Given
100%
while driving a
Mercedes Benz E Class
(245/45 R17 W) on
a combination of roads
for 1,200
easy going miles
I bought the CrossClimate+ tires for my 2011 E-class in February for Estonian climate which is very snow-heavy with snowy, icy, wet roads - the whole package, average northern climate. I've now driven something around 2000 kilometers with these tires, on all possible road conditions and I can whole-heartedly say these are the best tires I've ever had!
I bought the car last summer, so this was my first winter with this car and I had Nexen Winguard Winspikes on for the start of the winter since those were the winter tires the old owner provided. As the old tires had enough tread, I didn't really see a reason to buy new ones, so I decided to go with those. Honestly, driving has never been as terrifying as it was with Nexens! My car was fishtailing like crazy even on slightly wet roads, not to even talk about snowy roads - the car was literally squirming, something it had never done before when I had summer tires on and drove on not-so-decent conditions during the summer. The Nexens really made me think for a second that my car is to blame - why else would it be so terrifying to drive in the winter with WINTER tires? And by the way, that happened even within city limits, driving with 50km/h speed. The car was so unstable on the road that even stability control kicked in constantly.
I've driven with plenty of Mercedes in my life, so I knew the problem couldn't really be the car. So, I decided to get rid of the tires and buy something that would also eliminate the need to constantly change tires - I went for the best option I could find for my car's rims and I opted for the CC+ tires. I was quite skeptical about this choice though at first since I had always driven with studded winter tires before, these are my first ever all-season tires. I really didn't think all-season tires could be superior to winter tires since theoretically, their performance should be somewhat average.
However, getting these tires was the BEST DECISION EVER! I never in my life imagined that tires could make such a massive difference since before I had always driven with average/decent tires but jumping from Nexen's to Michelin really made all the difference. I've now driven with the CC+ tires for a few weeks and within that time I've driven more than I drove with Nexen's within several months since with Nexen's I literally avoided driving as much as I could. After doing the switch, driving has been just thoroughly enjoyable again (exactly like it was during summer), even so enjoyable that now I basically drive every single day just for the fun of driving. The weather isn't better at all - just last week I had to drive through a snow storm. By now I've driven with these tires on:
- icy roads
- fresh snow
- 10-15cm snow
- sleet
- damp roads
- dry roads
- roads with tons of water, extremely high risk of aquaplaning (imagine very bumpy roads after heavy rain)
The weather in Estonia is so unpredictable you really can't ever know what the weather will be like. For instance, during a 200-kilometer drive one day, I drove through fresh snow, ice, sleet, rain, aquaplaning and dry roads. The car was as stable and smooth as if the roads were completely dry all the time. CC+ tires made the car exactly as stable as it was before icy-snowy wintertime and driving is just pure enjoyment, no matter what the roads are like. These tires really brought back my driving confidence and I'd even go as far as to say that these tires are superior to my previous summer tires Goodyear Eagle's.
For me, these tires are really the best tires I've ever had. If you need tires that can handle any road conditions, to make your car stable, smooth and perfect to drive no matter what the road is like, these are the tires to get.