THE MICHELIN X-ICE NORTH 3 FOR SWEDEN’S FROZEN FORESTS

Rally Sweden is unique in the FIA World Rally Championship calendar in that it is the only round to take place on frozen, snowy, icy dirt. It is consequently the only outing of the season for the MICHELIN X-Ice North 3 tyre and its 384 metal studs.

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Round two of the 2015 WRC on February 12-15 visit’s Sweden’s Värmland, focusing on the regional capital Karlstad and Hagfors, a small town of around 13,000 slightly further north where the service park is based.

After Thursday evening’s spectacular super-special round Karlstad’s horse trotting track, competitors will head into neighbouring Norway and a number of stages that haven’t featured since 2011. ‘Vergasen’ and its infamous Colin’s Crest high-speed leap are naturally included once again, as is ‘Rämmen’ which was completed at an average speed of more than 117kph last year and which will be run twice this Saturday (SS12/16). This week’s menu of 21 stages totals 308 competitive kilometres out of a total distance of 1,441.37km.

For the event’s traditionally complex conditions, crews will be able to count on the MICHELIN X-Ice North 3 tyre which is fitted with studs that protrude 6.5mm from the tread in order to provide grip on icy ground.

The studded MICHELIN X-ICE NORTH 3

The MICHELIN X-Ice North 3 is an evolution of the MICHELIN X-Ice North 2 which made its debut in Sweden this time last year. Engineers at Michelin Motorsport have developed a new rubber compound for its tread which has been formulated to allow the 384 studs to bite into the frozen stage surface more effectively. Despite the tyre’s particularly open pattern, this new compound delivers enhanced stability while at the same time improving the clearance of snow thanks to more rigid tread blocks and an optimised land-to-sea ratio. These improvements were made possible thanks to the Michelin Total Performance commitment which consists in taking forward several of the factors that influence tyre performance at the same time.

This year’s changes come after last year’s work on the way the studs are held in the tyre, even when the cars find themselves competing on exposed dirt with no snow or ice cover. The extra tread block rigidity enhances performance and also the efficiency of the way the studs of the MICHELIN X-Ice North 3 strike the ground.

This year, competitors will have a total allocation of 24 tyres per car, which equates to four per tyrechange opportunity, plus four spares (two spares for WRC2 competitors).

The MICHELIN X-ICE NORTH 3 in brief…

Size: 195/65R15 (equivalent to 15/65-15)

Width: 195mm

Sidewall height: 125mm

Interior diameter: 15 inches

Tread pattern: asymmetric directional (specific tyres right [R] and left [L])

Number of studs: 384 (20 every 10cm around the tread, in compliance with FIA regulations)

Overall stud length: 20mm

Length of exposed stud: 6.5mm

Weight per stud: 4 grams

Studding technique: across the entire tread

Weight per tyre (including studs): approximately 12kg

Conditions: from -30°C to 0°C

Total number of tyres available for the 2015 Rally Sweden: 600