The Michelin Alpin A2 winter tire is largely a "correction of mistakes" made in the development of the same-name model of the previous generation, despite its popularity among European car enthusiasts. To do this, the French tire makers had to rethink almost the entire construction of the tire, which made it possible to significantly improve most of the technical characteristics.
Reduced braking distance
A significant part of the innovations affected the rubber compound, which, compared to the previous model, has changed significantly in its physical and chemical properties. Thanks to special functional polymers, they change significantly when the driving mode changes. One of the practical results of these technical tricks was a significant reduction in braking distance, especially on wet roads.
Increased contact patch size and shape
For this model, the tread pattern was developed almost from scratch, as was the carcass design. The main goal was to increase the size of the contact patch and give it an ellipsoidal shape. This led to the fact that, on the one hand, the tire demonstrates excellent traction on dry roads, and on the other hand, increased resistance to aquaplaning.
Even more lamellas
Compared to the previous model, the tread pattern of this tire contains about a thousand more gripping edges. This was achieved by increasing the number of lamellas, which have an interlocking design. I.e., when contacting the road, the walls of not one lamella, but all the lamellas of the tread block, are blocked. This makes it very stiff and resistant to deformation in fractions of a second, which has a positive effect on handling and traction on ice and compacted snow.
Main features of Michelin Alpin A2
- high efficiency when braking, thanks to special functional polymers that change the physical and chemical properties of the compound in a certain way;
- increased contact patch size and its ellipsoidal shape, on the one hand, improves traction on dry roads, and on the other hand, increases resistance to aquaplaning and slushplaning;
- a large number of self-locking lamellas improves handling and traction on ice.
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