Michelin X-Ice Xi2 vs. Firestone Winterforce

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I am thinking of winter tires for next season and was hoping to hear some opinions on Michelin X-Ice Xi2 or Firestone Winterforces.

These would be going on a Chevy Cruze LS (stock size 215-60-16) and driven in lower New York. 100 mile commute daily and snow (when it does happen) varies anywhere between an inch and a foot.
 
Between those choices, Michelin any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Probably other choices also, read the reviews at Tirerack and Consumers. Things to consider with that long commute is NOISE, cross rotation ability (for cupping), experienced wear (mileage life).

I have Continental ExtremeWinterContacts in that size on my Sonata. Ride great, very quiet, wearing pretty good (I'd need to double check exact mileage for you). I'll get 4 seasons out of them and they will all be at about 6-7/32" and at the snow wear bars which will be just over probably 20k. You can still use and burn off after that but snow performance would be greatly reduced. Most new snows have the snow wear bars and you only get half life of tread. All the Blizzaks only have the multicell for first half tread then "normal" winter compound after that which is not great.

Nokian has some new ones coming out for this year which might be real promising but expensive.

I also have the Altimax Arctics in Larger size on truck. Awesome tires but of course a little louder, not bad but it's a price you pay.

Tirerack tests:
Winterforce tests

X-ice and Conti EWC tests
 
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on that car in a highway commute I'd consider in no particular order


xice xi3
xice xi2

blizzack ws70

conti extremewintercontact(my favorite)

general altimax arctics (stud-able)

yokahama IG30

anything winter rated by nokian.


out of the last the xice xi3 is the newest.. and well optimized for your useage.

ie feels most like standard touring tire,
great ice traction,good snow traction..
some reduction in REALLY deep snow traction due to not having huge voids..
but basically it will take you through any snow that wont rip off your bumper.

there are some new nokians coming out(in fall) but they are very pricy and sometimes hard to acquire.
 
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I'll find my pics and link later but on the Sonata with the EWC's I was able to drive through the parking lot at work with 10" fresh wet snow. They were almost new, just broken in, I was pushing snow and got stuck when I went to turn back (forgot to turn off ESC and throttle got cut). I had to clear a foot behind front tires but was able to back up and then drive back out my tracks.

Car was scraping bottom the whole way.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Can you fit 15" steelies?


I actually have a second set of 16" for the car so I'm really intending to stay stock.

Any other details I left out please let me know - I'm a newb here.
 
What's the price difference and what's your budget?

I used to have Winterforces on one of my trucks. It was the old design, not the new design. They worked pretty well for me.
 
If you want cheap, get the Winterforce. The only problem I've heard of (and experienced) is that the smaller sizes suffer from bad belts.

Mine shake above 55MPH ... always have. They have been road force balanced once or twice, and aren't "bad" enough to warrant getting warrantied.

Also, remember, that a studless tire will perform well without studs added. The winterforce needs studs to be able to perform well in Ice and snow.

Enough complaining about the Winterforces - they're great tires in the snow and ice from what I've experienced. I have been through pretty heavy, wet, deep snow more than once and other than getting hung up on the engine once, they did excellent.
 
I've owned both, on different vehicles. I can say that the Michelin are superior. Disappointed in the Winterforce.
 
Michelin XI-2's or XI-3's over the Winterforce any day of the week. The Michelins will be quieter, have better road manners, and will save fuel compared to the Winterforces.

I'm curious why you didn't get a Eco for that long of a commute. Mine paid the price difference between it and the LS in about 14 months in fuel savings. Not to mention the refinement and passing power of the 1.4T over the 1.8. But that's for a different thread.
 
Thank you everyone already for the insights. Since I didn't state it before, the 100 miles round trip is probably about an 80% main county roads and highway and 20% local roads.

On the price - at least currently (pricing from tirerack in my size without shipping and mounting):

Xi2's are $86 plus $70 rebate off 4 = $274 net
Winterforce's are $88 = $352

Since we are in March I don't need these today, not running until next winter, based on the last two winter's I'm just thinking by next October. I'd like to keep it around that price budget wise but I fully understand you get what you pay for most of the time, and it is always a price vs. performance decision (and saying not more than $90 a tire severely limits my selection) - didn't want to just throw out "tell me the best winter tire to buy."
 
Have decent luck with the mudder-like winterforce getting me around in the heavy snow on the honda fit. Recall Brigestone/firestone makes Blizzaks and these are thier little bro
smile.gif
I went to -2 size (14" steel) and drive no interstate highway in the Winter and run no snows in the rear no problems other than a little belt pull and minor balance issues. My commute is only 23 miles once way. I think my tires were under $60/ea for 185/70r14. Stockers are 195/55r16 iirc. My biggest issue has been loosing TPMS on the front which puts the ETC into full on mode allowing virtually no tire slip.

That is a killer deal on the michelins - id jump on that today.
 
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Friend is running the Xice 2's. loves them! I wouldnt pay a dime for Firestone tires. Firestone has had a sketchy past when it comes to tires.. and they dont seem much better today.. just my personal opinion.
 
I would say the Xi3s but they are $446 after rebate. Looks like the Xi2s are on closeout so they would be the best buy.

From what I remember reading the Xi3 is supposed to have much better dry road manners and a little better performance on ice and in water. Both will do a good job though.

The winterforce is a good option if you live in the mountains and can stud it. Otherwise it is one of the older snow tires when it comes to technology and does not have very good ice traction or dry road handling. Wear characteristics are not going to be as good as the Michelin either. For daily driving you will be much happier with the Michelins. I put Xi3s on my fiances mustang and they are very quiet, the winterforces on my sisters jetta are very load. I have WS70 Blizzaks on my jetta, I think they do a little better in deep snow than the Michys but thats just speculation, I don't have a fair way of comparing them.
 
Another vote for the Michelins, hands down.

I have Xi2s on my AWD Taurus, and the thing is a mountain goat that can go anywhere. I live in the middle of nowhere in the mountains of Vermont and that car has gone through everything I have encountered. Only extreme depth of snow has caused me to choose to drive my Explorer instead of the almighty Taurus.

In fact, I love the tires so much, that I paid out of pocket (later reimbursed) to have them put on my work car.
 
My personal choice would be the Firestone Winterforce. It all depends on your overall conditions, but the Michelins are not as good as the Firestones in slush or snow. They wear faster because of their softer rubber, don't handle as well, and with a 100 mile commute every day, you have to take that into consideration.

I put a set of Xi2's on the wifes car at the beginning of this winter, and after a couple of storms, she complained that I wasted our money because they were not what she expected. I then drove her car for a couple of weeks through a couple of snowfalls and pretty much confirmed what she said, and what I've known for 3+ decades. They are pretty good on packed snow and ice/snow, but marginal in slush and snow.

We replaced them with a set of Winterforce because I had a set on a previous car, and she's been in heaven. The past couple months we've had nearly 30" of snow and she hasn't complained once.

Where we live, a good open-tread studdable snow tire works better than the studless designs overall. I've had them all, both studdable and studless, Michelin, Bridgestone, Nokian, General, Cooper, Firestone, BFG. Like I said, this has worked for me for over 30 years and I don't see anything in the studless variety which will change my mind soon.
 
My would favor the Michelins - especially at that price. FWIW, the Firestones came in dead last in CR testing.
 
I have both on two different cars.

The Winterforce on a 4 door FWD sedan is very noisy! For your long commute it will drive you crazy.

The Michelin x-ice 2 is very quiet. Noise level is very close to the all seasons also Michelin.

Performance wise i think the x-ice 2 is better and will last longer.
 
Between those two tires, I'd definitely get the Michelins. Certainly better on ice, much quieter, better handling, etc. As someone else said, the ability to cross rotate is nice, since it helps with cupping and more even tire wear. I have often had trouble with directional tires eventually cupping and getting noisy which is incredibly annoying. As much time as you spend in your car, it is something to consider. I'd seriously consider Continental ExtremeWinterContacts next time just because they have good reviews, great test results and are not directional. I've used Blizzak's more than any other winter tire and have loved them all. I often get 40k miles out of a set with mostly highway driving before I am out of the multicell compound. The one car I have that does more stop and go driving only got 25k miles on its last set of Blizzaks. I just bought another set of Blizzak's again this winter for my wagon, love them. The Contintal's were not available in that size so I didn't have to debate it that time.
 
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