New Generation Michelin Alpin Available H1 2010

The fourth generation of Michelin’s Alpin cold weather tyre is ready, and the French manufacturer states it will be introduced into European replacement markets during the first half of 2010 in “all regions where winter roads are generally wet – around 80 per cent of the time – and less often icy or snow-covered.” The new tyre has been designed to fit a wide range of vehicles, from city cars and compacts to MPVs and saloons.

Michelin has described the new Alpin as a tyre that “delivers unrivalled performance in terms of grip, tread life and energy efficiency in all winter driving conditions, through rain, ice or snow.” From a practical standpoint, the tyre maker elaborates, the Alpin’s grip enables drivers to get moving ten per cent faster than its predecessor on icy or snow-covered surfaces (according to tests performed by TÜV SÜD Automotive on size 195/65 R15 T and 205/55 R16 H tyres in 2010) and brake five percent shorter on wet, icy or snow-covered surfaces (according to the aforementioned TÜV and in-house tests), while the TÜV tests show the Alpin A4 can be driven 35 per cent farther on average than its main competitors – which Michelin notes is up to one winter longer. In addition to these performance features, the new tyre is also said to be more fuel-efficient.

To achieve this performance balance, Michelin says the new Alpin integrates a number of advanced technologies, some of them derived from winter tyres developed for the severe winter road conditions of the world’s northernmost regions. These ‘nordic’ tyres, like the Michelin X-ICE North introduced in 2009, enable drivers to take to the road even in the harshest winter driving conditions, on ice or snow – whether deep or freshly fallen, tightly packed or melting – and in temperatures ranging from 0° to -60° C. Michelin says this technology transfer benefits motorists driving on the latest generation of Alpin tyres, enabling them to remain in control of their vehicle at all times and vastly enhancing their confidence at the wheel.