Bridgestone Blizzak LM005: the latest in winter tyres

Bridgestone presents its new Blizzak LM005 range, a winter tyre you should consider if you often drive on snow and ice.

At Top10motor we are very clear about this. If you usually drive in warm climates, where it rains little and you will rarely encounter very cold conditions or snow and ice, the best choice is the summer tyre that best suits your car, your driving style and your needs.

If you only face adverse weather conditions occasionally, then all-season tyres, or summer tyres with winter certification such as the Michelin CrossClimate, are a highly recommended option. You can use them all year round, without having to replace them when the season changes. And they ensure your mobility, being a legal alternative (and safer and more comfortable) to snow chains.

But for users who frequently drive at very low temperatures, and often encounter snowy or icy roads, the safest option is to opt for winter tyres, marked 3PMSF and M+S. And to switch them for summer tyres when the winter season ends.

Bridgestone Blizzak LM005: maximum control on snow and ice

In this last case, drivers have reason to celebrate, since the options for choosing winter tyres are increasingly… and better.

A clear example is Bridgestone, which has just presented its new Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 range. The brand states that its development took into account the experiences of 20,000 European drivers who face the challenges of winter driving. And although we cannot yet give our first-hand opinion because we have not tested them, the results from the independent institute TÜV SÜD are revealing.

Bridgestone has compared its new Blizzak LM005 with other winter tyres, such as the Continental WinterContact TS860, the new Michelin Alpin 6, the GoodYear UltraGrip 9 and the Pirelli Cinturato Winter. To summarise: in these tests, the Blizzak LM005 proved the best when assessing grip on snow and ice.

Compared with their rivals, they are also the winter tyres with the best rating in braking and cornering grip tests on wet asphalt. This has led them to be the first to achieve the A rating on the tyre label for wet grip across the entire range, regardless of size.

The technology inside the Blizzak LM005

As almost always when a manufacturer presents a new tyre, of the little they can tell us (the rest is secret), the improvements come through new compounds and a new tread pattern design.

In the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, the new compound has been named Nano Pro-Tech, and includes a high silica content, aiming to improve performance on wet asphalt and snow.

The secret is achieving a compound that maintains its properties when temperatures drop without the rubber hardening. Bridgestone manages to distribute this material appropriately with a selective mixing technology it calls “nano-reaction”.

As for the tread, the grooves have been increased in the shoulder area and in the central part of the tread. In this way water drains better, while the zigzag groove design increases grip by making the pattern work better when gripping snowy asphalt. To this end, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 use 2D micro-sipes in the central zone and a 3D design on the shoulder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kOe49GGCOU&feature=youtu.be

The new Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 are offered in 116 sizes, for rims from 14 to 22 inches, covering more than 90% of market demand at launch. In 2020, more sizes will be added to the range.

Available both for passenger cars and for SUVs and sports cars, another additional advantage of the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 winter tyres is that in the most common sizes they are also offered with Run-Flat technology. Run-Flat tyres are designed to continue driving safely without air after suffering a puncture, for around 80 km and at a maximum speed of about 80 km/h.