Let it snow, snow and snow
 

We have all beaten to death the performance of OEM tires(Michelin MXM's) and how awful they are. I have to say I was concerned too as these tires were really horrible in rain. Many a times I have hydroplaned with these tires. So recently it has snowed here in New England and I do have to say that these tires actually perform better in light snow than it does in rain. Today, heading to work we had a little above an inch on the roads, of course not plowed and the car didn't skip a beat. I had to take a very fast 90 degree turn due to on coming traffic and the car didn't hitch one bit. Anybody else have similar experience?

i dont live in a snowy state; but isnt light snow fluffy and it isnt as slippery until it's packed down, ie; driven over a couple times?
that would be the difference right there..as rain is a slippery liquid mixed with oils on the road.

Wish we had some snow here in Utah. I've put on my stock wheels with the Blizzaks for only one day this season. Other than that, it's just been the Oz's with the DWS's since the roads have largely been dry. So much for a white Christmas. :bored:

The snow we got today was a wintery mix of snow and sleet so it was pretty heavy stuff albeit only an inch or so.

I still have the oem michelins on my SH - got a little bit more than 2 inches down here in CT today. I have to say my impression is the exact opposite of yours - even going 5-10 mph around a gradual turn I was gettting the vsa and traction control warnings and the rear end was kicking out in a fishtail. Of course after a second the SHAWD kicked in and remedied the issue but still had some slide. Also was one point coming down a very slight decline (think from 5 feet above to level over about 50 feet) and car would not stop - just kept sliding.

I think when the time is right these are going to have to go for some better rubber as other members have done.

They're ok when new'ish. And Car And Driver also found them surprisingly better than expected:

https://www.caranddriver.com/compari...hx-mxm4-page-3

Still, after some wear, it would be wise to switch to winters.

With the snow we had last week of about 3 inches, taking turns around 40 mph my VSA and traction control lights came on but that was the slowest speed it would. How many miles on your car? My car has about 17K miles and maybe the difference maybe in the amount of rubber left on the tires. Thanks for your input! Appreciate it!!

I just rolled over 22,300 miles yesterday. At this point I am noticing a difference between pure snow and wintry mix. Believe it or not the tires seem to be better in a mix/ slush scenario as opposed to pure snow in my view. Maybe the snow is packing in the tread whereas slush/ mix will slough out when the wheel ceases contact with the pavement.... who knows...

IMHO, better safe then sorry! Invest in a winter wheel-tire set, if you live in a place where you get snow often like the Northeast.

Well it snowed a good 15 inches today. Came out of work and the windshield had a good 6-8 inches to clear off but the rest of the car was clean due to 30-50 mph winds. Due to this 3/4 of my wheels were covered in snow and snow was halfway up the bumpers. Put the car in reverse and the car plowed over all of that nonsense. As for the tires, they did an admirable job. Was doing about 40 mph on city roads which were not plowed nor sanded terribly well and even though the traction symbol(car symbol with squiggly lines)was going on and off the car never swayed nor felt like it was going to lose traction. Overall I'm still satisfied with these tires.

Here in western Canada I don’t take chances with a low profile tires in winter. Switched to the winter Toyo tires back in November, we have lots of “black”ice on the roads here... I change the tires on all my vehicles.

I will echo Kgb2016's comments. You can "get by" with all seasons in the winter, but dedicated winter tires are substantially better/safer. If storage space is not an issue, there is no reason not to have snow tires...your all seasons will last twice as long, you can get smaller diameter wheels for your winter set to protect your summer set from all those ugly spring pot holes.

Of course, the fact that Kgb2016 and I agree on this matter is no coincidence since I also live in Edmonton and we drive on the same icy roads that become mine fields full of pot holes in the spring.

Wait, you hydroplaned in the rain in the stock MXMs? I never had that trouble when I leased my Sport Hybrid. I do agree that the MXMs did reasonably well in the snow. I never ended up having to buy winter tires, so that was a cost avoided in my leased car.

Yes I hydroplaned but it was very slight and then the SH-AWD kinda kicked in a bit.

20 inches of snow yesterday and obviously I had to work so I was out and about in the storm and this car did not skip a beat. Suffice to say I love this beast! It literally plows thru everything. Before this I had an Audi A6 and even the Quattro system wasn't this good. I am a believer!

I'm not going to say anything.

The last time I said something good about the MXM4, I got jumped. :-)

Haha! Ya I hear you. I have no problems with the MXM4's!!

I'll chime in: like the OEM tires.... when i first bought the car i was "this close" to switching them out for different set of Michelin but decided not to since i drive the car infrequently and after driving it in some snow and slushy roads this winter, i found them perfectly acceptable. Perhaps they will get worse with higher wear, but i'm happy with them right now.

I wish they would make snow tires mandatory between October-April in the states that get snow, like they do in Europe.

Everyone would be much safer, and A LOT less vehicles would get stuck on the road........creating even more dangerous situations.

No matter how good you think your all season tires are in the snow, they can't even come close to snow tires......

I guess it's a North American thing - as currently Quebec is the only Canadian province which mandates winter tires be on all vehicles between December 15th and March 15th. This was put into place in 2008 and I remember it put a real strain on the winter tire market in Canada as it was hard for Ontario suppliers to stock them for example. I can't even begin to imagine what supply impact that would have if implemented in the US.

That said, a study released by the Quebec government in 2011 found that winter road-accident injuries had dropped by 5% since winter tire use was made mandatory and a 3% reduction in deaths and serious injuries from road accidents. Also, serious winter accidents decreased by 36 per cent as compared to the five years prior to the law. As such, your statement that roads would be safer is clearly fact.

Excellent info Limelight!

Thank you!

I'm surprised that they need a study to figure that out. There is a reason why they're called snow tires. If they were not safer in the snow than it would be worthless to make them. Sometimes I chuckle at the things they need "study" for.

The study was to prove that the legislation was worth it.

As George said, the study was intended to prove the necessity/wisdom of the legislation. If the only tangible result of the legislation was a bunch of insurance companies saving money on a couple of little fender benders, the voting public might have been upset that they were forced to spend the money on snow tires. The study instead focused on the decrease in injuries and deaths attributed to the legislated use of snow tires which likely made people feel better about their winter tire purchase.

The only down side that I see to snow tires around here is that SOME people use the extra traction and shorter stopping distances of their snow tires as an excuse to drive A LOT faster than the conditions warrant. Snow tires are much better than all seasons on snow and ice, but they still lose grip and slide badly if pushed too far in the worst of conditions.

Just my two cents.

Exactly! I could've told you that the legislation is worth it without the damn study. Its called common sense!!

I get that but seriously I don't think a study was needed. Anybody with even the slightest of knowledge about snow tires knows that it literally can save lives!

I don't disagree that the results of the study were a forgone conclusion. However, we were dealing with a government that made an unpopular decision to force people to spend money on snow tires and so they did the study (at the taxpayer's expense) to prove that their legislation was beneficial to society and to appease the masses and (in their minds) improve their chances of getting re-elected.

All politics I say plus its good to CYOA as my boss says......cover your own ass!