Falken ZIEX CT50 vs Michelin CrossClimate 2 SUV — Compared

“Look at all weather tires (3PMSF rated) instead of a basic all season. Michelin CrossClimate2 is hard to beat for safety and snow grip and they’re not that loud in my experience. I put them on my wife’s Highlander and they’ve been smooth and confident in slush and highway rain. If you want something a little quieter and softer riding, Bridgestone WeatherPeak or Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive are also solid. When I priced 245/50R20 CC2s recently, Costco was around $314 per tire installed $1,256 set before tax during a promo, Tire Rack was about $302 per tire $1,208 before install and Discounted Wheel Warehouse had them closer to $279 per tire $1,116 before install so roughly $140 difference on a set before mounting”

“We visited VT for Christmas and got quite a lot of freezing rain. My parents live on dirt roads and they weren't sanded. Crossclimate 2s on the XC90 took it all in stride. It wasn't my first choice of tire. But I didn't feel "caught with my pants down" either. In NJ we have lots of "winter" days that range from the teens to the 40's. Right now the CC2s are my summer tire and I run Blizzaks for winter. If I were to run CC2s year round, I would buy new tires in Nov, keep them for 2 years, then sell them as barely used and buy a new set. Just like with the older all-season tires, winter performance is definitely better when the tire is newer.”

“We run CC2s on our ‘20 Ascent in central Minnesota and they’ve been excellent in all weather conditions over 40k miles. We occasionally drive gravel roads and they do not pick up noticeable amount in the tread. I ordered them for our Forester at Costco since they are on sale right now. The other tire I considered were the Nokian WRG4s (or now 5 is the new model). I had previously put the WRG3s on the Forester, but they were very loud the last 10k miles.”