Michelin Star Cross 5 Tire Review - First Impression

Michelin had Dirt Rider out to Cahuilla Creek MX Park this week to try out their latest off-road/motocross Star Cross 5 tires. Michelin has been developing the Star Cross 5 for over three years and although they have not been exactly dominating the motocross or off-road racing circuit here in the United States they have been producing and selling great tires for many years (such as the MS3 and the S12 line). The new line consists of four different Star Cross 5 patterns to suit any terrain you might be riding. There is the Star Cross 5 Hard, Medium, Soft, and Sand. Some of the new features of the Michelin Star Cross 5 include; a designed a wider scope of usage for each pattern, self cleaning tread technology with horizontal tread lines in each knob to aid in releasing soil, updated tread blocks that feature aggressive variable heights, Mud-Phobic Bars between each middle knob to prevent mud and dirt from building up (featured only on the Star Cross 5), and finally the Star Cross 5 is 15% lighter than the current Star Cross 3&4 models (that means 15% of unsprung weight on your bike).

On the day of Michelin intro, the Cahuilla Creek MX track featured a slippery to medium traction level with hard pack inside lines and loamy, fluffy berms. Dirt Rider brought out a couple of our "Long Haul" machines, a 250 four-stroke and a 450 four-stroke, allowing us to try two types of Star Cross 5 Soft and Medium tires (110/90-19, 80/100-21 medium for the 250 and 120/80-19, 90/100-21 soft for the 450). We started the day with the current Michelin Star Cross MS3 tires for a baseline, and then moved over to the new Star Cross 5's for a comparison.

With the older Michelin MS3's we never really had a good feel around the Cahuilla Creek MX circuit. We were constantly searching for front-end bite on lean angle and forward bite from the rear tire. With the new Star Cross 5 Soft set installed, rear end traction accelerating out of corners and on straight line was superb through soft to intermediate terrain with 12 psi. On lean angle the rear tire would feel like the knobs were actually digging into terrafirma and getting the power to the ground. Less wheel spin was noticed than the Starcross MS3 coming out of hard pack corners, but when the track turns super hard pack and blue groove we did experiment a little less traction and more wheel spin. Lean angle traction from the Star Cross 5 front Soft tire was improved over the MS3 everywhere and we could feel when the front tire would want to break loose. There was no surprise or vague feeling from the front end like the MS3's and this gave us confidence coming into even into hard pack corners. As you start to lean with the Star Cross 5 Soft front you can feel the carcass roll more than we wanted so we opted to run 13 psi instead of 12psi for the remainder of the day and that seemed to do the trick. Braking traction was also improved on intermediate terrain and would give both test riders a predictable feeling on de-cel. Comfort was the one thing that we noticeably took into account when the track got chopped up. Slap down landings, square edge, and braking bumps were more cushioned with the Star Cross 5's softer carcass feeling. We felt like there is more comfort when the track gets rougher than ever before. You can feel the tires almost squish (like suspension) underneath you but not so much where you feel like you're breaking traction. Sliding the rear wheel (or backing the rear end in) was more difficult with the Star Cross 5 Soft, as it wanted to bite into the ground more than slide coming into flat corners. Overall, the Star Cross 5 Soft is a better tire than the current Michelin Starcross MS3. Although we haven't rode them back to back, we think tire cushion on the Star Cross 5 would rival the Dunlop MX32. We will however be doing a comparison on both tires, to see if our hypothesis is correct in an upcoming issue of Dirt Rider Magazine.

The Star Cross 5 Medium tires were also a decent choice later in the day when the track really started to dry out. We actually preferred the Star Cross 5 Soft throughout the day even when the track got baked. Straight-line rear wheel traction wasn’t as good as the Soft 5’s out of loamy to intermediate terrain, but when the track was especially hard pack in sections, there was slightly more traction than the 5 Soft. Front and rear lean angle grip was slightly less than the 5 Soft’s on initial lean coming into and through mid corner everywhere on the track. Basically what we felt everywhere was less grip and less consistency with the Star Cross 5 Medium’s, as Cahuilla’s terrain changed from powder berms to hard pack within a matter of a few feet. The 5 Medium’s rear tire would break loose and want to slide more frequently on de-cel than the 5 Soft’s which was a plus to one tester. He could back the rear end around on flat corners more consistently with the 5 Medium’s than he could with the 5 Soft. Even though we liked the Star Cross 5 Soft better than the 5 Medium set up, we still would take the 5 Medium over the current MS3 tire any day.

Looking ahead, we're excited to continue to test with the new Star Cross 5 tires. From what we've tested Michelin did a great job of reducing unsprung weight from their tires, while gaining added comfort and increased traction from their tire technology. There's always a delicate balance with off-road tires that is comfort and performance, and both Star Cross 5 compound tires we tested seem to have that balance quite well. Stay tuned to the pages of Dirt Rider Magazine and dirtrider.com for a full test on these tires and also a comparison with some of today's top selling off-road rubber.