Which winter tire is better.Michelin artic alpin or bridgestone blizzaks.thx

 

99 Black TL,

I was in the same boat and went with the Mich. for three reasons.

1. Their Pilot Alpine matches the Piolets MXM4 we have as stock
2. The Acuras Dealers reccomend it for the TL's.
3. More of a "performance" winter tire.

I haven't picked mine up yet...but ordered the 215/55/16.

Its hard to really say which one is "BEST".

 

What size Michelin Pilot Alpins are you buying? I'm looking at their spec sheets and they don't have 215/50R17's to match my TLS stock tires.

 

I have Michelin Pilot Alpins 215/55/HR16 mounted on 2001 Honda Accord Coupe wheels. The tires have a good balance of dry, wet, snow & ice performance.

 

I bought the Artic Alpins on Borbet 16" rims from the tirerack for a little over $1100. They're great when it comes to grip, but they're noisy on dry pavement and really noisy on wet pavement (think oversized 4x4 tire). Next time I may try the Bridgestones.

Get a second set of rims - cheap alloys if you can afford them or stamped steel if you're low on dough....This way you won't have to have the tires mounted/rebalanced twice a year, which is guaranteed to bring rim scratches.

I went with the 16" rims to get a little more distance between the rim and the bottom of the mile deep potholes we grow in OH during the winters. I've bent rims on most every car I've owned, and it always happens during the winter when you don't see that really deep hole filled with water/slush....

 

It all depends on what the normal winter weather you have & what you want the tire to do for you. I got the 2001-2002 winter tire catalog from Tire Rack the other day they send one each year. I got a set of 4 MICHELIN Arctic - Alpin tires from them last year for my 2000 TL.
I also had purchased Blizzak tires for my 94 ACCORD back in 96 & some Borbet wheels. I say it all depends on what you wan't the tire to do. Some have better performance capability & trade off some of the ice & snow traction for dry road handling & high speed H-Speed Rated This is like your MICHELIN Pilot-Alpin & BRIGESTONE Blizzak LM-22. Others like the MICHELIN Arctic-Alpin like I have & the Blizzak MZ-01 / MZ-02 are Q-Speed Rated they have better snow & ice capability.They trade some snow traction for increased ice traction. They offer enhanced winter performance without studs. They also have good dry road capability.

 

A good source of cheap and good quality 16" wheels are the TL-P and Accord folks who have upgraded to better wheels. I've found OEM alloy Accord wheels on eBay Motors selling for very reasonable prices. If you're willing to tolerate some scratches you'll find even better deals.