Featuring an all-new tread pattern and a next generation compound, the Blizzak DM-V2 tire from Bridgestone gives drivers more control when driving in ice, snow, slush and other winter conditions. Bridgestone recently announced the July 2015 launch of the Blizzak DM-V2, the company’s newest winter tire for CUVs, SUVs and pickup trucks.
The Blizzak DM-V2 tire delivers several improvements over its predecessor, the Blizzak DM-V1, including:
- Improved performance on ice: The Blizzak DM-V2 tire is designed with a next generation Multi-Cell compound from Bridgestone that dispels water from the surface of the ice. This combats slippage and improves braking.
- Increased traction: The tire’s newly designed tread pattern has 15 percent more block edges, increasing its snow-shearing force and enabling it to grip the road better in snow and slush.
- Better handling: Bridgestone enhanced the Blizzak DM-V2 tire’s contact patch to create a uniform dispersion of pressure where the tire meets the road. This gives the Blizzak DM-V2 tire improved grip on ice and better overall stability.
Technology:
NANOPRO-TECH: Optimizes snow and ice performance by preventing the stiffening of the rubber compound during cold weather conditions. Nanopro-Tech distributes the silica more effectively, improving flexibility and gripping contact with the road.
MULTI-CELL COMPOUND: Removes the thin layer of surface water to improve grip on ice using millions of microscopic pores in the compound.
3-D SIPES: Improves ice, dry and wet performance by enhancing block stiffness and contact area.
ZIGZAG SIPES: Improves snow and ice traction by increasing the number of biting edges.
CENTER MULTI-Z PATTERN: Improves snow and ice traction by improving drainage and increasing the biting edges.
CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVES: Helps channel water out of the footprint area to improve resistance to hydroplaning.
LARGE SHOULDER BLOCK: Provides precision cornering and handling.
SILICA: Improves traction in wet conditions by increasing the flexibility of the tread compound.
Performance:
I was invited to test out the new DM-V2 at Bridgestone’s Winter Driving School in Colorado, and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, while the weather gods dumped multiple feet of snow and subzero temperatures all over New England, the temperature in Steamboat Springs reached into the 40’s during the time Bridgestone was scheduled to launch the tire, turning the Winter Driving School track into slush and forcing the cancellation of the launch. So while I will be requesting a set to try out, I’m not sure whether I’ll get them in time to catch the last of the snow this winter.
I have, however, driven on their predecessor, the DM-V1. As I noted in my review of the DM-V1, it incorporates the technology from the Blizzak WS70, but not the much newer Blizzak WS80. That’s where the DM-V2 comes in, as the SUV/CUV version of the WS80. Knowing as I do how much better the WS80 is than its predecessor, I’m willing to take Bridgestone’s word for the moment that the DM-V2 is similarly advanced over the DM-V1.
My only issue with the Blizzak DM-V2 is the same issue that I’ve repeated over and over across the entire Blizzak line. The Multicell Compound that gives Blizzak tires their amazing grip on ice is created by essentially spraying the compound onto the tire as a type of foam, creating millions of microscopic bubbles in the rubber which sucks up that last little bit of water on the ice surface. The problem here is that the compound only takes up about 50-60% of the actual tire tread. Once that 50-60% is worn off, the rest of the tread is a standard all-season compound that doesn’t perform nearly as well in winter conditions.
Someday it may come about that Bridgestone can create a Blizzak with 100% Multicell compound, and on that day the Blizzak will immediately become a strong contender for Best Winter Tire in the World. But until then, in my book the Blizzak line holds onto third place, just behind the Nokian Hakka R2 and R2 SUV and Michelin’s X-Ice and Latitude X-Ice lines, both in the passenger car and SUV/CUV categories. That’s certainly no mean feat, and it’s because the tires are just so darned good.
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