Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 Vs Michelin X Ice Snow Vs XI3 (2024 Update)

In this article we’re going to do a deep and detailed Comparison between Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 Vs Michelin X Ice Snow Vs XI3/ The Bridgestone WS90 and Michelin Ice Snow are aggressive tires optimized for wintertime performance.

Blizzak provides good traction on paved paths along with stable handling on dry, wet, and icy paths as well.

Due to the specialized sound-canceling design of its grooves, X Ice Snow makes its way through snow very efficiently due to its high void ratio and offers a quiet ride.

However, Ice XI3 provides better performance on snow-packed paths due to its better snow evacuation capability.

Comparison of Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 Vs Michelin X Ice Snow Vs XI3

WS90 is characterized by a symmetrical tread with a continuous, crisscrossing rib in the middle, two broad grooves on either side, multidirectional zigzag sipes, and disjointed grooves created by traction slits along the shoulder lugs.

As a result of relatively fewer grooves, its contact patch is higher, resulting in a reduction in grip over paved surfaces. Over wet and icy roads, deeper channels and full-depth sipes remove water and provide good aquaplaning resistance.

A smaller void ratio reduces its snow traction compared with X, since a lower number of grooves will result in a lesser amount of snow evacuation.

In addition to its directional tread design, X has two types of sipes, an angled arrangement of square-shaped blocks, and relatively small shoulders.

In comparison, the void ratio is higher, resulting in a smaller contact patch and ultimately reducing the tread’s grip on the road.

The grooves, as well as rectilinear wide sipes and multidirectional zigzag sipes, help this tire wipe away water and resist hydroplaning over wet and icy tracks, but the lesser depth of the voids makes it less efficient than the competitor.

In comparison with its competitor, its larger void ratio provides better snow evacuation through the tread, providing better snow traction.

The grip of the tread on the road

Blizzak has a better capacity to grip dry roads strongly as more of its surface area is touching the road directly. It covers a braking distance of only 88.10 feet when it stops from 50 mph  speed on a dry track. Over the wet and icy surfaces, deeper grooves, and multidirectional, full depth, twisted sipes wipe off water and account for superior traction. 

It has a wet decelerating distance of as little as 128.6 feet when stopping from 50 to 0 mph. On the ice, it covers 30.80 feet when coming to rest from 12 mph.

However, on snow-packed pathways, narrow grooves decrease its evacuation capacity and lead to reduced snow traction, comparatively. When going from 25 to 0 mph it covers 51.00 feet over a snowy lane.

For X, wider grooves reduce contact patch, which reduces tread grip on dry surfaces. It has a relatively long braking distance. 91.90 feet is its dry stopping distance when it stops from 50 to zero mph.

While it has sipes and grooves to minimize hydroplaning, its channels provide comparatively less space for water removal, resulting in diminished grip on wet and icy roads.

While braking from 50 to 0 mph on a damp path, it covers 136.10 feet, while stopping from 12 to 0 mph on ice it covers 31.70 feet. As more voids are available for evacuating snow from the tread, it provides better traction on snowy paths.

It shows a relatively small braking distance of 46.4 feet on snow-covered paths when stopping from 25 mph to zero mph. Both M+S and three-peak mountain snowflakes are rated.

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Comparison of handling

WS90 performs better over dry roads with regard to steering handling as its shoulder blocks are relatively large and traction marks over them form a groove, resulting in firm traction while turning.

As the automobile moves around a corner on a wet/icy road, the longitudinal grooves along with lateral channels and in-depth sipes enable the removal of water.

Michelin loses to the competitor when it comes to handling on the road in dry conditions, as its square-shaped shoulder lugs are comparatively smaller and provide less traction over turns.

With full-depth sipes and lateral grooves, these shoulder lugs scrub off water and offer dependable traction over wet or icy surfaces. However, a lower depth of grooves reduces its performance.

Comparison of hydroplanning resistivity

WS90 and WS80 are both capable of resisting hydroplaning due to the distinct design of their voids and sipes, yet WS90 takes the lead because of the increased depth of its grooves.

For tested sizes, its tread is 1.5/32” deeper than its competitor. Due to its wide grooves and zigzag sipes, water is easily wiped away, resulting in better aquaplaning resistance. The criss-cross structure of the internal rib further enhances its ability to wipe water.

With its grooves, wide linear sipes, and multidirectional zigzag sipes, Michelin X ICE exhibits reliable slip resistance. Even so, it falls behind the competition since its relatively narrow grooves have less space to hold water due to their lesser depth.

Comparison of rolling resistance

Due to its narrow grooves, Blizzak rolls with more friction than its opponent. Its tread has a large area in direct contact with the pavement, causing it to use more energy to roll over, consuming more fuel.

Due to the high void ratio of ICE SNOW, it has a compact contact patch, resulting in a lower rolling resistance. Since a small area of tread touches the road, less hysteresis (energy loss) is caused when rolling and its fuel efficiency is also better than its competitor.

Drive Comfort And Noise Comparison

Due to the deep and straight-line structure of the central grooves, the WS90 produces more road noise. Despite its low void ratio, its grooves are deeper and linear, creating a great deal of room for collisions, resonations, and reflections of wind particles, resulting in loud sound as it rolls along.

On the other hand, an enhanced contact patch and improved biting ability of the tread result in improved traction and comfort while driving.

X ICE SNOW has a higher void ratio than its closest competitor, but its lugs are arranged in a V-form design and grooves among them are formed in such a way that noise waves travelling through them automatically cancel each other and less noise is produced.

In contrast, its massive void ratio and less contact patch tend to minimize its road traction, so it provides comparatively less comfort on hard paved paths.

Treadwear and Durability

A twin compound structure is utilized for the tread composition of the WS90 from Bridgestone’s Blizzak series. The first 55% of the tread contains NanoPro Tech’s multicellular complex with hydrophilic properties and enhanced traction over snow, and the remaining 45% features Bridgestone’s winter standard compound.

As a result of the increased contact patch, the tread wears down quickly due to high rolling friction. Wear is even faster after the upper 55% of the tread, which contains a hydrophilic compound, is consumed. Its manufacturer does not offer a treadwear warranty.

The X ICE SNOW utilizes Michelin’s innovative EverGrip technology and Flex-Ice 2.0 compound for enhanced tread life and traction on ice and snow.

The tread composition is sturdy, and it has a low rolling resistance due to the large void ratio, so it wears down slowly and lasts for many seasons. Its 40,000 mile treadwear warranty proves its exceptional durability among other winter specialized tires.

Comparison of prices

The price is higher, but the superior snow traction and longer tread life warranty make it worth the extra cost. WS90 provides enhanced road traction without breaking the bank!

Comparison between Blizzak WS90 Vs Michelin X Ice XI3

WS90 has a unique tread pattern that features a zigzag central rib with two wide grooves along its sides, a zigzag siping pattern, and two small longitudinal grooves created by grip notches along the shoulder blocks.

As a result, the tread has narrow grooves, and its central rib is wide and continues circumferentially, resulting in a larger contact patch and therefore a better hold on the surface.

Firm steering is provided by large shoulder lugs with traction notches. As it has narrow grooves, it is less effective over snow-covered paths than its competitor, as these voids only allow a limited amount of snow to evacuate.

Ice XI3 features an aggressive tread with five circumferential grooves, numerous lateral grooves, prominent zigzag sipes, and tiny dimples. With a larger number of grooves, its contact patch is smaller, resulting in a reduced grip on paved surfaces.

Nevertheless, traction over wet is improved to some extent as a result of hydroplaning resistance provided by wide zigzag sipes, small dimples, and grooves.

Due to their comparatively smaller lugs and lack of traction notches, shoulders offer minimal cornering handling. Having more grooves makes the void ratio relatively higher, allowing better traction over snow-covered paths because there is more space for snow to evacuate.

Comparison of road grips

Due to more surface area of the tread directly touching the road, WS90 shows superior grip on roads. The zigzag central rib is continuous circumferentially without any lateral grooves, creating a massive contact patch that allows the tire to grip firmly on dry paved surfaces. 

As it comes to rest from 50 mph on the dry road, it covers only 89.3 feet. Its deep grooves and full depth crisscross sipes provide better grip on wet surfaces because water is wiped off efficiently through the slits.

On a wet road, it can stop at 50.0 mph with a braking distance of 124.20 feet, while the braking displacement for an icy road is 30.40 feet when braking from 12-0 mph. On light snowy surfaces, the WS90 loses as narrow grooves reduce snow evacuation. When a vehicle stops from 25 miles per hour over snow, its braking distance is 50.70 feet.

The Michelin XI3 provides less grip on dry paved roads since a greater number of grooves reduces the surface area of tread in contact with the road. On a dry road, the tread has a small contact patch, which makes it difficult to grip strongly.

When braking from 50 to 0 mph, it takes 94.50 feet. Despite the fact that sipes, dimples, and voids provide hydroplaning resistance by removing water from wet roads, the shallower grooves limit its grip on these surfaces below its competition.

When stopping from 50 mph to 0 mph on a wet road, its braking distance is 131.50 feet, and when stopping from 12-0 mph, it is 32.20 feet.

Snow traction is maximized by a large void ratio, since it provides the capacity to throw out snow and slush as you move. From 25 mph, its braking distance in the snow is 49.90 feet, which is better than its counterpart.

Tires Handling Comparison

WS90 provides superior dry handling performance thanks to its large shoulder lugs. As the vehicle steers around a corner, traction notches on lugs further enhance biting capacity.

As a result of deep grooves formed by notching patterns and full depth multidirectional sipes over the shoulder lugs, it offers good handling on wet roads.

XI3’s steering performance over dry roads is less than that of its competitor due to its smaller shoulder lugs.

Turning along the corner is difficult due to the limited contact patch of shoulders. With shallow grooves, wet traction is reduced, leading to a decrease in steering control on wet roads.

Aquaplaning Resistance

The siping patterns on both tires help remove slippery liquids, but WS90 tires have deeper grooves that make them more resistant to hydroplaning.

As a result, water squirms out quickly through its zigzag sipes and deeper grooves, while the criss-cross pattern on the middle rib acts as an efficient water wiper and further enhances traction on wet and icy surfaces.

A good way to prevent hydroplaning with Ice XI3 is to have wide zigzag sipes and dimples over the lugs to enable removal of slippery liquids.

However, due to its shallow grooves (there is a difference of 1.5/32” in tread depth for the tested size), it has less hydroplaning resistance.

Rolling resistance comparison

In comparison, WS90 has a high rolling resistance since it has a larger contact patch due to a lower void ratio. The larger the area of tread that touches the ground, the greater the hysteresis (energy loss) and the more fuel is used to roll smoothly.

With a higher void ratio and lower rolling resistance, the Michelin XI3 is able to roll over the road relatively easily as its contact patch is reduced. Since less energy is used for rolling, its fuel average is also better than the competitor.

Comparison of comfort and noise

WS90 tires are noisy over paved tracks because the deeper voids of the tire provide a lot of space for sound waves to reflect and reverberate, causing a lot of noise. Despite this, it offers standard ride comfort on the road due to its superior traction abilities.

As a result, Ice XI3 produces less noise since its relatively shallow grooves have less space for air particles to reverberate. This makes driving quieter and more comfortable.

Tread Wear and Durability

Due to its tread composition and higher contact patch, Blizzak is less durable than its competitor. It wears faster due to higher rolling resistance than its competitor.

For its tread, the dual-compound framework consists of 55% NanoPro Tech Multicell polymer, offering hydrophilic properties for better snow and ice traction, and 45% Bridgestone’s standardized winter compound.

The tread wears down faster, especially after consumption of Multicell compound, and no treadlife warranty is offered by its manufacturer.

Michelin’s MaxTouch Construction makes the XI3 last longer than its competitors. The tread compound wears gradually, so it lasts for many seasons. It is backed by a treadwear warranty of up to 60,000 kilometers, making it one of the longest lasting tires on the market.

Brief Summary

  • Tires specifically designed for winter performance.Tires specifically designed for winter performance.
  • Ice XI3 provides superior performance over snow-covered paths.
  • The WS90 performs better on dry, damp, and frozen roads.
  • Comparatively, the Michelin XI3 produces less noise on paved tracks.
  • In comparison, Blizzak WS90 has a shorter tread life.
  • In addition to a lower price, the XI3 offers better fuel economy and a mileage warranty.

Video of Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 Vs Michelin X Ice Snow Vs XI3

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