[Vikingstaff]

Living in Michigan and heading up north A LOT in the winter. My RFT Perilli Centuratos are not going to cut it. I need a high quality winter tire ready for serous winter conditions.

I have seen the Bridgestone Blizzaks recommended in a few threads. When doing research on non-RFTs outside this site, I most often am seeing these and the Michelin X-Ice Xi3’s recommended for the X3. I am leaning slightly towards the X-Ice Xi3s currently for durability and highway handling/traction.

Here is what I am getting in online comparison reviews:

Blizzaks Pros: Handling, comfort, Stop/start at mid to low speeds, incredible traction. Cons: bad durability (+/- 20,000 mi), loud, high speed traction not as good as X-Ice Xi3s

X-Ice Xi3’s: Pros: Handling, Start/Stop/Traction, excellent highway speed handling, longer lasting (+/-40000 mi), quieter. Cons: less comfortable ride, and low to mid speed traction not as good as Blizzaks.

Looking for other peoples experience with these tires on their x3, especially if you have used them for multiple years. Please reply. I am looking at getting a set of 4 with wheels to swap out seasonally. Costs are almost identical, and not a factor between the two. Thus, looking to get the best of the two for the vehicle.

Go...

[Jorge2825]

Originally Posted by Vikingstaff

Living in Michigan and heading up north A LOT in the winter. My RFT Perili Centuratos are not going to cut it. I need a high quality winter tire ready for serous winter conditions.

I have seen the Bridgestone Blizzaks recommended in a few threads. When doing research on non-RFTs outside this site, I most often am seeing these and the Michelin X-Ice X13’s recommended for the X3. I am leaning slightly towards the X-Ice X13s currently for durability and highway handling/traction.

Here is what I am getting in online comparison reviews:

Blizzaks Pros: Handling, comfort, Stop/start at mid to low speeds, incredible traction. Cons: bad durability (+/- 20,000 mi), loud, high speed traction not as good as X-Ice X13s

X-Ice X13’s: Pros: Handling, Start/Stop/Traction, excellent highway speed handling, longer lasting (+/-40000 mi), quieter. Cons: less comfortable ride, and low to speed traction not as good as Blizzaks.

Looking for other peoples experience with these tires on their x3, especially if you have used them for multiple years. Please reply. I am looking at getting a set of 4 with wheels to swap out seasonally. Costs are almost identical, and not a factor between the two. Thus, looking to get the best of the two for the vehicle.

Go...

Currently running X-Ice. They are great but I've only had them about 1000 miles.

[najnad]

I bought the Blizzaks for my X3 this year. Both the Blizzaks and the X-Ices do well in the reviews, but for me it came down to the fact that the Blizzak's have a slightly deeper tread depth and slightly bigger tread width. Hopefully I made the right choice

[odus]

So I'm a super big fan of the blizzak tires my wife accord ran them for 2 winters here. Was worried when we got the x3 a couple of weeks ago it doesn't even have an issue so we're not buying any. That's saying a lot as I'm in Alaska our roads are pretty terrible.

[6MT_Addict]

Just replaced my xi2 with the xi3.

The Michelin is better on clear roads and ice accord the reviews I read. That's mostly what I deal with in an urban Canadian city which is why I chose them over the Bridgestone. The Michelin performs better on ice, Bridgestone is better in deep snow. My girlfriends SUV (similar size/weight) is running the Bridgestones.., we have a super icy corner just outside our house. Her SUV skids/slides a foot or so at the stop sign and struggles to get going. I don't even notice the ice as far as stopping/starting goes. Part of that can be attributed to the BMW AWD system which I personally feel is better than the TCS system in hers after having driven both, but the stopping performance is where the tire comparison shines.

Zero regrets with the Michelin's after using them for the last 3 winters, road noise is also pretty low on the Michelin and both are very comfortable. Each has its own strengths but you really can't go wrong with either. Just decide if you want better performance on clear roads/ice or deep snow. The performance differences from one to the other are marginal.

[richardodn]

Originally Posted by 6MT_Addict

Just replaced my xi2 with the xi3.

The Michelin is better on clear roads and ice accord the reviews I read. That's mostly what I deal with in an urban Canadian city which is why I chose them over the Bridgestone. The Michelin performs better on ice, Bridgestone is better in deep snow. My girlfriends SUV (similar size/weight) is running the Bridgestones.., we have a super icy corner just outside our house. Her SUV skids/slides a foot or so at the stop sign and struggles to get going. I don't even notice the ice as far as stopping/starting goes. Part of that can be attributed to the BMW AWD system which I personally feel is better than the TCS system in hers after having driven both, but the stopping performance is where the tire comparison shines.

Zero regrets with the Michelin's after using them for the last 3 winters, road noise is also pretty low on the Michelin and both are very comfortable. Each has its own strengths but you really can't go wrong with either. Just decide if you want better performance on clear roads/ice or deep snow. The performance differences from one to the other are marginal.

I pretty much concur with this assessment. I've had various editions of both Blizzak and X-Ice on various cars going back 15 or more years. Blizzak are optimized for snow/packed snow and X-Ice for dry/ice. Living in the Denver area, we typically see more dry/ice conditions than snowy so I prefer the X-Ice. However, I'm currently running the WS-90 and am happy with them. If you're regularly going up north (yes I'm from Michigan) into unplowed areas, I'd go with Blizzak. Otherwise go with whichever you think is the better value. They'll both be great performers.

[strohw]

I live in Michigan and have used both. The Blizzak is a beast in the snow/slush/packed ice. If you're already comfortable driving in this stuff on all seasons then these tires really bolster your confidence levels. The primary con to me is that they have deep tread and are a soft tire. They feel squishy in corners compared to regular all season tires and they don't handle high speeds as well.

The Xi2 tires I had were a better dry road tire, less squishy at high speeds and in corners. Packed morning ice driving was about the same as the Blizzak but the Blizzak handled deep slush and snowy conditions better.

Personally, in the past I opted for the Blizzak as I had to make 2.5 hour trips to locations whether it was snow storm or not. I wanted something that could drive through whatever no problems. If you don't drive long distances in the snow or don't make frequent trips in general during winter then the Xi3 may be a better all a round tire. Both of them are better than practically any all season tire.

[Vikingstaff]

I really appreciate so many people chiming in with real world experience. My additional research really echo’s everything being said by all of you. Good stuff!!!

I have ended up ordering the X-Ice. I leaned that way for their reported highway and corner handling as well as the Michelins durability/longevity ratings compared to the Blizzaks. Probably 80% of my winter driving is post-plowed road, so I feel like these will work well for that kind of driving. If I drove more often on unplowed roads, I would have went with the Blizzaks after the advice above and online research.

Thanks for all the assistance in making a final decision. The new tires will be in and installed next Tuesday. Have a great winer everyone!

[strohw]

Nice, good choice.

[Vikingstaff]

Follow up on the X-Ice winter tires. They are AMAZING!!! I feel as confident as in my former Yukons/Escalades.

Ice conditions: Simply amazing. Stop and start exceptionally well, holding the vehicle in lane and predictable.

Heavy Snow 5”+: Exceeded my expectations. Again, start and stop are excellent.Holds lane perfectly. Parked in a foot of snow, and pulls out like on a normal surface.

Total confidence in all winter conditions with these tires on an xdrive X3.