight line braking, evasive maneuver and rear end loss of traction using a slippery water-soaked plastic carpet and, finally, emergency lane changes on dry pavement. The temperature, a cool 5C, was perfect. Test speeds were between 20 and 50 km/h.
Sounds simple you think? Well, many participants consistently failed the first run of every test. Why? Because we overdo it and react too abruptly explain the skilled onboard instructors.
Coached by the instructors, we learned how simple yet proven driving tactics, combined with first-rate tires, produce impressive results in slippery as well as dry pavement conditions. Ah, you say; all I need is the proper technique, not tires! Well, to test our newly acquired “skills”, the good folks from Michelin also provided an identical vehicle shod with a popular well known competing snow tires of equal price and quality. Did Michelin choose the ideal tire to highlight their X-Ice Xi3...? In any case, with the competing tires, we nearly all failed to recover the sliding vehicle and, for those who did, it required major steering wheel twirling and fast reflexes. Control was definitely easier with the Michelin tires.
The new Michelin X-Ice Xi3 technology promises shorter stopping distances, better control on slippery as well as dry pavement and up to 60 000 winter kilometres of tread life. From our brief testing, the stopping and control affirmations are palpable, as for tread life, only time will tell as they say.
Now that you appreciate the importance of winter tires, want to learn more? Try the interactive Michelin Winter Driving Academy web page offering winter driving tips and techniques complete with videos. For the hands-on type, Carl Nadeau teaches preventive driving at his driving school. Based on our brief conversation, Carl is a fun guy with a keen teaching sense and his training is without doubt informative as well as entertaining.