Today unexpectedly gave me my first opportunity to try out a full set of Michelin Crossclimates in the snow!!

All I can say is that I did not notice a single slip or slide for the entire journey, unlike the Beamer in front of me that thought it was Torvill or Dean.

They have been great in the most torrential rain and now proved themselves in the snow.

I would most certainly buy more.

Alanw47 said:

Today unexpectedly gave me my first opportunity to try out a full set of Michelin Crossclimates in the snow!!

All I can say is that I did not notice a single slip or slide for the entire journey, unlike the Beamer in front of me that thought it was Torvill or Dean.

They have been great in the most torrential rain and now proved themselves in the snow.

I would most certainly buy more.

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I have the new Bridgestone Weather Control A005, it looks like this tyre is better then the Michelin in TÜV test in the wet and snow.

Just a little word / caution about tyre shops and the 500X.

On the plastic sill trim are those two little arrows / pointers showing you where to locate the vehicle's emergency jack.

The vehicle CAN ONLY SAFELY WITH NO POSSIBLE DAMAGE be lifted at these points WITH THE VEHICLE'S OWN JACK!

The lift points for garages, tyreshops, trolley jacks, post lifters and MOT bridge lifts are well inbound and totally different.

Explanation. If you look under your car you will see that the plastic sill trim actually has a good inch+ / 3cm+ of air space between it and the real metal sill. You will also notice that at the location for the vehicle jack (only about an inch_ gap) then the steel lip is just a thin vertical flange with no 90 degree fold in it.

This thin flange is not strong enough to lift the vehicle on without damage/bending. If you look at the vehicle's jack you will see that jack saddle has a cut/recess to allow the jack to locate either side of the sill flange and the two halves of the saddle sit firmly on the floor pan and main sill.

Garages/tyre shops the use two post lifts and trolley jack and who do not know about the 500Xs jacking requirements just put their large lift pads under the arrows. Wrong.

Types shops that use scissor lifts and large deformable rubber blocks under the arrows are wrong.

You only have to see the air space behind the plastic sill cover, the silly metal tabs the sill attaches to to realise the 1) they will bend and 2) sill clips to bodywork could easily be broken and the sill plastic trim broken or completely force off.

If you have had the vehicle jacked in a tyre shop or garage I strongly suggest you check under your car if you care.

Ties in with our experiences in snow with Cross-Climates - they are very good. Wear rate seems low as well.
Good advice from S130, also applies to the little 500, although that doesn't have plastic sill covers. I made up a shaped wooden block for my trolley jack.

TrevC said:

Ties in with our experiences in snow with Cross-Climates - they are very good. Wear rate seems low as well.
Good advice from S130, also applies to the little 500, although that doesn't have plastic sill covers. I made up a shaped wooden block for my trolley jack.

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There's much better points further under for jacking with a trolley jack rather then using the sill

chris3234 said:

There's much better points further under for jacking with a trolley jack rather then using the sill

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Indeed.

At the front inboard of the sill and behind the rear wheel arch you will find the manufacturing "carry points". These are like mini box sections with a central locating hole. Sadly they are recessed above the sill line so you need extensions/block to make contact and clear the lower edges of the car.

The rear/central jack/lift points are not so obvious. They are further inboard and less obvious. If you look under the car just behind the "B" post line you will spot some rubber plugs into the obvious central chassis box sections. These are where the car is supported and transported during manufacturing.

When you see the car lifted at the correct points it looks unbalanced and possibly likely to tip backwards. No fear, no problem it is rock solid.

I spray the correct lift points with yellow paint and insist/dictate that whoever is lifting the car CAN ONLY do so at the yellow painted points.

I have the Fiat 500X workshop manual and if I can figure out how I'll post what Fiat dictate.

Alanw47 said:

Today unexpectedly gave me my first opportunity to try out a full set of Michelin Crossclimates in the snow!!

All I can say is that I did not notice a single slip or slide for the entire journey, unlike the Beamer in front of me that thought it was Torvill or Dean.

They have been great in the most torrential rain and now proved themselves in the snow.

I would most certainly buy more.

Click to expand...

Going back to your original subject, I also have fitted Michelin Crossclimate + ! Last winter was relatively mild with virtually no snow down here in the South East. But on the night it did snow I was out late working and drove back home on both fresh snow & slush.
They performed well and likewise beyond expectations! The only other car about in the small hours of the morning was a BMW 3 series X drive, sliding about up a hill, it got there eventually, but apparently on summer tyres - I stopped to ask if they were ok!? They were but asked what tyres I was on!!
I guess car manufactures fit whatever is cost effective to them!? But can never understand why they don’t fit all season tyres for 4WD /AWD vehicles, when there are plenty of options out there!?

Alex4x4 said:

I guess car manufactures fit whatever is cost effective to them!? But can never understand why they don’t fit all season tyres for 4WD /AWD vehicles, when there are plenty of options out there!?

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Winter tyres would only be appropriate (as standard fit) for a few markets (Scandinavia etc.) where sales volume are (I guess) fairly small.

It would just be a complication to have sets of wheels with different types of tyres on them at the factory and then work out to fit them only to cars that are bound for Scandinavia.

Additionally, some cars would be built to a generic Euro-spec' and then if someone buys it from Norway (if it was not built as a customer order) then the factory would have to take the summer-tyre wheels off and fit the winter tyre wheels.

Local laws in some places mandate that winter tyres have to be used between certain months or in certain locations during certain months, so the locals that needs winter tyres are already in the habit of getting their summer/winter tyres swapped over every year.


Ralf S.

s130 said:

I have the Fiat 500X workshop manual and if I can figure out how I'll post what Fiat dictate.

Click to expand...

If this is eLearn, you can use a screenshot "Prt Scr" button on keyboard, then paste into Paint and save as a jpeg.
Alternatively, if more than one page, press print, then hopefully, if using Windows, there should be an option to print to pdf.

Sorry everyone. Have been rather busy. Should have done this straight away.

See:

https://www.fiatforum.com/gallery/data/500/medium/500X_Lifting.jpg

When the vehicle is lifted as required/stated then it looks very "odd" and potentially out of balance but it is rock stable.