Winter is upon us, which means that it’s a good time to check your car’s wiper blades. Rain, sleet, and snow can easily block your visibility while driving, so having a good set of wipers can help a lot. I know this from experience as my 2008 Honda S2000’s old Bosch ICON wiper blades were on their last legs, so Michelin was kind enough to send me a set of their Endurance XT wiper blades to test out. So far, they have stood up to some pretty extreme weather conditions and I am impressed.

The Michelin Endurance XT blades are made of silicon

Upon receiving the Michelin Endurance XT blades, the first thing that I noticed is that they’re made from silicone. To clarify, according to the package that they came in, the wipers are made using the brand’s “Quadtech silicone technology.” That means that there are four layers of silicone to provide quiet wipes and years of lasting durability. That may be some clever advertising, but it still sounds a lot better than the regular rubber that the Bosch wipers were made of, so it piqued my interest.

On top of that, the Endurance XT wipers are allegedly made to withstand extreme weather conditions in temperatures ranging from -80 degrees to 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Since I live in Denver, I don’t see anywhere near those kinds of temperatures. But it’s nice to know that if the Earth freezes over or sets ablaze in a global firestorm, my trusty S2000 will be able to wipe away all of the debris with ease.

The wipers go on easy and wipe away clean

As far as testing out the wipers, I kept an eye out on the weather forecast to see when we would be getting some snow. If you’re not familiar with Denver’s weather patterns, it tends to snow for one day at a time during the winter, and then it’s sunny for the rest of the week. This means that I really only had a small window in which to get some first impressions of these premium wipers. Fortunately, the forecast called for snow last week, so I installed the wipers the day before.

As you can imagine, the installation was easy as my Honda uses J-hook connections, so it only took about a minute. The next day, as snow began to pour and the temperatures sunk to about 19 degrees Fahrenheit, I bravely warmed up my car and went for a drive. Snowflakes crashed into my windshield and I flipped the wiper switch hoping for greatness. I’m happy to report that the wipers did their job well and in a quiet fashion nonetheless.

No squeaking or squealing to report

Upon reading other reviews of the Michelin Endurance XT wipers, I came across some reports of them squeaking and squealing over time. That makes some sense considering they’re made of silicone and they did feel harder than the rubber blades that they replaced on my car. However, I didn’t notice anything in my initial testing.

I plan to test out these wipers as colder weather and more snow come to Denver in the next few months and will report back accordingly. In my next test, I’ll see if they stick to the windshield when it snows like rubber wipers tend to do. But for now, it seems like the Endurance XT wipers are worth the $40 per set. After all, they can allegedly keep your windshield clean when the world freezes over. So, I’m sold.