Tyre change

Michelin expands winter tyre range with Alpin 7

There are 64 available sizes suitable for both thermal and electrified or even zero-emission cars.

22 October 2024

2' min read

With the arrival of cold weather and the risk of snow, as per regulations, it is time to fit winter tyres. For this season, the French manufacturer Michelin has expanded its offer by introducing the Alpin 7, a tyre suitable for driving in severe winter conditions as well as for all types of cars, from thermals to hybrids to electrics. There are already 64 sizes available in the Alpin 7 range which, let us remember, is produced entirely in Michelin's factories in the Old Continent, including the Italian plant in Cuneo, the largest Michelin factory in Western Europe.

The Michelin winter range

The winter product offering includes the All Season Crossclimate range designed for drivers who do not need to make seasonal changes, such as those who live in large Italian cities and snowfalls are increasingly rare. While for those who often encounter severe winter driving conditions, Michelin has developed ad hoc tyres, such as the Alpin winter range which includes the new Alpin 7 tyre.

All tyres in the CrossClimate and Alpin ranges have both the M+S marking and 3PMSF (3 Peak Mountain Snow Flake, or Alpine symbol) certification, allowing them to be used safely all year round, meeting winter regulations on various road sections.

Michelin Alpin 7: features

The Alpin 7 features a number of innovations, starting with the compound designed to ensure grip even at low temperatures. Important innovations also lie in the directional and symmetrical tread pattern as well as the increase in sipes in the tread pattern, which improve braking grip by 6 per cent and traction on snow.

In addition, thanks to Michelin's expertise in 3D printing, which is useful for producing extremely complex tread moulds, the Michelin Alpin 7 tyre features evolutionary sipes, i.e. new grooves that appear as the tyre tread wears down. This allows the tyre to maintain a good level of performance throughout its life and to be used safely and confidently up to the legal wear limit of 1.6mm.

Testing wear to the limit as required by the new European standards

Entering into force last July, the new European legislation (European Regulation R117-04) requires the inclusion of a threshold test on all newly type-approved tyres in order to measure wet grip performance when the tyre is worn, through a braking test.

To perform this test, the new tyre is mechanically worn to near the legal tread wear limit (approximately 2mm). To obtain type approval, the measured performance must be above the threshold defined by the regulations.

The new Michelin Alpin 7, while anticipating the entry into force of the standard, has already received European type approval as, even when worn, it exceeds the thresholds set by the European Union for this test.