Helge and Matthias are on their way to Ivalo. Never heard? No wonder, the small town is deeply hidden in northernmost Finland. All kinds of companies that deal with cars are romping around here in winter to test: manufacturers, suppliers or tire manufacturers such as Michelin. Here Helge Thomsen and Matthias Malmedie test how important the tread depth is for suitable winter tires - with an exciting outcome.
When he arrived in Finland, full-throttle fan Matthias Malmedie was disillusioned: no snow far and wide. Not even after a ten hour flight. Here you can see which shallows you have to reach in order to penetrate the white splendor. So the two of them get into the car and look for the snow. But there is a surprise: Helge takes a seat as a passenger in a rally Mitsubishi Lancer, while Matthias is brought to the Arctic Circle a little more comfortably.
While Helge's fun ride in Armin Schwarz's WRC car passes by in no time at all, Matthias's trip drags on. When I finally arrived in Ivalo, the amazement was not bad: still no snow. Matthias threatens to burst with impatience until Helge leads him into a kind of hangar. Michelin has built a huge hall here in which winter conditions prevail constantly. Snow, ice, cold - everything is there! It is minus 11 degrees Celsius in the hall, so the two of them are happy to have a warm knitted hat with them.
But it gets even better: The snow in the test hangar does not come from a snow cannon, but is actually real. The Finnish experts spare no effort and collect the white splendor in winter and bring it to the hall for optimal test conditions, where it is preserved. So nothing stands in the way of a sensible tire test including a challenge between the two grip moderators.
The Michelin Alpin 5 in the endurance test
At the end of the hall, the two of them expect two completely identical test vehicles. But are the two gray-beige VW Golf really exactly the same? Not quite. Although both have the excellent Michelin Alpin 5 winter tires, there is a small but crucial difference. Helge's test car runs on brand-new winter tires, while Matthias’s tires have already lost some of their tread. Matthias is now on the road with these tires and is a little worried about his chances of winning the competition with Helge. But his adversary reassures him that Michelin winter tires are competitive even with this tread depth. Sure, after all, the sipes go deep inside the tire and still perform at a high level. So let's go to the first tests: Accelerate and brake!
Both stand at the start pylons with heavy gas feet and can hardly wait to explore the potential of the tires. The astonishing result: Matthias wins the duel even though his tires are "worn out", as the layman would call it. In the end, however, this test shows two things: On the one hand, when accelerating on smooth surfaces, it is not a matter of a heavy foot on the accelerator, but of the feeling in it. If you step right through, the traction control either reduces the entire power or the propulsion ends without control intervention in unstoppable spinning of the wheels. On the other hand, it also shows that the Michelin tires with a lower profile are by no means unusable. This is where the high development effort of the French pays off.
It looks a bit different when braking: Matthias' Golf - equipped with winter tires with a lower profile - comes to a halt later than the Golf of Helge. No wonder Helges vehicle has brand new Michelin Alpin 5 winter tires. But the amazing thing is that the difference is relatively small. After the acceleration ride over 45 Meter, the allegedly badly tyred Golf is only half a car's length behind the test car with new tires. This shows that investing in a high-quality tire pays off in terms of durability and good driving characteristics.
After the long day of travel and the freezing cold in the test hall, the two moderators need a refreshment. So what could be better than a hearty and warm reindeer soup. Even while the two review the aha-experience of the brake test, Helge comes up with an exciting idea ...
[youtube youtubeurl=”nEGBADFxmQk” ][/youtube]