Re: Michelin Alpins Rock! Morning Drive in NJ this morning...

I drove in that mess this morning in NJ..... The back roads where I am staying were not salted nor plowed....... a good inch or more was covering my 2009 CS2 Manual. I even drove down a deadly hill to get to I78 and the car braked fine although ABS was buzzing away. I78 was slushy at worst, mostly just wet. So far, I am very pleased with Michelin Alpins.

So...... Michelin Alpins are not as good as Blizzaks.... probably the same as my old Dunlops.... But the Michelins has a much stiffer sidewall than the Blizzaks therefore I think I prefer the Michelins over the Bridgestones.... but it is still too early in the season for a final evaluation. The Blizzaks roll over at the slightest lateral force so I used to put a few more pounds in each to stiffen them up. Compared to my Pirellis? I hate Pirelli and their performance in everything including sitting on a shelf. Others here love them..... I will agree to disagree.

More testing this evening as I retrace my tracks in more snow.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

I always find Michelin tires high quality, but the Pilot Alpins I had about ten years ago had a fatal flaw: stupidly soft side-walls. They handled terribly and were very, very fragile ( blew out two in two years, my current Dunlops are 9 years old with zero issues).

So, its good to have another choice. I dislike the blizzaks for several reasons.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

These ALpins are 18" while my PSSs are 19". I don't know the impact this has on ride. There is no doubt that the Alpins are squishyer, but totally acceptable to me. Not nearly as squishy as the Blizzakss... not even close.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

Have the Alpins, too. Second season, but haven't been in much snow at all yet. On the plus side, at up to 6-7/10s driving they feel very close to the Goodyear summer tires, having surprisingly good steering response. The ride feels a little coarser, but not too bad. On the negative, I've noticed more slippage than I'd expected to have when just edging up a small, slight uphill parking spot at a friend's home. With the limited slip and all else, that was a bit of a disappointment. I am encouraged, however, by Bruce's comments. When these wear out, I might try the Conti N-spec TS830.
I just completed a 2400 mile round trip to visit friends in Montgomery, Alabama, and in heavy, cold rain, both interstate and the Skyline Drive / Blue Ridge Parkway, the Michelins felt perfectly stable, and knowing there is all that channeling and siping was encouraging. Pressures were adjusted along the way, as the trip temperatures ranged from 34º to 83. So as to minimize possibly cooking the tread compound, I babied the car more as the temperature went up, and actually achieved 30.3 mpg all the way from the Hudson Valley to Front Royal, Virginia, not once going out of 6th gear once I was on the interstates. Trip average overall was 28.5.

Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?

Sounds like a great drive, scenery-wise. When we did Skyline/BRP this August, we didn't see much of Skyline drive because of the rain storms we drove through that day. Just wondering, Have they finished up with all the road work that was going on along Skyline drive?

I drove along there in 01 and it was mostly pea soup, to the point that what looked like an oncoming car was actually a much closer motorcycle with dual headlights. This time it was clear for maybe 3/4s of the combined roads, but again, when it was socked in the double yellow divider disappeared at about 50 feet. There was some road work stuff occurring on the BRP, but it was all a bunch of guys zipping around in pickup trucks; nothing obstructive. Some of the two roads' pavement is in bad repair, so they might decide to fix it all up just when you're there. I was very fortunate in that when I first got on Skyline near Luray,* one catatonic driver was in front of me for about 10 miles, ignoring my light flashing as we approached scenic pullovers, but then I didn't have anyone in front of me for what, maybe 100 miles. When I stopped to take pictures, I'd leap out the car and do a LeMans start to get going.
* The Cavern is beautiful, and there's a non-descript-from-the-outside car collection next door that is simply astonishing: 1892 Benz, 1896 Peugeot, 1908 Delaunay, 1906 Cadillac, 1907 Buick, 1908 Sears, 1908 Baker Electric, 1914 Locomobile, 1910 Maxwell, 1911 Hupmobile, 1913 Stanley, 1932 Rolls-Royce Shooting Brake (woody no less!) 1931 Morgan 3-wheeler, 1927 Mercedes Benz, 1928 Packard, 1927 Bugatti, 1930 Cord, 1931 Pierce-Arrow, 1935 Hispano-Suiza, etc, etc.


Minus 40 degrees... Is that Fahrenheit or Celsius?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2013 03:15PM by Laz. (view changes)

Drat! Which I'd known about that (is it a car museum?) at Luray. We got on Skyline Drive right at Front Royal and drove the whole length of it and the BRP except for a stretch that was closed for repairs south of 226 in NC.

We didn't have a break in the rain until near the end of Skyline Drive.

Getting on at Front Royal.



And finally had a break in the rain.