Michelin CrossClimate 3 Sport - an experiment
Discussion
So I'm doing something perhaps a bit daft but also maybe completely sensible. All-seasons on my GT.
I daily my A110. It's currently on PS4s and they're great when it's warm, but when it's cold and damp not so much. I've noticed I sometimes don't even bother with the longer fun drives to Wales or Scotland when it's colder because I'm thinking the tyres won't be in their happy place for most of the trip.
The tyres needing replacing now so it got me looking. I was all set for for some Contis but I thought about all seasons. My Up GTI has CrossClimate 2 on it and they've been brilliant in real world terms. Only downside is they're not the last word in feel or steering sharpness.
I've been reading up and Michelin have the CrossClimate 3 now, and more interestingly the CrossClimate 3 Sport. That's what got my attention. I'm under no illusion it'll match a proper summer UHP tyre in dry feel, but I also don't track the car and I'm never driving at the limit on public roads.
So I've decided to just go for it. It's a bit of a punt, about £700, but it feels like it might actually make the car more usable and more enjoyable more of the time, rather than chasing ultimate grip I'm not really using anyway. I'm very much hoping they're not a compromise too far.
I'm getting the tyres fitted tomorrow. I'll treat it as an experiment and will report back after I've lived with them a bit, especially on cold wet roads and then again once it warms up. Am genuinely curious whether it will be a revelation, or whether I end up going straight back to a dedicated summer UHP tyre. Time will tell.
I daily my A110. It's currently on PS4s and they're great when it's warm, but when it's cold and damp not so much. I've noticed I sometimes don't even bother with the longer fun drives to Wales or Scotland when it's colder because I'm thinking the tyres won't be in their happy place for most of the trip.
The tyres needing replacing now so it got me looking. I was all set for for some Contis but I thought about all seasons. My Up GTI has CrossClimate 2 on it and they've been brilliant in real world terms. Only downside is they're not the last word in feel or steering sharpness.
I've been reading up and Michelin have the CrossClimate 3 now, and more interestingly the CrossClimate 3 Sport. That's what got my attention. I'm under no illusion it'll match a proper summer UHP tyre in dry feel, but I also don't track the car and I'm never driving at the limit on public roads.
So I've decided to just go for it. It's a bit of a punt, about £700, but it feels like it might actually make the car more usable and more enjoyable more of the time, rather than chasing ultimate grip I'm not really using anyway. I'm very much hoping they're not a compromise too far.
I'm getting the tyres fitted tomorrow. I'll treat it as an experiment and will report back after I've lived with them a bit, especially on cold wet roads and then again once it warms up. Am genuinely curious whether it will be a revelation, or whether I end up going straight back to a dedicated summer UHP tyre. Time will tell.
Edited by Stablinski on Thursday 22 January 10:23
Speed rating is Y so no issue there. £711 at Blackcircles.
Now that the change is imminent, I'm really looking forward to it. The thought of winter road trips never really appealed before but I have some time in February and, as long as the weather isn't Arctic-like, I'll take the car to Scotland. Can't wait!
Now that the change is imminent, I'm really looking forward to it. The thought of winter road trips never really appealed before but I have some time in February and, as long as the weather isn't Arctic-like, I'll take the car to Scotland. Can't wait!
Richard Piggott said:
I think thats a great idea. Different beast but I did the same on my GR Yaris for an Alps trip, came back left them on for 18 months, and as like you i'm not tracking it, they were fantastic every day useful. Will be thinking the same when my A110s PS4 need changing.
That's really useful feedback, thanks. Different beast but essentially similar scenario in that they're both performance and handling oriented and your experience makes me feel less unsure! Are they CC2s on your Yaris? Having done a deep dive on the CC3 Sport, Michelin have done some sort of magic to make them true all rounders. Proof will be in the pudding, however.
I had a similar train of thought back in October with my GR86.
Originally fitted with Michelin PS4 (Is the Alpine on PS4 or PS4 Sport? I'm guessing the latter, but often the way it get's written can be ambiguous).
The car was really quite tail happy in cold and damp conditions, to the point of making short town journeys interesting at times. Pulling away from lights, roundabouts etc it would scramble for traction and caution was required when applying throttle it it wasn't pointing in a straight line. I'd reduced pressures from recommended 2.4 to 2.2 BAR, which improved the ride but not much effect on traction.
All of the above was at very normal road speeds, just moving with the general flow of traffic.
Fitted a set of CrossClimate 3 Sport...
In short, a very worthwhile improvement. Much more reassuring to drive in the cool and damp conditions, noise and ride feel the same.
They took a few hundred miles to settle in, unlike most Michelin UHP tyres which are good to go almost immediately. During that first few hundred miles the front end felt like driving on over inflated tyres, with a very slight lateral "shimmy".
They were good in some very heavy rain on a mini uk roadtrip and didn't aquaplane.
The "internet" told me they only had 5.5mm of tread from new which was a bit of a concern. But I measured mine at 6.3-6.8, whilst when it was serviced recently the laser tread depth device came up with 7+mm... maybe they are magic and actually gain thread depth with use!
Ultimately they have done what I wanted by making the car feel more assured and useable in our winter conditions.
Wear is spread over 2 sets of tyres so Man-Math means I can write of the cost of the tyres. I'll probably refit the PS4 in April as they do have the edge in handling IMO when conditions aren't against them, but it's not a massive difference.
The argument for refitting the PS4Sport would be a stronger one in the spring/summer on a sports car, but it'll be interesting to hear your take on the CC3sport.
Originally fitted with Michelin PS4 (Is the Alpine on PS4 or PS4 Sport? I'm guessing the latter, but often the way it get's written can be ambiguous).
The car was really quite tail happy in cold and damp conditions, to the point of making short town journeys interesting at times. Pulling away from lights, roundabouts etc it would scramble for traction and caution was required when applying throttle it it wasn't pointing in a straight line. I'd reduced pressures from recommended 2.4 to 2.2 BAR, which improved the ride but not much effect on traction.
All of the above was at very normal road speeds, just moving with the general flow of traffic.
Fitted a set of CrossClimate 3 Sport...
In short, a very worthwhile improvement. Much more reassuring to drive in the cool and damp conditions, noise and ride feel the same.
They took a few hundred miles to settle in, unlike most Michelin UHP tyres which are good to go almost immediately. During that first few hundred miles the front end felt like driving on over inflated tyres, with a very slight lateral "shimmy".
They were good in some very heavy rain on a mini uk roadtrip and didn't aquaplane.
The "internet" told me they only had 5.5mm of tread from new which was a bit of a concern. But I measured mine at 6.3-6.8, whilst when it was serviced recently the laser tread depth device came up with 7+mm... maybe they are magic and actually gain thread depth with use!
Ultimately they have done what I wanted by making the car feel more assured and useable in our winter conditions.
Wear is spread over 2 sets of tyres so Man-Math means I can write of the cost of the tyres. I'll probably refit the PS4 in April as they do have the edge in handling IMO when conditions aren't against them, but it's not a massive difference.
The argument for refitting the PS4Sport would be a stronger one in the spring/summer on a sports car, but it'll be interesting to hear your take on the CC3sport.
Stablinski said:
Speed rating is Y so no issue there. £711 at Blackcircles.
Now that the change is imminent, I'm really looking forward to it. The thought of winter road trips never really appealed before but I have some time in February and, as long as the weather isn't Arctic-like, I'll take the car to Scotland. Can't wait!
Wish I’d had them Now that the change is imminent, I'm really looking forward to it. The thought of winter road trips never really appealed before but I have some time in February and, as long as the weather isn't Arctic-like, I'll take the car to Scotland. Can't wait!
M11rph said:
I had a similar train of thought back in October with my GR86.
Originally fitted with Michelin PS4 (Is the Alpine on PS4 or PS4 Sport? I'm guessing the latter, but often the way it get's written can be ambiguous).
The car was really quite tail happy in cold and damp conditions, to the point of making short town journeys interesting at times. Pulling away from lights, roundabouts etc it would scramble for traction and caution was required when applying throttle it it wasn't pointing in a straight line. I'd reduced pressures from recommended 2.4 to 2.2 BAR, which improved the ride but not much effect on traction.
All of the above was at very normal road speeds, just moving with the general flow of traffic.
Fitted a set of CrossClimate 3 Sport...
In short, a very worthwhile improvement. Much more reassuring to drive in the cool and damp conditions, noise and ride feel the same.
They took a few hundred miles to settle in, unlike most Michelin UHP tyres which are good to go almost immediately. During that first few hundred miles the front end felt like driving on over inflated tyres, with a very slight lateral "shimmy".
They were good in some very heavy rain on a mini uk roadtrip and didn't aquaplane.
The "internet" told me they only had 5.5mm of tread from new which was a bit of a concern. But I measured mine at 6.3-6.8, whilst when it was serviced recently the laser tread depth device came up with 7+mm... maybe they are magic and actually gain thread depth with use!
Ultimately they have done what I wanted by making the car feel more assured and useable in our winter conditions.
Wear is spread over 2 sets of tyres so Man-Math means I can write of the cost of the tyres. I'll probably refit the PS4 in April as they do have the edge in handling IMO when conditions aren't against them, but it's not a massive difference.
The argument for refitting the PS4Sport would be a stronger one in the spring/summer on a sports car, but it'll be interesting to hear your take on the CC3sport.
Great post, thanks, have you noticed any (relative) significant downsides so far?Originally fitted with Michelin PS4 (Is the Alpine on PS4 or PS4 Sport? I'm guessing the latter, but often the way it get's written can be ambiguous).
The car was really quite tail happy in cold and damp conditions, to the point of making short town journeys interesting at times. Pulling away from lights, roundabouts etc it would scramble for traction and caution was required when applying throttle it it wasn't pointing in a straight line. I'd reduced pressures from recommended 2.4 to 2.2 BAR, which improved the ride but not much effect on traction.
All of the above was at very normal road speeds, just moving with the general flow of traffic.
Fitted a set of CrossClimate 3 Sport...
In short, a very worthwhile improvement. Much more reassuring to drive in the cool and damp conditions, noise and ride feel the same.
They took a few hundred miles to settle in, unlike most Michelin UHP tyres which are good to go almost immediately. During that first few hundred miles the front end felt like driving on over inflated tyres, with a very slight lateral "shimmy".
They were good in some very heavy rain on a mini uk roadtrip and didn't aquaplane.
The "internet" told me they only had 5.5mm of tread from new which was a bit of a concern. But I measured mine at 6.3-6.8, whilst when it was serviced recently the laser tread depth device came up with 7+mm... maybe they are magic and actually gain thread depth with use!
Ultimately they have done what I wanted by making the car feel more assured and useable in our winter conditions.
Wear is spread over 2 sets of tyres so Man-Math means I can write of the cost of the tyres. I'll probably refit the PS4 in April as they do have the edge in handling IMO when conditions aren't against them, but it's not a massive difference.
The argument for refitting the PS4Sport would be a stronger one in the spring/summer on a sports car, but it'll be interesting to hear your take on the CC3sport.
Following with interest - I have a set of winters on Legende rims, but have never been thrilled with the Vredesteins I fitted to them. They do work fine in snow, but are a bit of a step down in regular use. One glaring failure mode is the way they confuse the dickens out of the traction control system in greasy conditions - full throttle can easily result in an alarming lack of acceleration. I assume this is due to the tall, squidgy tread blocks - the TC interprets the ‘wind up’ of the tread as wheel spin. Am fairly sure of my theory cos if you turn TC off, the thing just accelerates… 
It has improved with tread wear, but would be nice to not drive around the phenomenon in future, hence…
CCS3 might well be a good replacement given UK winter conditions, while still being 3 peak marked for those daft ski trips. Am particularly interested in if they don’t do the dumb thing mentioned above, plus how similar they might feel to normal PS4 (not PS4S) in normal conditions.
It has improved with tread wear, but would be nice to not drive around the phenomenon in future, hence…
CCS3 might well be a good replacement given UK winter conditions, while still being 3 peak marked for those daft ski trips. Am particularly interested in if they don’t do the dumb thing mentioned above, plus how similar they might feel to normal PS4 (not PS4S) in normal conditions.
I bought a second set of wheels with mine in 2019 to run Cross Climates in the Winter. Rears are now on Cross Climate 2s, and fronts (Cross Climate+ IIRC) will need replacing soon.
They're fabulous through late autumn, winter and early spring whether in southern UK or from a few Scottish winter trips. However once the temperature is above mid-teens they definitely get squidgy and less confidence inspiring. However with a second set of wheels that's not a problem as I'm on summer tyres (Eagle F1s these days since on the 17" wheels there's no option of the Contis) through the warmer months.
I think the CC3 Sport may still be a compromise too far for me in summer, especially with track days in mind, but if it's just a daily and you don't want to get into swapping wheels and tyres around then could well make sense.
One note if you're doing considerable winter use - the jacking points under the car are mild steel rather than aluminium. Salt tends to blast the thin layer of paint off (especially the rear ones) then they'll start rusting. I've put a couple of layers of cheap PPF over mine which get replaced periodically.
They're fabulous through late autumn, winter and early spring whether in southern UK or from a few Scottish winter trips. However once the temperature is above mid-teens they definitely get squidgy and less confidence inspiring. However with a second set of wheels that's not a problem as I'm on summer tyres (Eagle F1s these days since on the 17" wheels there's no option of the Contis) through the warmer months.
I think the CC3 Sport may still be a compromise too far for me in summer, especially with track days in mind, but if it's just a daily and you don't want to get into swapping wheels and tyres around then could well make sense.
One note if you're doing considerable winter use - the jacking points under the car are mild steel rather than aluminium. Salt tends to blast the thin layer of paint off (especially the rear ones) then they'll start rusting. I've put a couple of layers of cheap PPF over mine which get replaced periodically.
Sporky said:
A shame the CC3S aren't available in 17" for us Pure-ists. I've noticed my A110 doesn't brake well when it's cold and wet.
This is the biggest handicap for me as I think you need a taller tyre for the winter pothole epidemic ( different car but same applies) I have plenty of spare wheels and would only consider the CC3s as a 2 season tyre for my use " full summers otherwise
Gassing Station | Alpine | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff