Tests 65 · 5 tests Owners 64 · 37 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 17 in 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 (exterior noise)
Head-to-head
Updated
Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 vs Michelin CrossClimate 2 — Compared
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 5 + 32 road tests and 37 + 21,629 owner reviews. How we score
CrossClimate 2 is ahead, 88–65
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Tests 87 · 32 tests Owners 87 · 21,629 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 35 in 2023 All Season Tyre 35 Set Shootout (dry braking)
“I replaced the factory Continentals at 9,258 miles at the end of August 2023 with the stock size 225/65R17 Michelin CrossClimate 2's. I waited until the local tire shop had a sale and had these mounted/balanced for under $800. 348 days, 10,004 miles and 4 seasons have passed since then. I spend much of my time around "town" with speed limits under 55 while also having a handful of longer highway drives. These are the closest thing to a "no-compromise" all season tire that I can imagine. They are smooth, quiet and have incredible grip in all weather conditions. Snow, rain, etc. Admittedly, I have not taken my FWD Maverick through any meaningful amount of mud. Maybe there is a tire better suited to this. There are also certainly performance oriented tires that will outperform this tire when it is hot and dry. Last, and certainly not least - there does not seem to be any fuel economy change. I have tracked every tank before and after these tires. Both my best (48.5MPG) and worst (27MPG) full tanks have happened since these were installed. 38.8 overall.”
Category by category
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
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67
Dry
CrossClimate 2 +2895Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 30 tests 71 99 Reviews found online 60 89 Dry Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 68% 100% Dry Handling (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 90% 100% Dry Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 80% 100% Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 71.3 + 40% × 60.2 = 67
CrossClimate 2: 60% × 99.1 + 40% × 88.5 = 95
-
63
Wet
CrossClimate 2 +2487Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 30 tests 59 83 Reviews found online 67 92 Straight Aquaplaning (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 0–2 73% 100% Wet Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 80% 100% Wet Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 80% 100% Wet Handling (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 90% 100% Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 59.5 + 40% × 67.1 = 63
CrossClimate 2: 60% × 83.4 + 40% × 91.6 = 87
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67
Snow
CrossClimate 2 +2491Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 26 tests 58 99 Reviews found online 79 78 Ice Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 68% 58% Ice Handling (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 2–0 93% 89% Ice Traction (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 2–0 69% 58% Snow Braking (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 98% 94% Snow Handling (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 2–0 98% 94% Snow Traction (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 2–0 96% 96% Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 58.1 + 40% × 79.1 = 67
CrossClimate 2: 60% × 98.9 + 40% × 78.4 = 91
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66
Comfort
CrossClimate 2 +1278Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 3 tests ≈ 68 (est.) 65 Reviews found online 64 87 Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 40% × 68.2 (est.) + 60% × 64.2 = 66
CrossClimate 2: 40% × 65.1 + 60% × 86.5 = 78
No road tests of comfort for Winter I cept iZ2 W616. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.
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71
Noise
CrossClimate 2 +980Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · 4 / 19 tests 83 79 Reviews found online 53 83 Noise (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 100% 98% Exterior Noise (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 98% 100% Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 82.8 + 40% × 52.8 = 71
CrossClimate 2: 60% × 78.6 + 40% × 82.6 = 80
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59
Treadwear
CrossClimate 2 +2483Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 7 tests ≈ 62 (est.) 81 Reviews found online 54 87 Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 61.9 (est.) + 40% × 54 = 59
CrossClimate 2: 60% × 81.1 + 40% × 86.8 = 83
No road tests of treadwear for Winter I cept iZ2 W616. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.35).
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67
Handling (owners)
CrossClimate 2 +1582Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Reviews found online 67 82 -
76
Efficiency
CrossClimate 2 +1490Why this score
Source Winter I cept iZ2 W616 CrossClimate 2 Professional tests (TWG score) · 3 / 22 tests 76 90 Fuel Consumption (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–0 97% 96% Rolling Resistance (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–1 96% 97%
Scores at a glance
| Category | Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 | Michelin CrossClimate 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 65 | 88 |
| Dry | 67 | 95 |
| Wet | 63 | 87 |
| Snow | 67 | 91 |
| Comfort | 66 | 78 |
| Noise | 71 | 80 |
| Treadwear | 59 | 83 |
| Handling (owners) | 67 | 82 |
| Efficiency | 76 | 90 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
Weight the categories that matter to you
Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
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Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
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Recomputed
Headline score
65
/ 100
Winter I cept iZ2 W616
88
/ 100
CrossClimate 2
The professional test results behind the scores
Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.
In the overall rankings of 2 tests that ran both, Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 finished ahead 2 times and Michelin CrossClimate 2 0 times.
| Discipline | Category | Winter I cept iZ2 W616 | CrossClimate 2 | Δ | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Braking | Dry | 68% | 100% | −31.9 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Dry Handling | Dry | 90% | 100% | −9.6 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Dry Handling (tester's mark) | Dry | 80% | 100% | −20.0 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test · 225/45 R17 |
| Straight Aquaplaning | Wet | 73% | 100% | −27.4 | 0–2 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Wet Braking | Wet | 80% | 100% | −20.1 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Wet Handling | Wet | 90% | 100% | −9.6 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test · 225/45 R17 |
| Wet Handling (tester's mark) | Wet | 80% | 100% | −20.0 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Ice Braking | Snow | 68% | 58% | +10.1 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Ice Handling | Snow | 93% | 89% | +4.5 | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Ice Traction | Snow | 69% | 58% | +10.6 | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Snow Braking | Snow | 98% | 94% | +4.0 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Snow Handling | Snow | 98% | 94% | +3.7 | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Snow Traction | Snow | 96% | 96% | +0.2 | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Exterior Noise | Noise | 98% | 100% | −1.6 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Noise | Noise | 100% | 98% | +1.6 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test · 225/45 R17 |
| Fuel Consumption | Efficiency | 97% | 96% | +0.9 | 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2024 Nordic Friction Winter Tyre Test · 225/45 R17 |
| Rolling Resistance | Efficiency | 96% | 97% | −0.9 | 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
| Also published by the testers (not in the score) | |||||
| Price | Cost | 67% #6/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test | 55% #12/12 · 2024 Minivan / SUV All Season Tyre Test | – | Different tests |
| Overall Ranking | Overall | #5/7 | #6/7 | – | 2–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2025 NAF Motor Studless Winter Tire Test R17 · 225/45R17 |
Pros, cons & observations
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
Tire A Winter I cept iZ2 W616
Pros
- Exceptional grip and traction in deep snow, slush, and severe winter conditions
- Low road noise, offering a much quieter ride than typical winter tires
- High comfort levels and stable, predictable handling on cold dry or wet roads
Cons
- Subpar performance or reduced traction on wet roads and heavy rain
- Faster tread wear, particularly during aggressive driving or when used in warmer weather
- Softer sidewalls can feel slightly edgy or less precise when pushed to the limit
Tire B CrossClimate 2
Pros
- Exceptional grip and traction in snow, slush, and winter weather conditions
- Strong braking and handling performance on dry and wet pavement
- Long-lasting tread wear and durability
Cons
- Higher initial purchase price
- Slight negative impact on fuel economy / EV range for some drivers
- Potential for increased road noise or harshness as the tires wear down
What real owners are saying
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Tire A
Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
Tire B
Positive
Michelin CrossClimate 2
The community overwhelmingly praises the Michelin CrossClimate 2 for its exceptional snow, ice, and wet-weather traction, often describing it as an ideal all-weather tire. While many drivers report a quiet, comfortable ride and solid durability, some users note potential downsides including reduced fuel or battery efficiency, road noise on certain surfaces, and premium pricing. A few commenters also point out that the tire may be overkill for regions without significant winter weather.
r/Ioniq5
·2 upvotes ·2025-07-26
“I got my new to me 2022 Ultimate RWD in May this year, the tyres were all crap so I went to CrossClimate 2s on all 4 wheels. I can’t tell you what it was doing beforehand but I get 3.7mi/kWh around town and 3.2mi/kWh on the motorway now. I have a fairly heavy right foot, but at 100% charge it shows 270ish miles but mine is an early 72kWh battery so bear that in mind.”
r/TeslaModel3
·2 upvotes ·2025-11-20
“I live in Vancouver,WA and the CC2 are great for our climate even the light snowfall. I have an SR+, so they’re the 18” version. I have about 22K miles on them after 2 years and have averaged 240Wh/mi since installation, and I don’t drive conservatively. They did increase power usage by about 15-20Wh/mi. I’ve also been lazy and haven’t rotated them and they still are wearing very well. Got about 8/32nd up front and 6/32 in rear. Much better than the stock tires that were almost worn out at 22K. Note that places like Costco will not install these on your Tesla because they don’t meet the factory speed rating. It’s a CYA thing.”
bobistheoilguy.com
·19 upvotes ·2023-03-10
“I have had the Cross Climate 2 tires on my VW All Track now for about a year and thought I would share some findings about them. 1. They are QUIET on the road. Looking at the tread, you might think they are noisy but they are not! Run as quiet as a normal tire. 2. They give excellent traction and handling on dry, wet and snowy roads. This past winter, I had two occasions to drive on roads covered with 6-10" of snow. Excellent traction. 3. They wear very well! After about 12,000 miles, they hardly show any wear. I expect to get about 50,000-60,000 miles out of these tires. 4. They do exact a mileage penalty. I lost about 2 mpg overall since putting on these tires. However, I do not mind that considering the excellent traction I get from them. 5. They tend to pick up stones in the tread, particularly after the great state of Pennsylvania in its wisdom covers the roads before, during and after a snowstorm with gravel. Overall, this tire is a winner. Handling is excellent as is wear and traction. I would recommend this tire to anyone who wants these features and wants to leave a set of tires on their car year around.”
Top themes
#Snow and ice traction#Wet handling and hydroplaning#Road noise and comfort#Fuel economy and range#Tread wear and longevity#Premium price point#Directional tread design
Based on 762 community posts
Specs side by side
| Attribute | A · Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 | B · Michelin CrossClimate 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Winter | All Season |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | 2 | 92 |
| Rim diameters | 16″ – 18″ | 15″ – 21″ |
| Tread depth | 10.5/32″ | 9 - 10/32″ |
| UTQG | — | 640 B A |
| Treadwear warranty | 40,000 mi | 60,000 mi |
| Sidewall | Blackwall | Black Side Wall |
| Max pressure | 50 psi | 50 - 51 psi |
Which one should you actually buy?
65
/ 100
Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616
88
/ 100
Michelin CrossClimate 2
Winner: Michelin CrossClimate 2 — better dry, wet and snow. It leads or ties in every category we score.
Pick tire B
You want the most grip on dry roads
Michelin CrossClimate 2 scores 95 vs 67 on dry.
Pick tire B
Your priority is wet-weather safety
Michelin CrossClimate 2 scores 87 vs 63 on wet.
Pick tire B
You drive through snowy winters
Michelin CrossClimate 2 scores 91 vs 67 on snow.
Pick tire B
You want the longest tread life
Michelin CrossClimate 2 scores 83 vs 59 on treadwear.
Pick tire A
Your priority is ice handling
Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 2 of 2 shared ice handling tests.
Tire A · Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616
Tire B · Michelin CrossClimate 2
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Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Which is better in the wet, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 87 vs 63 on our wet score.
Which grips better on dry roads, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 95 vs 67 on our dry score.
Which is better in snow, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 91 vs 67 on our snow score.
Which is quieter, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 80 vs 71 on our noise score.
Which is more comfortable, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 78 vs 66 on our comfort score.
Which lasts longer, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 83 vs 59 on our treadwear score.
Which rolls more easily, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or CrossClimate 2?
Michelin CrossClimate 2, 90 vs 76 on our efficiency score.
How do we compare tires?
Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.
Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.
Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology