Winter driving brings its own challenges, and the Kleber Krisalp HP3 and the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, both formidable winter tire options, promise to make the ride smoother. But who will be the superior choice for your needs? Let’s find out!
Table of Contents
Key Takeaway
Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 excels in:
- Wet Gripping: The Blizzak LM005’s innovative dual siping design allows for better grip on slightly dried surfaces.
- Dry Performance: The Blizzak LM005’s continuous central rib provides superior braking distances and excellent directional grip.
- Fuel Usage: The Blizzak LM005’s lightweight and longitudinally aligned tread ribs result in less pressure on the road, reducing friction and improving fuel efficiency.
- Ice Traction: The Blizzak LM005’s biters, notches, and abundant siping contribute to exceptional ice traction.
- Noise Reduction: The Blizzak LM005’s compact shoulder lug design, densely arranged central lugs, and advanced pitch sequencing technology minimize road noise.
- Tread Life: The Blizzak LM005’s reduced weight and continuous central rib result in slower wear of the rubber, leading to a longer lifespan.
Kleber Krisalp HP3 excels in:
- Hydroplaning Resistance: The Krisalp HP3’s wider grooves and sweeping arms effectively disperse water, offering better hydroplaning resistance.
- Fluffy Snow Performance: The Krisalp HP3’s wider tread voids trap powdery snow particles, offering superior snow traction.
- Shock Absorption: The Krisalp HP3’s more absorbent tread rubber and deeper tread absorb road bumps and shocks, enhancing overall comfort.
Areas for Improvement:
- The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 could improve in hydroplaning resistance and snow traction, given its symmetric tread pattern and more enclosed structure.
- The Kleber Krisalp HP3 could enhance its wet grip, dry performance, fuel efficiency, ice traction, noise reduction, and tread life, given its lack of rectilinear slits, wider tread voids, greater weight, less aggressive siping design, and larger tread voids.
Review Krisalp Hp3 in detail: https://snowytires.com/kleber-krisalp-hp3-review/
Tire Sizes
The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 comes in just 18 sizes in 18 to 20 inches rims, with following specs.
- Speed ratings: H and V.
- Load ratings: XL only.
- Tread depth: 8 to 11/32″.
- Weight: 24 to 36 lbs.
- Tread warranty: None.
On the other side, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 comes in 14 to 20 inches, (99 total sizes), in following specs.
- Speed ratings: T and H.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: 10/32″.
- Weight: 16 to 32 lbs.
- Tread warranty: None.
Wet Traction
When it comes to wet traction, two key elements play a significant role: the tread pattern and the rubber compound of the tire. These elements determine how well the tire grips the wet surface and its ability to resist hydroplaning.
Let’s start with grip.
Wet Gripping
Out of both tires, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 stands out in wet grip due to its innovative dual siping design.
This design features a combination of rectilinear and interlocking patterns of slits, which act as water magnets by drawing in water particles. This allows the tire to maintain a strong grip on slightly dried surfaces.
On the other hand, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 also offers good wet traction with its biters and multi-directional sipes.
However, the absence of rectilinear slits in the tread pattern limits its lateral traction, especially on corners.
Resistance to hydroplaning
In terms of hydroplaning resistance, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 takes the lead.
The tire’s wider grooves and sweeping arms are designed to disperse water effectively, allowing for better float speeds and performance in both curved and straight aquaplaning tests.
Its directional tread pattern helps in sweeping water off the tread surface, preventing hydroplaning.
In contrast, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 lacks the same level of hydroplaning resistance due to its symmetric tread pattern and the absence of interconnected tread voids.
Dry Performance
When it comes to dry traction, two aspects come into play: directional grip and handling.
The Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 excels in directional grip with its continuous running central rib. This rib ensures a strong bond between the rubber and the road, resulting in superior braking distances and excellent directional grip.
The Kleber Krisalp HP3, although not as effective in directional grip due to wider tread voids, still offers good handling capabilities.
Moving towards the handling performance, which is largely determined by the tire’s shoulder lugs, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 lacks here as well.
It shows a similar level of contact between its shoulder lugs and the road compared to its competitors, however, its increased weight affects its performance by causing increased bending of the lugs, which disrupts the balance between oversteer and understeer and leads to a delay in steering feedback.
Consequently, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 exhibits extended handling lap times compared to its counterpart.
Fuel Usage
Fuel efficiency is closely related to road grip and overall weight of tire’s structure. That’s why it makes sense why the Kleber Krisalp HP3 has room for improvement here.
Its considerable/greater weight and extensive tread voids contribute to increased rolling resistance and friction with the road surface. Whereas, the lighter Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 exerts less pressure on the road, resulting in reduced friction and improved fuel efficiency.
Additionally, the longitudinally aligned tread ribs in the LM005 minimize resistance, conserve energy, and enhance fuel efficiency.
Ice Traction
When it comes to ice traction, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 clearly outperforms its counterpart.
The LM005’s superior biters, including angled cuts, V-shaped notches, and abundant siping, contribute to exceptional ice-biting performance.
Moreover, the tire’s shoulder lugs are designed to provide comprehensive grip from various angles, enabling efficient braking and handling.
In contrast, the Kleber Krisalp HP3, although equipped with siping, does not possess the same level of aggressiveness in biting into ice due to its less aggressive siping design, absence of notches, and wider tread voids.
Fluffy Snow Performance
In terms of snow traction, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 takes the lead.
Its wider tread voids allow for better snow-to-snow contact, as the voids trap powdery snow particles within their interconnected grooves.
Its important, because snow sticks better to snow, compared to tread’s rubber.
That’s why, on the other side, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005, with its more enclosed structure, is less effective in providing the same level of snow traction.
Ride Quality
Comfort level is determined by the tire’s ability to reduce road noise and dampen vibrations.
And talking about noise first, the Bridgestone LM005 offers a quieter ride due to its compact shoulder lug design and densely arranged central lugs, where these features minimize the space for air particles to move around, resulting in reduced noise.
Additionally, the tire incorporates advanced pitch sequencing technology to further diminish any residual noise.
On the other hand, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 performs well in terms of impact comfort. Its more absorbent tread rubber and deeper tread help in absorbing bumps and shocks, enhancing the overall comfort level.
Tread Life
Tread longevity is influenced by rolling resistance, and overall tire structure. And the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 has the advantage in this aspect due to its reduced weight, which leads to less strain on the tread blocks during contact with the road.
This results in slower wear of the rubber. In contrast, the heavier Kleber Krisalp HP3, with its larger tread voids, puts more stress on each lug, leading to faster tread wear and a shorter overall lifespan.
To Summarize
In summary, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 performs better in wet traction, dry traction (directional grip), fuel efficiency, ice traction, and tread longevity.
On the other hand, the Kleber Krisalp HP3 excels in hydroplaning resistance, snow traction, on-road vibration dampening, and impact comfort.
