Michelin Latitude Tour HP vs Crossclimate 2

These are dedicated on-road tires built for all-season performance. Their contact patch and void ratios are optimized for enhanced on-road traction and reliable hydroplaning resistivity. Moreover, these tires specify a good tread depth so that you could manage to roll through snowy areas without any trouble.

Latitude Tour is a touring tire and characterizes enhanced on-road qualities to offer comfortable street drives. A mix of hydroplaning resistive features like curved sipes and linear grooves make this tire reliable even in rainy conditions.

Crossclimate shows a relatively aggressive tread; its open design makes it look different than most summer and all-season tires. It shows superior performance against hydroplaning, providing enhanced wet traction. Its modified tread composition and high void ratio go hand in hand to account for a hassle-free experience on soft snow.

Side By Side Comparison

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Usage	All-season	All-season
Tire type	Touring	Grand Touring
Sever snow service rated (3PMSF)	No	yes
Tested size	225/65R17 SL	225/65R17 SL
Tread depth	9.5/32’’	10/32’’
Tire weight	28 Ibs	27 Ibs
Tread width	6.6’’	7’’
Section width	9’’	9’’
Rim width range	6-8’’	6-8’’
Max. inflation pressure	51 psi	51 psi
Max. load	1874 Ibs	1874 Ibs
Load speed rating	102 H	102 H

Tread Comparison

Latitude HP characterizes a compact tread pattern resembling most all-season/ summer tires i.e. three ribs, four grooves, and bulky shoulders. However, its middle rib has a narrow longitudinal channel passing through the center, making an additional circumferential groove. Its blocks are marked by a 2D active siping pattern and arc-like wide sipes have multidirectional orientation. Shoulder blocks are comparatively larger and are marked by both vertical and horizontal sipes. Its tread is relatively less deep and the lack of prominent lateral grooves results in a low void ratio.

Crossclimate 2 specifies a directional tread pattern in which two rows of elongated tread blocks are arranged in a V-form orientation forming a zigzag groove in the center of the tire. However, these blocks are well spaced having open lateral grooves between them. Plus, their edges are engraved with V-Ramp Chamfers to enhance the biting ability on a dry road. Marginal longitudinal grooves are pretty narrow and shoulder blocks are oriented in the same V-form orientation as central blocks. Sipes on shoulder blocks and the outer portion of central blocks are linear but the middle portion has wave-like sipes. Its tread is deeper than the competitor.

Tire Performance Comparison

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Hydroplaning resistance	Moderate	High
Rolling resistance	High	Moderate
Off roading ability	Low-Moderate	Moderate-high
Durability	Moderate-high	High

Road Grip Comparison

Latitude HP shows better grip on a dry road owing to its massive contact patch as compared to the contestant. Its continuous ribs result in a larger rubber-to-road contact, providing a consistent and firm dry grip. However, its ability is comparatively lesser when the talk is about grip on a wet path due to its narrow and shallow voids. Though a larger contact patch provides reliable traction on wet and iced pavements yet its shallow longitudinal grooves offer comparatively decreased water wiping ability, making it relatively difficult for the tread to sustain the traction. On Snow, it presents lesser grip as its tread has fewer biting edges as well as minor evacuation capability. Its winter performance is also decreased due to lesser thermal endurance.   

On the other side, Crossclimate 2 gets a lower position for dry grip because its on-road traction is comparatively minimized. A widely spaced arrangement of individual blocks results in a smaller contact patch, minimizing the dry grip of the tire. On a wet or icy road, its open voids play an efficient role and keep water away from the tread. Resultantly, it shows an improved wet and ice grip as compared with the contestant. While rolling on a snowy path, its deep grooves offer enhanced biting ability as snow is easily evacuated from the deeper voids and the tire can roll forward without losing traction. Moreover, its performance on ice and snow is increased by its thermal adoptive tread remains flexible in low temperatures.

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Dry Grip	High	Moderate
Wet/ Ice Grip	Moderate	High
Snow Grip	Moderate	Moderate-High

Handling Comparison

When you drive on a dry road, Latitude offers higher steering precision than its competitor. Its bulky shoulder blocks and narrow lateral grooves are credited for its superior ability to maintain traction while turning along a corner. The same reason accounts for its better handling efficiency on a wet path. Plus, lateral grooves and curved sipes keep water away so that tread could sustain its contact with the road as the vehicle turns about. On ice, its ability is minimized as its tread works less efficiently in low temperatures. While rolling over snow, it gets a lower score for handling as its horizontal grooves evacuate snow less effectively.

Crossclimate offers lesser cornering stability on a dry road as its smaller shoulder block has specified lesser competence to maintain firm traction as you turn your vehicle around a corner. Similarly, its handling efficiency is also lesser in comparison on a wet pavement due to less bulky shoulders. Although its deep and wide lateral grooves and full-depth sipes perform an excellent job of removing water from the road’s surface yet its shoulders have minimized surface area to hold strongly on the road when taking turns, offering less accurate steering. However, it shows better ice traction due to thermal adaptive tread composition. Likewise, its steer management is better on snow-covered paths due to better snow evacuation through its deep lateral grooves.

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Dry Handling	High	Moderate
Wet Handling	High	Moderate
Ice  Handling	Moderate	Moderate-High
Snow Handling	Moderate	High

Comparison of Hydroplaning Resistance 

Crossclimate shows more resistance against hydroplaning because water easily squirms out through its open voids. Moreover, curved and linear 3D sipes make the wiping ability of tread better than the competitor. Hence, the thin water from the road’s surface is proficiently removed, minimizing the risk of vehicle slips and skidding.

Conversely, Latitude also provides satisfactory resistance against aquaplaning because its curved sipes and linear grooves perform a good wiping job yet the relatively lesser depth of voids and 2D structure of sipes limits its hydroplaning resistivity below the competitor.

Comparison of Rolling Resistance

Crossclimate faces relatively low rolling resistance due to its open tread design. Its tread uses a small amount of energy to roll as its contact patch is lesser. Resultantly, fuel consumption is lower when you use these tires as less hysteresis was produced to overcome rolling friction.

Latitude has a larger contact patch and the increased surface area of it tread comes in direct contact with the ground. Hence, more friction arises when it moves on the road as compared with the contestant. As a result, more rolling hysteresis is produced and more fuel is consumed.

Comparison of Noise and comfort

Latitude is comparatively a quieter tire because its smaller voids (due to lesser depth and width of grooves) offer only minimal space for the circulation of air particles. Resultantly, the loudness of the rolling sound is decreased. With respect to driving comfort, it takes the lead on dry paved surfaces due to better dry traction but offers comparatively lesser comfort on wet pavement due to minor slip resistance than the competitor.

Crossclimate 2 has been engineered using “PIANO tuning” technology from Michelin for reducing noise yet its rolling sound is louder than the competitor because its open voids offer a larger vacuum for sound resonation. These open channels are also responsible for the enhanced driving comfort on wet paths. Nonetheless, it provides less driving comfort on a dry road as its traction abilities are reduced by a relatively lower contact patch.

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Noise	Low-Moderate	Moderate-high
Driving comfort on a dry road	High	Moderate
Driving comfort on a wet road	Moderate	High

Tread composition and structure

Michelin has built Crossclimate 2 from an all-season thermal adaptive compound. Resultantly, its tread resists damage from lower temperatures and stays flexible and functional during the winter months. Internally, it has a 2-ply polyester casing on the rim carcass which is formed by two robust steel belts. Polyamide reinforcement further enhances its stability during the high-speed performance.

Latitude Tour is constructed from Michelin’s regular all-season compound and has less thermal adaptive features. That is why it does not carry a three-peak mountain snowflake rating and shows lesser winter performance than its competitor. However, its ice and snow traction is made reliable due to the reinforcement of tread structure with Michelin FAZ (filament at zero degrees) technology. It has spirally wound polyester and nylon/ aramid cords under its tread. Plus, its sidewalls are reinforced by polyester cords.

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
Tread Construction	Polyester compound Michelin FAZ (filament at zero degrees) technology	thermal adaptive compound
Rim Carcass	Twin belt steel carcass Nylon/ aramid reinforcement	Twin belt steel structure

Durability and treadwear

Crossclimate 2 ranks at a higher position for durability due to thermal adaptive composition and open tread design. The thermal adaptive feature of the tread makes it weather-resistant, enabling it to withstand temperature changes for a longer duration than its competitor. Moreover, less of its surface area is directly connected to the road which minimizes the resistive damage to the tread. Its higher UTQG value further confirms its relative longevity.

Latitude is a fairly durable tire due to its robust tread and sidewalls reinforced by FAZ technology. However, it lasts for less time than its competitor as its weather adaptability is lesser and temperature changes can damage the tread. Moreover, high contact patch gives rise to higher friction, causing faster consumption of tread due to frictional wear and tear. That is why it has a lower UTQG rating for treadwear.

	Latitude Tour	CrossClimate 2
UTQG	440 A A	640 B A
Treadwear warranty	(V and H speed rating) 55,000 miles/ 6 years (W speed ratings) 45,000 miles/ 6 years	(V and H speed rating) 60,000 miles/ 6 years
Uniformity warranty	Up to 1 year, upper 2/32’’	Up to 1 year, upper 2/32’’
Workmanship warranty	Six years	Six years

Quick Summary

Both are all-season tires.

Latitude Tour HP;

• Provides better grip on a dry road.
• Offers more controlled steering on paved surfaces.
• Ranks as a quieter tire in comparison.

Crossclimate 2

• Shows enhanced grip on a wet road.
• Provides supreme resistivity from aquaplaning.
• presents more ability for winter performance.
• Offers better fuel averages than the competitor.