Best Reviewed
Snow Tires
- Best winter tire Michelin X-Ice Xi2 *Est. $100
- Budget snow tire General Altimax Arctic *Est. $80
- Studded snow tire Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 *Est. $140
- Mild-winter performance tire Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 *Est. $155
- SUV/Light truck winter tire Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 *Est. $130
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Mild-winter performance tire
- Good on wet, dry, icy and snowy roads
- Comfortable and quiet
- Expensive
- Not designed for harsh winters
People who drive on Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 tires say this tire does a great job keeping their performance cars nimble on cold pavement. It's also one of the quietest, smoothest-riding winter tires you can buy, owners say. While performance winter tires aren't really designed for lots of snow and ice, reviews find the Pilot Alpin PA3 quite capable on both. For harsh winters, experts say you're better off with a slower-speed-rated severe-winter tire like the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 (*Est. $100), but the Pilot Alpin PA3 beats the Xi2 on cold, bare pavement, wet or dry.
ConsumerReports.org provides the most comprehensive comparison test of the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3, driving it on dry, wet, icy and snowy roads and ranking it against its rivals. Car and Driver's test is nearly as thorough, and it includes much more description about how a performance car (in this case, the Infiniti G37) really handles when shod with the PA3. TireRack.com is a retail site that sells tires, but its staffers also conduct very reliable tire tests and poll customers to find out which tires they like the best. Canada's Automobile Protection Association (APA) is a nonprofit consumer organization that tests a vast array of tires, including the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3.
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Our Sources
1. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
Editors here test 15 performance winter tires, including the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3. Each tire is judged on snow, ice, wet and dry pavement, as well as for noise, comfort and rolling resistance.
Review: Performance Winter Tire Ratings, Editors of ConsumerReports.org
2. Car and DriverDetails/Subscribe
Car and Driver magazine tests several types of Michelin tires: all-season, severe-winter and performance-winter. The performance-winter Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 proves the best on cold, bare pavement, with much better winter grip than an all-season tire (although not as good as the severe-winter Michelin X-Ice Xi2).
Review: 2009 Winter Tire Test -- Comparison Tests, Dave Vanderwerp, Dec. 2009
3. Tire Rack
Experts at TireRack.com regularly test winter tires in well-controlled, well-designed comparisons. Jim Holloman names the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 as a top performance-winter-tire pick, but this brief synopsis doesn't link to any specific tests.
Review: Winter Tires for General Cold Weather Performance, Jim Holloman, Oct. 29, 2010
4. Tire Rack
TireRack.com customers like the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 better than any other performance winter tire. With more than 100 reviews posted, it outranks every other mild-winter tire, especially for silence and dry-road grip.
Review: Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3, Contributors to TireRack.com
5. Automobile Protection Association
The Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 gets a Very Good rating here, but it's not listed among the top performance winter tires. The review says the PA3 is "optimized for dry pavement handling, but not optimized for snow due to shallow tread depth and narrow openings between the tread blocks."
Review: Winter Tire Info: Performance Tires, Editors of Automobile Protection Association
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