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Switched from perf 21's to Tesla's 19" winter package

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cinergi

Active Member
Sep 17, 2010
2,176
42
MA
Just got my tires swapped today. The ride is significantly quieter (not like it was loud before) and the bumps are softer (again not like it was a harsh ride). I haven't pushed them yet (too new) or observed wet conditions, etc ... but I'll report on that.. as well as impact on highway range. I'll use this thread to discuss the differences. So far, I'm kinda liking the even quieter and softer aspects. However, I'll probably miss the traction once I begin pushing on them :smile:
 
I drove on the 21's for a week, then switched to the 19's with Pirelli's. The Pirelli's must have had some sort of film on them at first, they were really slippery for the first week even on dry roads (I couldn't spin the tires on my regular model with the 21's). They seem pretty good now; including good though not infinite traction in wet (which we are having a LOT of at the moment).

Of course with that slippery week in the middle, it is hard to compare the two tires directly. Plus I only drive the S sporadically and intermingle it with the Roadster. It does seem like the steering isn't quite as sharp with the Pirelli's. Haven't noticed a lot of other differences though.
 
I drove on the 21's for a week, then switched to the 19's with Pirelli's. The Pirelli's must have had some sort of film on them at first, they were really slippery for the first week even on dry roads (I couldn't spin the tires on my regular model with the 21's). They seem pretty good now; including good though not infinite traction in wet (which we are having a LOT of at the moment).

New tires still have mold release on them and the bead area can still be wet from the mounting lubricant. Generally it's a good idea to go easy on them for the first 300 miles. The mold release on real performance tires wears off almost immediately, which is why you never noticed on the 21". And don't forget to have the tires rotated around 1500 miles so that every tire will have a turn on the drive axle early in it's life (helps prevent uneven wear later in life).
 
I currently have the hi perf 21's and when I reach 70mph or above there is a noticeable humming noise in the right rear of the car.
I have brought the car to Tesla and they verified the noise. I suspect it may be the tire on that side of the car but not sure.
Any experience with noise from these tires?
 
I currently have the hi perf 21's and when I reach 70mph or above there is a noticeable humming noise in the right rear of the car.
I have brought the car to Tesla and they verified the noise. I suspect it may be the tire on that side of the car but not sure.
Any experience with noise from these tires?

Noises in cars are very hard to pin down because of both the reflective surfaces (glass) and the path the sound travels. In the worst case you have to put microphones in suspected locations to actually determine the source of the noise. I actually had an instance where the complaint was tire noise but the real source of the noise was the roof rack.
 
Did you check the tire pressure, cenergi? The 19s are supposed to be filled to 45 pounds as apposed to only 42 for the 21 inch tires. When I properly inflated my tires the ride became very similar to the 21 inch ride. Of course cornering and acceleration suffered.
 
Cinergi--please update with any thoughts re. your decision to go with 21" perf + 19" winter package. Is your driving experience with both a reaffirmation of the decision or, alternatively, any regrets? Same city--same weather, and I'm very close to finalizing with the same wheel decision.
 
Cinergi--please update with any thoughts re. your decision to go with 21" perf + 19" winter package. Is your driving experience with both a reaffirmation of the decision or, alternatively, any regrets? Same city--same weather, and I'm very close to finalizing with the same wheel decision.

Hmm. I can't comment on the standard 19 tires obviously ... But I can tell you I miss the fact that I can't put down 100% power to the ground anymore. Are you getting perf? If not, that won't be an issue. I like the ride quality. I haven't done any tight turns yet (again that wouldn't be representative of standard 19" tires). I'm probably at the point where I have enough mileage on them to do some tests. Maybe I'll go for a ride tonight :) Been meaning to collect some 19" range data as well ...
 
90% decided on the performance. If I were to do the standard, I wouldn't do the 21" upgrade, but rather stick with the 19's. I know others have passed on the 21's with the performance model even though there's no credit for doing so, mostly just to avoid the incremental cost of the extra set of wheels/winter tires and the hassle of storage and swapping in and out. That's really why I ask, although I'm definitely leaning towards the 21's + 19's for winter. Thanks for sharing your experience.
 
Just got back from a 100 mile jaunt :smile:
For general driving, you don't pay much of a penalty ride-quality-wise for 21's vs 19's. You pay a little bit in range (I couldn't tell from this evening's ride -- too many hills in the area and the winters probably aren't as low rolling resistance as the standard 19's). But the 21's get you a lot more traction (both accel/decel) over the 19" winters. Sharp corners are much softer and less of a "car on rails" experience (almost feels sloppy).
Either way, 19" all-season with RWD will be a little rough in the winter (not impossible, but I think you could definitely end up stuck or not stop as well as you could on winters). You'll want winter tires anyway. Tires are the only thing between the car and the road -- I'm a firm believer in the value of even the cheapest winter tires over the best all-season's.
Getting an extra set of rims pays off in a few years and you won't have issues with damaging the tires from swapping them (e.g. belt-shifting) or balance issues, etc ... You're at your own schedule for putting them on if you get a jack and whatnot (no more last-minute-can't-find-anyone-to-mount-your-winter-tires issues) ...
Hope that helps!
 
I'm a firm believer in the value of even the cheapest winter tires over the best all-season's.

The best severe-service all-seasons are really about 90% as good as the best winter tires. Cheap tires (winter/summer/all-season) are just cheap tires. What I think is that you've never had a set of good all-season tires (like Nokian WR-g2).
 
The best severe-service all-seasons are really about 90% as good as the best winter tires. Cheap tires (winter/summer/all-season) are just cheap tires. What I think is that you've never had a set of good all-season tires (like Nokian WR-g2).

Cool! It's been a while since I've used all-seasons ... have they gotten better recently (6 years) or have I just never used good ones?