Michelin X Ice Xi3 -- awesome

Hey guys,

I decided to junk my Hankook Ventus AS 235/55/18s after about ~48k miles, they really had a decent amount of tread on them still but always kinda sucked and were especially bad in snow.

I put on Michelin XIce Xi3s in 225/60/18 and they rock. It is like driving a new car, crazy grip in the nasty stuff and cold weather. I used to engage ABS just inching down my not too steep driveway now the car just bites and holds. It takes a strong stab of the brake pedal to engage ABS now even in the snow/slush where before it would fire up ABS all the time in snow and even rain.

No longer have to drive like a blue hair granny in a Grand Marquis leaving stop lights anymore either, normal throttle and no slippage unless you really lay on it.

Anyone who is considering maybe going with winter tires and is on the fence, do it. I have a shorter commute now but still drive about 45 miles a day (down from 75). Love the confidence the winter tires give me. I used to just keep waiting for turns and stuff because otherwise if I gave it 20% throttle I'd spin out, now I don't have to worry and can make those maneuvers no problem.

I'll figure out what I'm doing for summer tires in spring (I've got a set of SRT 20 inch Chally wheels but would like to get them powdercoated) Might be running the winter tires longer than I want but we'll see.