The Michelin Alpin 6 winter car tyre is characterised by its efficient braking performance, long service life and traction in snowy conditions irrespective of the degree of wear.

Winter safety when new and worn. With the Michelin Evergrip technologies, the Alpin 6 grips wet and dry roads whatever the state of wear. It ensures perfect mobility and high braking performance on snow thanks to grooves that appear as the tyre wears down and the two layers of rubber. On the innovation side, grip on snowy surfaces is optimised, even as the tyre wears by the Traction Booster Compound technology used for the bottom layer of the tread compound.

Longevity. The Alpin 6 is one of the best tyres in terms of longevity compared to its main competitors. And above all, one of the few to maintain its winter performance throughout the tyre's life.

MICHELIN ALPIN 6: LONG-LASTING PERFORMANCE FOR SEVERE WINTERS

Michelin reveals details of its much anticipated Alpin 6. With its new tyre, the tyre manufacturer renews its winter range in advance of the upcoming season.

A tyre for really severe winters

If, with the launch of its CrossClimate and CrossClimate +, Michelin recognises that all season tyres are taking a growing share of the European market, the tyre manufacturer still considers that there is a high demand for high performance winter tyres. This is why the French tyre manufacturer has launched the Alpin 6, to replace the Alpin 5, which is for consumers accustomed to severe winters and heavy snow falls.

To develop its new winter tyre, Michelin went to the Col de la Bonette in the Alps, at an altitude of 2715 m. When the road closed for winter, the French tyre manufacturer set up base on a 15 km section of the track. Acceleration, braking, traction, lateral grip… Everything was tested. Michelin also tested its tyre at Ivalo in Finland, beyond the Arctic circle, there where snow is light, dry and powdery.

Efficient even worn

With its Alpin 6, Michelin announces an unequalled level of performance, even when worn. And to prove it, the manufacturer has not added an indicator on the tyre at the winter tread wear limit of 4mm. The tyre remains efficient up to the legal wear limit of 1.6 mm. According to tests conducted by TÜV SÜD, when worn the average stopping distance of the Alpin 6 is 5.9 m shorter on snow than its competitors.

As the tyre wears down, the tread depth reduces. This is why Michelin has developed a unique pattern that evolves as the tyre wears.  3D self-locking sipes emerge and widen, which improves the evacuation of water and snow when the tyre is worn. Edges become sharper to deliver more grip thanks to a new water droplet shaped snow chamber. This specific feature allows the Michelin Alpin 6 to have a high number of sipes on the tread and keep a large footprint in snow, to deliver superior grip.

The new water droplet shaped snow chamber can be found at the bottom of its grooves. To create additional grip, Michelin uses a specific characteristic: snow-on-snow grip. Snow is trapped at the bottom of the tread and compacted into a ball allowing additional snow to grip the surface. The Michelin Alpin 6 promises to deliver better traction and braking performance on snow than its predecessor.

Michelin found itself confronted with a serious problem. As the tyre wore down and lost rubber, the tread became stiffer, thus reducing the amount of grip on snow. For the Alpin 6, the Clermond Ferrand tyre manufacturer has developed a multi-layer tread compound. At a certain level of wear, the rubber compound changes for an elastomer compound specially designed to remain flexible and improve winter grip on snow. The compound also improves longevity to give a 20% longer tyre life on average than its competitors.