Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 is a European-type non-studded winter tire meant to give drivers confidence, as well as ensure excellent handling and safety even in the most challenging road conditions. A new product engineered for the winter season 2019/2020.

Apparently, Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 is coming to replace the Blizzak LM001 Evo model, even though the tire maker itself is not giving any specifics on that, only saying that «Bridgestone Blizzak LM005’s performance is the result of the latest in tire engineering, with a state-of-the-art synergy between compound materials and tread design enhancing the grip on the road’s surface». Drawing on research of 20 000 drivers across Europe, the new model was created with a strong insight into the expectations and real challenges they face to offer them outstanding control and safety in all winter conditions, especially on snow and ice.

Rubber compound

Blizzak LM 005 is made from Bridgestone’s Nano Pro-tech compound, which has a high silica content meant to enhance the tire’s performance on wet and snowy roads. The silica enables the tire to stay soft even at very low temperatures, which ensures maximum traction. The use of Bridgestone’s new nano-selective compound mixing technology to improve the tire’s silica dispersion combines with its robust compound behavior to give the Blizzak LM005 a fully consistent performance across all winter conditions.

The tread pattern

The tread pattern of LM005 is very similar to that of LM001, engineered to take on all wintery conditions. A large amount of lateral grooves on shoulder area enhances the tire’s grip on snow and ice and optimizes the contact pressure of the tire’s shoulder blocks when braking. Parallel to that — says the technical expert of Shina. Guide — an increased void in the center area of the Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 tread pattern helps to improve water drainage and snow trapping. The zig-zag groove pattern improves the adhesion between the snow in the grooves and the snow on the road. The 2D lamella design in the center, 3D lamella design in the shoulder, and lateral grooves work together to give better grip in icy conditions. The tire’s wider sizes feature longitudinal grooves that are used to maximize water drainage.

3PMSF and M+S markings make Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 compliant with all winter legislations in Europe.

Presales tests of Blizzak LM005

The main competitors of the high-traction Bridgestone model are Continental WinterContact TS860, Goodyear UltraGrip 9, Michelin Alpin 6, and Pirelli Cinturato Winter, and it was these specific models that this tire maker used in the presales test of its new product. The tests were carried out by the expert group TÜV SÜD on the request of Bridgestone in October-November 2018 at ATP Papenburg (Germany) for dry & wet asphalt, as well as for the noise emission and riding comfort (laboratory tests), and by Arctic Falls in Sweden for snow and ice tests, with VW Golf 1.6 VII, on tire size 195/65 R15. Test Report No. 713139853–03.

As it is easy to guess, Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 exceeded the performance of the competitors in all of the tests carried out by the expert group. These are snow braking (40–5 km/h), ice braking (20-5km/h), wet braking (80–20 km/h), and dry braking (100–0 km/h), as well as snow traction (10–35 km/h), and lateral stability in the wet. We will note at this point, however, that, in all of the disciplines, Blizzak LM005 won by a narrow margin, and, if the tests are to be repeated at other speeds, there is a large chance that this model will not be able to prove its supremacy. We will get more representative results when the first independent winter tests are carried out.