[kpk02]

I believe the wheels are Sport Edition A7. Obviously there's been no winter weather yet to try them out in, but so far I'm already impressed. Last winter I had Blizzaks (DM-V1) on my Highlander and it was great but definitely felt like a winter tire in mild weather. These Michelins so far feel a whole lot more like a normal tire on dry roads in mild weather. In fact, I'd dare say that they perform better than the OEM Continentals in just about every way. Road noise is much much lower. Handling is more consistent. Mileage is equal to if not better. And they feel stronger (absorbing more of the bumps in the road than the OEMs did). It's making me think about replacing the OEM crap on my summer wheels with something good once Spring comes around.

One initial difference between the Blizzaks and the Xi3 I notice right away is that the Xi3 did not stink up the garage with a very strong rubbery smell the first night like the Blizzaks did. Whether good or bad, I won't know until winter weather shows up. I just found it odd.


I'll have to try to remember to add to this post once I get a chance to try them on snow/ice.

Update 11/28/12:

No major winter weather yet, but we have had a few transition days. Mid 20s and slight amounts of slush/snow/ice on the roads. Everything's still feeling good so far, but the real question mark is on moderate to deep snow performance and also heavy slush. I expected to sacrifice some in that area but will it be too much of a loss compared to the Blizzaks or will it hold its own.





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[beachedwhale42]

Thanks for the pic....please keep us posted when the snow hits! I run the Blizzak WS-70 and love it, but I'm always trying to keep up on my snow tires for when I have to get new ones. Just curious, where are you located?

 

[kpk02]

I'm in "northern lower" Michigan, northern part of the lower peninsula.

Added a quick update to the first post: "No major winter weather yet, but we have had a few transition days. Mid 20s and slight amounts of slush/snow/ice on the roads. Everything's still feeling good so far, but the real question mark is on moderate to deep snow performance and also heavy slush. "

 

[tennvol]

Had X-Ice last year on a dedicated set of wheels and they did great in the 1 storm that Denver had (18+ inches of snow in 2 hrs). I had a 7am flight out of DIA and the plows hadn't cleared any of the roads when I left the house at 4am. No problems whatsoever.

 

[PanJet]

I've had my Xi3's now for about three weeks, and I am very impressed. I've had the chance to drive them in snow, slush, and ice already, as well as plenty of dry roads, and I'm quite happy with them.

Granted, these are the first snow tires I've ever purchased, so I can't compare to any other snow tires, but I'm very happy with them nonetheless. They are quiet, smooth, efficient (little to no change in mileage on dry roads), and have lots of grip on snow and ice.

I live in northern Minnesota.

 

[kpk02]

We just had our first substantial amount of snow, so I was finally able to get a better feel for them. It wasn't a ton of snow but was enough for some snow packed back roads and combinations of snow/slush/clear main roads.

I really like these tires. I had to drive around 80 miles total one day this week for work and I made it a point to take the back roads including one wide open flat barely used dirt road that was snow covered. Between the Outback and the tires, as soon as I turned onto the dirt road I was able to push the pedal pretty much to the floor without any significant loss of control during acceleration. I was also very impressed at the handling of roads that randomly shift between clear, slushy, and snow covered. I didn't feel much of any difference rolling over them all.

I tried some stopping tests to the extent possible while remaining safe, and it performed beautifully. Unless I really slammed the brake all the way down, it stopped near effortlessly.

Last remaining tests for my interests are deep snow and ice. So far though I'd say I'm much happier with these than Blizzaks, but could be plenty happy with either one for winter conditions.

 

[Novablue]

I have Xi2's and I've only used them in the snow twice last season. I leave them on year round which seems to be fine here in WA where it is 50 degrees all year except a few months in the summer. They do great in the rain (same as the stock conti's) but only marginally worse in the dry that the stock tires. They tend to lose grip at slightly lower speeds in the corners. This isn't an STI though so I'm not too worried about dry cornering.

The only bummer for me is they are directional tires.

 

[Sandroad]

Searched out this old thread with the same title I was about to use. I replaced my 4 year old Defenders (41,000 miles) with the X-ice last week and couldn't be happier. The X-ice are very quiet and comfortable and don't slap the expansion joints and filled potholes. Handling is fine too. My Outback is a nice car to drive again. I doubt we'll have another rugged winter like the last one, but I feel ready for the season.

 

[pcray1231]

Have had mine on for 3 weeks now. 2nd season on them. Yes, noticeable upgrade (on dry roads) to the still OEM Continental All-seasons, but that's cheating, because the Continentals are at the end of their lives. I put the snows on a little early in order to pass state inspection and put off the purchase of new all seasons till spring. So virtually anything would be an upgrade. But new vs. new, no, they are not an "upgrade" to all-seasons in terms of handling, or mild weather grip, but they aren't as much of a detriment as most dedicated winters. Yes, winters will generally absorb bumps better on account of softer sidewalls, but it's that same feature that hurts the handling.

No snow to speak of yet this season, but last season the Michelins performed very well. Quiet, confident handling, good on wet, snow, or ice. If there's a weakness it's slush, but I'm basing that on one little slide coming to a stop sign that's only notable because I wasn't expecting it after not sliding in seemingly worse conditions (glare ice).

Compared to the WS-70 (on another vehicle), the Bridgestones, when near new, are probably a little better in snow and slush, and just as good on ice, but worse on wet and dry pavement, and much louder. Plus, their "special compound" is only a little over half the tread depth, so the Michelins hold up better in terms of longevity. For our mostly milder winters and attentive road crews, with only occasionally severe conditions, I think the Michelins are the better choice. In more severe scenarios the situation may be different. I have zero experience with the WS-80 as my purchases were prior to their launch, but they should get a good look for anyone in the market today.

 

[PhillySubie]

I installed a set of X-Ice2 tires on my OEM Premium wheels and ran them for a week while I was transferring my OEM Duelers to a new set of rims. My OEM Duelers are basically brand-new, with 1500 miles on the car. The X-Ice tires have about the same amount of miles on them from a previous season. I put the new rims and Duelers back on the car yesterday.

With a week of use, I honestly couldn't tell the difference between the X-Ice and Dueler tires. In fact, I kinda liked the way the X-Ice felt better. It was better in the rain, felt fine with handling and turns, and was a comfortable tire to drive.

I'll probably put the snow back on in late December, or sooner if we have a storm coming. I'm in SE Pennsylvania and it's still fairly warm out (lows in the 20s at night, but going up into the 60s the next few days) and didn't want to run the snows in this warmer weather.

We run Blizzaks (WS60 and now a set of WS70s) on our Honda minivan, and I've always been happy with them. But the "magic" compound wears out fairly quickly as others have said and they are noisy on the highway. We'll see how the Michelins do in the snow, but if they do as well as everyone says I'll probably switch to them when we need minivan snows next time.

 

[phillipgo]

I just put a used set X-Ice-Xi3'son my 2013 3.6 Outback and I like them also. Haven't had any snow yet so I don't know how they will do. By everyone comments, I should be happy. Paid $475 for tires balanced on steel rims.

 

[soloz2]

I installed a set of xi3 on my OBXT on the stock wheels. We have had a very mild winter so far so they have mostly been driven on cold or cool dry and wet roads. They feel quite good on dry pavement. Still softer than an AS, but not quite as squishy as many dedicated winter tires.

We did get some snow this last weekend and I was surprised by the amount of grip they had. I've used General Altimax Artic, Cooper Weather Masters and Conti EWC tires on 4 other Subarus. I can't compare deep snow traction yet, but on ice and a couple inches of snow the xi3 have better grip than the others.