Michelin X-Ice Xi3 vs. Bridgestone Blizzak WS80

Hi all,

I'm on the hunt for winter tires (205/50/17) for my 2007 Mazda 3 , and have had good experiences with buying tires from Costco. The Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 are reasonably priced and both within a dollar of each other.

Anyone have first hand experience with either of these tires that they can give me feedback on?

Thanks!

Having owned both tires on the same vehicle, I will say that the Blizzaks do much better in snow and fair on ice.  The X-ice do pretty well on ice, but not so great in snow.

If I were buying for that car again, I would get the Blizzaks.

Curtis has it right. Which tire is better for you will depend on what kind of conditions you encounter most frequently.

My experience is similar to Curtis'.  If you get a fair amount of snow and aren't always on cleared roads, the Blizzaks are great.  On cleared roads and on ice the Michelins are great, and they are quieter and smoother riding.

pkingham is dead on the nose. I have run both.

Blizzaks have more ultimate snow/slush traction at the expense of everything else. Michelins wear longer, have better ice traction and are much more civilized on clear roads but don't match the Blizzaks in the worst of conditions.

I would sum it up this way: if you need to get where you need to go before the plows are out or regularly drive through some nasty crap the Blizzaks will suit you better. If you still need a true winter tire but generally go out after the plows have done their thing you will probably prefer the X-Ice.

Of course both are objectively great tires and either choice is leaps and bounds ahead of even the best all-season so you will probably be happy either way. 

I was down to the same two choices for my FRS last winter. Everyone else has summed up the relative differences pretty well, so I'll just say I've been quite happy with my Blizzaks.   

Tire rack and Car and Driver have recent tests of both tires. Tire rack data shows them pretty close. C&D's data showed the X-Ice3 as better.

I had the WS80s in my car and X-Ice3 on my wife's. I prefer the X-Ice3 in winter conditions and in the wet. We get a good winter here. The X-Ice3 are a nicer tire overall.

I've looked for a number of people, most of the time the WS80s are a noticeable amount cheaper, but not always. I recognize you say they're not for you, but if price matters, you might want to shop around a bit.

I have driven our Mazda3 through some pretty amazing stuff with the X-ice, even 8” of unplowed Vermont dirt road pushing snow out of the way with the bumper.  Long life, even wear, far exceeded expectations.   One thing I never liked about blizzaks is that when half worn they change rubber compounds and become basically an all season

Just to add to Sonic's comments, x-ice3 definitely wear better than WS80.

General  Altimax Arctic - I just saved you a bunch of cash.

Most people around here stick to their all seasons, so I have an advantage with my WS 80's when it gets nasty.

I have no experience with the x-ice3 so I can't compare.

In ice racing the Blizzaks are the popular choice.

NGTD said:

General  Altimax Arctic - I just saved you a bunch of cash.

Not available in OP’s size at Costco like he requests as far as I know.

That said having gone from the Generals to the Michelins on two successive Volvos there is a pretty noticeable difference in noise level and clear road handling. The Generals feel like a loud truck tire by comparison. Yes they are awesome bang for the buck but they are an old studdable design which comes with disadvantages.

Thanks for everyone's great feedback! Here in Vancouver, there is usually only a week or two of snow, but the roads are usually pretty clear by the time I get on the road. The rest of the winter season is often rainy and freezing temperatures overnight. Sounds like the Michelin's might be better suited for the conditions here. I've been happy with the Michelin all season tires on our CR-V. 

In the spring, I'll look to get a set of aftermarket wheels with summer tires. I'll probably be asking for recommendations on those at that time. :)

Another option - 4tires.ca has some (I think) old stock Hercules R-G2 in your size for $428 CDN shipped for four. They are a previous gen Nokian tire. They have X-Ice3 for $712 - $70 rebate. WS80s for a little more.

Vancouver gets a very wet snow, which needs an aggressive snow tire, UNTIL all the idiots get out on it and turn it all into ice.

I'd almost go for the General Altimax Arctic, since it might be a better all-round tire for the wet coast.  I used to run Toyo G02's way back when I lived at the coast; they were awesome.

I have X-Ice's on my 2wd '77 Silverado and I love them, but the snow here is different than the coast.

Canadian Tire does tire testing of those and some of the other more popular choices and lists the results on their website. The Continental Winter Contact Si is another top choice that tends to be a few $ cheaper.

NGTD said:

General  Altimax Arctic - I just saved you a bunch of cash.

I second this. I have a set on the X-Terra and they're phenomenal on unplowed roads.

Based on the described conditions, the Altimax Arctics (and any other studdable tire) would be a poor choice IMO.  They'll be louder, worse mannered on dry pavement and have less grip on ice (unless they're studded, which will make the other issues worse).  Studdable tires usually have a harder tread compound and more open tread pattern, so they dig through deep snow better, but they also rely on having studs for grip on ice or really solid hardpack, while a studless tire has a tighter, more siped, softer tread to get more grip on ice, etc. without needing studs.  

I've got a set of the WS80s on the BMW and so far, they're pretty well mannered and not horribly mushy once they had 200-ish miles to break in (for the first bit they seemed to have pretty poor grip under throttle, like flashing traction control light if I touched the steering while WOT at 65 on dry pavement kind of bad, but that improved pretty quickly once I drove on them a bit).  Just a little noise in turns at low speed, but otherwise pretty quiet.  Grip seems good on anything other than above-freezing wet pavement (but all snow tires seem to fall short on that one in my experience).  

Xi3s would be a good choice as well.  I can't say there's a pressing reason to choose one over the other for the Blizzak vs Michelin in this situation.  The previously mentioned Continental Wintercontact SI is also a good pick and usually pretty reasonably priced.  

And any of the available performance winters (Blizzak LM, Dunlop Wintersport 4D, etc.) would likely do a good job too (a little less snow / ice grip, but better pavement manners and better wet pavement grip).