Michelin’s New Tire Design

The Michelin name is a lofty one. It anchors legendary events like 24 Hours of Le Mans, IMSA, Formula E and other global races, and it is found on tracks, performance cars and luxury cars around the world. The 130-year-old company is also known for the vaunted Michelin Guide that rates the best restaurants and now, hotels, globally. The guide, the most prestigious opinion in hospitality, started as a way to get people to take trips in their cars and of course, drive on Michelin tires.

Michelin’s tire products also became known for excellence. Over the years, Michelin has become known as a premium tire for its longer wear and solid performance. In recent years the company has focused on innovating not just tire performance, but compounds, renewable and sustainable materials, tire design and wearability, with the goal of producing tires that can do incredible things, from being completely recyclable to 3D printable.

On the road to that journey the company introduced tires that last longer, perform better and are widely, uh, inspiring, having spawned a whole new category of tire design and performance.

A Novel Design Adds More Wear, Better Braking and Less Pollution

Some estimates attribute more than 70% of microplastics found in water to tire dust, a stunning stat that has inspired companies like Michelin to find solutions. A few years ago the company introduced the CrossClimate2 tire, designed to go 60,000 miles, reduce waste and perform better in daily driving thanks to a novel chevron-style tire tread unlike any other tire on the road. With new compounds that are softer and more pliable, yet longer lasting even on hot summer roads, the CrossClimate2 tires are designed to perform as well on wet pavement as dry roads, not an easy task but one that critics and reviewers found to be laudable.

And longer wearability should add up to less pollution: less tire dust and microplastics shed into our water as well as fewer worn tires sent to landfills, which is where most used tires go.

A New Approach To Snow Tires Adds Confidence To Winter Driving

Following on the heels of the CrossClimate2 tire is the Michelin X-Ice Snow+ tire. Riffing on the chevron design, the new X-Ice tirebreaks apart the longer tread rows into an interlocking lattice-design tread pattern to create more sipes that absorb snow and slush or disperse water. The result is a snow tire that also performs well on dry and wet pavement and gives drivers optimal grip, no matter the surface.

The new tread pattern and compounds should also deliver better fuel economy and better range for EV drivers, another goal of Michelin’s.

But the better result may be more capability in snow and slush, which can be one of the most challenging drive experiences. From simply being able to get where you need to go to being able to get up a slick hill, winter tires are often the key. They can also add capability to rear wheel drive cars, giving even small sports cars like a Porsche 911 the ability to drive on snowy, slushy roads

A Quieter Winter Tire

In studying the pushbacks of winter tires, Michelin found that many drivers hate the fact that they can be loud. The typically soft compounds grip the road nicely, which is great for traction, but can also be noisy, especially when there’s no snow on the ground. Michelin used what it calls “piano acoustic tuning” to reduce noise from the X-Ice Snow+ tires. Essentially, the lattice design of the tread allows stickiness but reduces noise thanks to the directional tread of the tire. The result is a quieter ride.

Longer Lasting Tread Means Longer Lasting Winter Tires

Another big pushback for winter tires is the short lifespan, especially in warmer weather. Typically, drivers swap all-season tires for winter tires in the Fall and change them back in the Spring. But putting them on too early or leaving them on too long can often destroy a set of tires or reduce the treadle. Michelin says the tread life on the X-Ice tires should last longer, giving owners more time to make the switch in warm weather and potentially more winters to drive on them.

Expect The Industry To Follow

It’s not the usual reaction to look at a tire and think, ‘my, that’s an attractive tread,” but in this case, you might. The chevron-angled lattice pattern has an distinct and elegant look to it. And with the performance specs that Michelin is touting, as well as Michelin’s expertise developing superior tires, expect to see more tires that look like these. Whether or not they’ll be able to boast the same performance and and longevity is yet to be seen, as the X-Ice tires don’t go on sale until the Spring. But if they do, expect competitors, and of course, copy-cats.

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