Deciding which 21" summer tires to buy...

I just recently replaced my Extreme Contacts with the Contisport 5 Contact 5 with Contisilent. They are definitely quieter, and I think road feel is also better than the Extreme Contacts. I think the only downside is that they do not last as long as the Extreme Contacts.

There are a few other options:

Hankook, Pirelli and Michelin PS2...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?skipOver=true&performance=ALL&width=245%2F&ratio=35&diameter=21

Does the ContiSilent have the foam in it?

mdevp said:

Does the ContiSilent have the foam in it?

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Yep.

The Pilot Super Sport is probably the best-performing tire available for our car, if that matters to you. You didn't really mention what you're looking for in a tire. That said, it's not clear if Tesla is offering you the Sport PS2 or the Super Sport.

So, it depends what you want:
Road noise = Contact 5
Longevity (if there is such a thing in high performance summer tires) = Extreme Contact
Performance = PSS

No matter what you go with, TireRack is a pretty good savings. Those all looked to be more than $50 a tire cheaper (don't forget shipping, though), and I doubt you'll pay $50 a tire for mounting/balancing a 21" at a reputable place locally. Only you can decide if just going to Tesla is worth that premium.

The tires that come on new Tesla's with the foam in them are amazingly quiet. Id buy them.

I was told by my tire guy, who I do trust, that the Michelins were the only tire with the proper load rating for the weight of the P85+. So now I am in a quandary. I really want the Conti Silents and I'm not sure what to do. I have read a lot and have seen many opinions. I want to make sure I am buying the right product. Handling is very important. But at only 6K mi on my Michelins, I'd be happy to give up a little handling for a bit more tire life.

Any advice is very greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

All the tires recommended so far have proper load ratings for the Tesla. I'm at 23k miles on my original ExtremeContact Continentals, but I gather from the forums that is unusual. Make sure your alignment is good, and check tire pressure regularly and tire life should be better than 6k miles.

I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 2s on my P85 and while they handle nice and are quite grippy the road noise is quite annoying. For the longest time I thought I had a wheel bearing going out due to the grinding I could feel in the steering wheel. Tesla finally popped some 19's on and proved it was the tires. I likely won't be using the PS2s again due to the road noise.

trils0n said:

All the tires recommended so far have proper load ratings for the Tesla. I'm at 23k miles on my original ExtremeContact Continentals, but I gather from the forums that is unusual. Make sure your alignment is good, and check tire pressure regularly and tire life should be better than 6k miles.

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Not unusual. I got 26k miles out of mine and they were at the wear bars. I could've gotten 1-2k more but had a trip out of town this weekend and the forecast was for solid rain, so I slapped a new set of the exact same tires on this week. Glad I did too, because it rained steadily all day Friday. Anyway, I was really happy with the contis, although I really wanted to try the pilot super sports. They are currently out of stock so I went with the contis again. The Evo2's are the best bang for your buck but the are directional, so rotation will be different and they will probably hunt more on pavement lines

TDial said:

I was told by my tire guy, who I do trust, that the Michelins were the only tire with the proper load rating for the weight of the P85+. So now I am in a quandary.

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I'd get a new tire guy. That's wrong information.

jerry33 said:

I'd get a new tire guy. That's wrong information.

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Still in a quandary. Tire Rack shows only the Michelins for a P85+ with 21" staggered wheels. I have read about the Conti Sport 5P and would love to do them. But I can't find any info that says that they will work. The only tire that comes up is the Michelins.

I'm *extremely* happy with my Hankook Ventus V12 evo2s on my P85+. They're about $220 per tire.

see: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+V12+evo2

I did replace the rear 9" wheels with 8.5" wheels, so I'm running 245/35/21 on all four corners so I can rotate them front-to-back (and not pay >$500 per tire for the PS2s.)

I also am running Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 all-seasons in the winter on TSTs 19" rims.

edit: Although, if I had to do it again, I might have kept the 9" rims and put on 275/35/21 on the rears.

TDial said:

Still in a quandary. Tire Rack shows only the Michelins for a P85+ with 21" staggered wheels. I have read about the Conti Sport 5P and would love to do them. But I can't find any info that says that they will work. The only tire that comes up is the Michelins.

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Staggered setup does limit options. Tesla does have the cheapest price on the PS2.

Thanks to HankLloydRight and Denarius! that gives me something to pursue.

On the Hankooks: how is the tire noise on the summers?

TDial said:

On the Hankooks: how is the tire noise on the summers?

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I usually have the radio on so I rarely notice tire noise, but I can tell you, it's a hell of a lot less than the stock Michelin PS2s that came on my P85+. So glad to have gotten rid of them. (BTW, I have two 265s PS2 for sale. )

HankLloydRight said:

I usually have the radio on so I rarely notice tire noise, but I can tell you, it's a hell of a lot less than the stock Michelin PS2s that came on my P85+. So glad to have gotten rid of them. (BTW, I have two 265s PS2 for sale. )

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Hankooks it is! Thanks so much for all your help!

TDial said:

Hankooks it is! Thanks so much for all your help!

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Just realize that the 245s won't fit on your 9" rear rims. Or they actually might fit, but then you have to be careful if you rotate your wheels front to back (8.5" in the rear, 9" in the front which is an unknown/unsupported configuration). To rotate your tires, you'd have to dismount/remount the tires. That's why I got 2 8.5" rims for the rears.

So if you're keeping your rear 9" rims and staggered setup, you might want to bump up the rears to 275s. (the Hankooks aren't available in 265).

Ditto on the Hankooks. Definitely the best performance for the price IMO. I've been riding on mine for 10k miles and love them.