When it comes to buying tires, the default advice for a long time has been to just get the Michelins. They won’t be as cheap as some of the other tires the shop sells, but you’ll get a fantastic tire that’s essentially guaranteed to be either the best or one of the best tires available for your car. Plus, they’re warrantied to last far longer than many no-name budget tires. That said, in a head-to-head comparison test, they aren’t exactly guaranteed to destroy every other tire on the market every time, as our friends over at Tyre Reviews recently proved.
Among all-season or all-weather tires, the Michelin CrossClimate 2 has been an absolute juggernaut, consistently winning comparison test after comparison test. After several years, though, it has several new competitors that weren’t available when it was first introduced, and in this test, it appears they have actually surpassed the Michelin’s capabilities.
That certainly doesn’t mean the CrossClimate 2s are bad tires, though. Not at all. Tyre Reviews praised the dry grip, snow performance, aquaplaning resistance, noise and rolling resistance. It just didn’t do as well as some of the competition when it came to wet braking, and the high price paired with average wear means you won’t necessarily save money by replacing them less frequently.
Ultimately, both the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 and the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 ended up coming out ahead of the Michelin even though neither one took first place. Instead, that honor went to the Continental AllSeasonContact 2. It performed the best in wet handling, had the best snow traction, performed the best overall on ice and still did very well in dry handling. It also had great rolling resistance and the lowest wear among the tires tested, making it a great value.
So if you’re in the market for some all-season or all-weather tires, you still can’t go wrong with the Michelin CrossClimate 2, but it’s clear that you should consider other options. There’s a good chance you can find a better value for your money if you pick Continental or Bridgestone instead.