[Oakleyguy]

Guys, thoughts on the two Michelin tire options for the winter?

I have Blizzak WS80s on my beater Accord, and they perform quite well in the snow/Ice, but frankly drive like shit on dry pavement.

Anyone have experience with the PA4s?

[QM]

I pondered the same decision. Went with Xice3. I'm in Chicago. So far, very happy with their dry performance but not too crazy about the conservative looking profile. I'm sure Alpins would be even better in the dry though. Wet performance of Xice3 is pretty good too, although I did notice a little bit of slip one time when pulling away from a stop light. Wet braking is quite good so far. Haven't tested snow and ice yet. If you don't expect heavy snow, Alpins should do the trick and they will have a sportier looking profile. If you are more worried about snow/ice then go with Xice3. Can't go wrong with either I think.

[keha423]

I went with the PA4 and they've been great so far - no complaints! Granted, we've only had some light snow / slush in Toronto so far this season, but it's already feeling better than my 135i on Nokians for some reason.

[Elwood74]

How many days in the winter will you be driving through snow? How deep? How much are you willing to give up?

Winter performance tires are good to ~4-5 inches of snow. And by good I mean ok. In the dry they are pretty darn good (as long as ambient temps don't exceed ~50F). Overall grip is less than summers due to compound and reduced width. But overall still very fun to drive in the dry winter. Snow tires on the other hand suck in the dry by comparison, but are amazing in the snow. The answer lies in those first questions.

For reference, I've had Dunlop M3's and now Michelin Alpine's in the Winter sport category and WS80 in the Snow category.

[quikM2]

xice3's are the best overall handling snow ice tire. if you see snow and ice on a regular basis they are the best with all things considered. if you want a cold weather tire geared for performance than thats the PA4. they perform like an all season on ice though so of course like with all things prepare to compromise. For my harsher winter conditions for 4 months here the xice is the obvious choice. I had PA3's on my subaru and that was with awd and I wasn't impressed with them. If the PA4's are noticeably better I would consider them for awd. For the M2 and RWD in winter you need all the help you can get and that is the xice 3 which will still handle decently well in the dry compared to the others in its class like the blizzaks and the nokians.