In September 2024, we took delivery of a set of Michelin’s award winning all-season tyres; the CrossClimate 2, which we promptly installed to our Audi A6 2.8 FSI quattro test vehicle.
You can read our introductory article on these tyres here, and also our autumn review here
After doing approximately 600 miles over the winter months, the Audi is looking quite dirty as you can see from our photos. The good news is that we are now ready to give you our winter report of the Michelin CrossClimate 2.
We were eagerly anticipating a heavy blizzard of snowfall that was forecast during January. However that resulted in disappointment as we only received a very small amount of snow one evening here in Croydon, which mostly melted away by the following morning, so as a result we were unable to test the tyres in snow conditions.
A couple of days after that initial snowfall, we did a quick drive up to Biggin Hill, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that there was quite a bit of snow in the Biggin Hill area, particularly surrounding the fields near the airport. However, all the roads were nearly completely clear apart from the occasional slushy patches of black ice on the road.
These small patches of black ice didn’t faze the CrossClimate 2 compound even slightly, rather they made easy work of the entire journey. The traction control only kicked in once and that was only when provoked by a brief boot full of acceleration that was more than necessary in second gear.
However, with a temperature of -2 degrees celsius, the CrossClimate 2 tyres came into their own just like a traditional winter tyre offering excellent grip, cornering stability, and very responsive, safe braking.
A summer tyre’s performance drops considerably as soon as the temperature goes below 7 degrees celsius, so we would not recommend driving on those tyres in these types of conditions. Have you ever seen a rear wheel drive car sitting on summer rubber struggle massively in the snow? Yes, I am sure you can picture the image in your mind just now as you are reading this article!
Thanks to Michelin’s ‘EverWinterGrip’ Technology, the ‘Thermal Adaptive Compound’ will adjust itself to ever-changing road conditions whether you are in the dry, wet, snow or cold temperatures. Michelin have engineered the tyre to perform well in a wide range of temperatures, from as low as -10 degrees celsius to as high as +30 degrees celsius, offering safety and mobility in various weather conditions.
In countries such as Germany, winter tyres are mandatory when driving in icy, slushy, and snowy conditions. Failure to do so can result in fines and penalty points to the German motorist.
To qualify as a winter tyre, the manufacturer has to display the ‘Alpine Symbol’ (Mountain and Snowflake) or the ‘3PMSF’ symbol which the CrossClimate 2 certainly does despite being an all-season tyre. As we mentioned in our introductory article, this is in no way a ‘lightweight’ version of a winter tyre, quite the opposite in fact, the CrossClimate 2 meets the requirements of European winter driving regulations which is ideal if you do any driving in the continent.
We also had quite a few opportunities to drive in heavy rain in which the CrossClimate 2 rubber felt controlled, effortless and inspired confidence even when taking corners at higher speeds. We feel these tyres really compliment the ‘quattro’ system enabling the driver to put down the power with complete poise and assurance. To maintain a fair test, we fitted the same CrossClimate 2 tyres, at our own expense, to a rear wheel drive BMW 325i and we can report that the ride quality and grip levels have been transformed entirely compared to the summer Bridgestone tyres that were previously fitted.
Scan the QR code below to watch a slow motion video of how the CrossClimate 2 rapidly dissipates rainwater from its grooves and sipes or click here to open the YouTube link.
The Audi is currently sitting on fairly large 19 inch wheels and the roads in our area are in frankly appalling condition with every pot hole being more akin to a car destroying crater! This is resulting in a lot of bumps and roughness being transmitted to the cabin. Therefore, after doing some research on various Audi online groups, we have lowered the PSI of each tyre to 32 PSI which has resulted in a slightly smoother ride. However, what every road user would really like is smooth roads that don’t damage our vehicles and our spines!
This being the United Kingdom, we might get snow in April — we did in 1981! If we do, we will be sure to bring you a snow handling report in the next segment which will be our Spring review. In the meantime, drive safely and enjoy the better weather and longer daylight.
