BRIDGESTONE VS MICHELIN: THE NERVE-WRACKING BATTLE BETWEEN THEM

The subject brands of our discussion today are Bridgestone vs Michelin, two of the largest tire manufacturing giants of the globe. Hence, it’s near impossible to go wrong with either of them while put head to head. 

Here are the quick glimpse of differences between Bridgestone vs Michelin.

Bridgestone is more into economic, noise-free, and efficient tires, where Michelin is more leaned towards high-performing and energy-optimized ones. If you don’t want to fall for innovative features like Energy efficiency etc, Bridgestone is for you. And vice versa. We’ve taken their Product Diversity, quality, and value as our primary comparison ground.

However, just a fun fact- both of these giants have been actively into the most prestigious racing league in the world. Yes, you guessed it right, it’s Formula 1 racing we’re talking about.

Michelin vs Bridgestone: Head to Head

In-Depth Comparison Between Bridgestone and Michelin

Product Diversity

Eventually, we’re talking about the #1 and #2 tire manufacturing brands over here. So, it’s of no wonder that both of them will be armed with heavy lineups of tires that they own. 

Therefore, let’s start with a comparative analysis of this particular ground-  

Product Lineup of Bridgestone

Bridgestone Corporation- the Japanese tire manufacturer owns a number of sub-brands(Fuzion, Firestone, Dayton, etc) of tire manufacturers as well. Hence, the total lineup of tires that they supply worldwide is crazy wide. 

They have 181 production facilities around the globe, spread out among 24 counties. And these tires can be addressed by the vehicle models, tire size, tire type, and even by brands. 

Here is a heads up of the range of each of these parameters- 

By Vehicle Type- 

• Coverage Years: 1983 to 2020

• Make: Acura, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Lotus, Lincoln, Mitsubishi, and many more. 

By Tire width-

• 8 mm to 345 mm

• Aspect Ratio: 0 to 85

• Diameter: custom

• TPMS Compatibility: Yes 

By tire Type- 

• Available tire types: All-terrain, Medium Truck, Passenger, Performance, Touring.

• Season-wise type: All season, Summer, Winter

By tire brands- 

• Available brands: DriveGuard, Bizzak, Dueler, Potenza, Ecopia, Turanza

• Models under each brand: Variable

From the viewpoints crafted above, you might have got the idea of how diverse a collection of tires the brand possesses. But to keep things simple on your side, finding the right model for your vehicle is quite easy. Among the three-four ways, you can take any route and they’ll find the right tire for your car, SUV, truck, and even minivan. 

Here are some of the top notch tire models from the inventory of Bridgestone Tires- 

• Best for Winter(passenger cards): Bridgestone Blizzak WS-80

• Best for Winter(Light Trucks and SUVs): Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2

• Best for All Season(Passenger Cars): Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus

• Runners up for All Season(Passenger Cars): Bridgestone Potenza G019 GRID

• Best for All Season(Light Trucks and SUVs): Bridgestone Dueler H-P Sport AS

• Runners up for All Season(Light Trucks and SUVs): Bridgestone Dueler H-L 422 Ecopia

Product Lineup of Michelin

Just like Bridgestone, Michelin is a foreign company(France) which has a multi-national spread of tire manufacturing and supply chain.

In fact, they are the second largest manufacturer of the globe, claiming the position right after Bridgestone. Currently, they’re operating with 69 facilities around 18 countries of the globe. 

Michelin products over 166 million tires back in 2012 and the product had raised quite up since then. The rich list of tires that they produce are split up based on vehicle year, vehicle maker, model, and even the exact name of the vehicle. You can also choose the perfect tire from tire size and the license plate of your vehicle. 

Here is a sneak peek of their diversity of tire inventory- 

By Vehicle Type- 

• Coverage Years: 1989 to 2020

• Make: Acura, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Dodge, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Mazda, Jaguar, Tesla, Mitsubishi, and many more. 

By Tire width-

• 7 mm to 365 mm

• Aspect Ratio: 0 to 75

• RIM Size/Diameter: custom

• Speed Range: Yes 

By license plate number- 

• Step 1: Provide your license plate number

• Step 2: Provide the state that the vehicle is registered in. 

As per the standard measure goes, Michelin had kept three of these options open to hop in and pick up the right tire that suits your vehicle. If you have a registered license plate, that would be the easiest route to take, we believe. 

However, not going into the classification, we’ve made a list of some of the brand’s special tires. Let’s have a glimpse- 

• Best budget pick: MICHELIN Defender® T + H

• Best high-end tire: MICHELIN Primacy™ A/S

• Best All Season(Light Truck SUV/Crossover): MICHELIN® LTX® A/T2

• Runners up All Season(Light Truck SUV/Crossover): MICHELIN Defender LTX M/S

• Best for Winter(Ultra-High Performance Sport): MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport

• Best for Summer(Ultra-High Performance Sport): MICHELIN Pilot Super Sport
  

Comparison Table: Bridgestone vs Michelin Product Diversity

Winner: Michelin

Quality and Value

When it comes to a couple of core factors like quality and value of automotive tires, it’s a tough battle. But we’ve taken a skeptical approach to determine what’s the USP of each of these brands. And here goes the report- 

Tire Quality and Value of Bridgestone

The standout quality factor of Bridgestone- a Japanese company is their concern for economy tires. By being economical, we mean the fuel economy for obvious reasons. They implement a tech called the NanoPro technology in their tire treads, which ensures a significant jump in terms of fuel economy. 

Among other qualitative measures, the RENOA technology is noteworthy. It’s abbreviated as the ‘Resonance Noise Attenuated’ technology, and the role of it is to reduce high frequency sounds while your wheels will be rolling on road. Hence, the operation of their tires will be quite noise-free. 

In terms of seasonality, Bridgestone masters in making winter tires. We’ve got extraordinary tires like the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 in their winter tire lineup. You can definitely check that out, in case you are looking for a good value for money. 

Tire Quality and Value of Michelin

We can recall the tagline of Micheline to understand what drives them to provide quality tires for their customers. And it’s called ‘A better way forward’. Clearly, they focus more on innovations and performance when it comes to their tire lineup. 

The #1 USP of their tires is the extraordinary tread life of their tires. The reasons behind that lie in the highly energy-optimized tech that sports quite energy saving operation of the tires that they produce. 

As a side effect(in a good way) of high tread life, you can also enjoy a good grip and quick braking response from their tires. That also makes these tires quite friendly for driving on wet roads. 

The last advancement of the brand is the way they produce their radial tires. Due to the pneumatic, removable features in their radial tires, they’ve come steps ahead of others in the game. One of the finest examples that we can recall is the Michelin X radial tire. 

Winner: Both

Parting Words

If you’ve been on the edge till now, we suppose you’ve got a pretty clean image of the nitty-gritty of each of these brands. As a matter of fact, both Bridgestone and Michelin have got a giant sales funnel, customer service and brand reputation that had been built for decades. But if we narrow down to very specific choices, you’ll get your winner from this Bridgestone vs Michelin battle. 

Have a nice time on and off road, good luck!