The performance all-season tyre is here

Promised yourself something feisty or rear-driven for years, but worried it would be left stricken in winter? Michelin is here to help. A decade after launching its first summer tyre approved for winter use – the Michelin CrossClimate – the French firm’s engineers have cooked up a thrilling new evolution that puts performance cars front of mind. Meet the Michelin CrossClimate 3 Sport.

It represents a whole new benchmark in a corner of the tyre market that’s soared in popularity since the launch of the first CrossClimate back in 2015; the flexibility of what’s essentially an all-season summer tyre has proved too hard to resist for an increasing number of buyers. For those of us using our pride and joy 12 months a year without wishing to compromise on performance and agility, the CrossClimate 3 Sport offers the best of all worlds. Crucially without the expense and faff of switching between summer and winter tyres twice a year…

There’s a stock Michelin CrossClimate 3, too, but it’s the Sport which is truly exciting for folks like us. It’s specifically developed for more sporting cars, making it unique amongst the all-season tyre market. It’s primed and ready to meet the lofty demands of car enthusiasts who might previously have felt forgotten by the winter tyre market. Drivers of quick, powerful and focused machinery now have the option of year-round grip and, perhaps, a more fearless approach to ungritted roads come winter.

The Michelin CrossClimate 3 Sport will be available in 30 dimensions, rim sizes 18-21″, the largest being 295/35 R21 107Y from 1 July 2025. It has been thoroughly developed to deliver the handling carmakers intended in both wet and dry conditions, with no compromise on its control and precision on wintry roads. It’s earned itself an A-rating for wet weather performance while its Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) designation is the ultimate certification of its winter capabilities. That’s increasingly crucial or those of us inclined to road trip through Europe, just one example of rising restrictions being within the French mountains beloved of ski trips, where Mud and Snow (M+S) tyres are no longer accepted in lieu of snow socks or chains.

Michelin hasn’t forgotten its motorsport heritage, either. The hybrid belt of the CrossClimate 3 Sport encompasses Aramid and Nylon for the ultimate conversion of steering inputs to the road, ensuring the feel and fidelity of a great performance car aren’t mercilessly traded in the pursuit of safe, secure winter traction. Meanwhile, the latest Michelin Thermal Adaptive Tread Compound 2.0 introduces a freshly updated generation of compound for a breakthrough in wet-weather performance. Which, let’s face it, are the conditions we face more than most others on British roads and racetracks.

The CrossClimate 3 is the latest chapter in Michelin’s all-season endeavours. In 2015, its team defied conventions by pairing the precision of a summer tyre with proficient winter capability. The ensuing demand proved Michelin’s pioneering spirit right and the CrossClimate introduced a simpler approach to winter safety for plenty of drivers. As the all-season market grew, so did Michelin’s ambition, and in 2021 the CrossClimate 2 shifted the goalposts further for drivers keen to maintain a consistently high level of performance all year round.

The all-season market has quadrupled in size since 2015 and the Michelin CrossClimate 3 Sport opens a whole new world of winter driving for those of us who value performance and precision as utmost priorities. It’s suitable whether your car uses combustion or electric power, and crucially whether it’s front, all or rear-wheel drive. It’s the optimum solution for drivers seeking a single, high-performance tyre for year-round use – making it time to shop for that sports car you’ve always dreamed about.