Summer tire reccomendation

Mike_Schlechter · Mar 2, 2015

I know there are lots of winter tire discussions, and discussions of tire wear, reverse camber, and after market rims, but I'm specifically thinking about summer tires on my stock 19"s. I'm in CT, and having the winter from hell, but my snows and the Model S's traction control have kept me moving. My all seasons were toast when I swapped to the snows before Thanksgiving, and now that I think of it I should probably consider a low rolling resistance summer tire. My hope is I can put on them around tax day, so probably time to start figuring out what I'm going to go with.

I'd love recommendations.

A little context on me and tires (note, I'm just not a car guy, and always need help on things like this). My Nokian snows were also pretty close to toast when I put them on in November, and over Christmas I had a sidewall lose a fight with an insane pothole on Route 30 in VT on Christmas Eve. I wound up taking what the tire shop in VT could get me on that day; the Nexxen Windgaurd. It was cheap and expedient and I've had nothing but trouble. Two tires had manufacturing issues and had to be replaced under warranty. My wH/M have been much higher than the last two winters. I went to the service center in Milford and the basic message was it was a soft tire and this is likely part of the cause, not to mention how much colder it has been than 2012/2013 or 2013/2014.

So, in an attempt to learn from that mistake of getting what was cheap and available, I'm looking for guidance from the inexhaustible resource that is the TMC forum. I tried to find a summer tire specific thread, but it didn't seem to fit what I found, so here goes.

Thanks in advance for the advice and spirited debate.

Ed Chan · Mar 2, 2015

Mike_Schlechter said:
I know there are lots of winter tire discussions, and discussions of tire wear, reverse camber, and after market rims, but I'm specifically thinking about summer tires on my stock 19"s. I'm in CT, and having the winter from hell, but my snows and the Model S's traction control have kept me moving. My all seasons were toast when I swapped to the snows before Thanksgiving, and now that I think of it I should probably consider a low rolling resistance summer tire. My hope is I can put on them around tax day, so probably time to start figuring out what I'm going to go with.

I'd love recommendations.

A little context on me and tires (note, I'm just not a car guy, and always need help on things like this). My Nokian snows were also pretty close to toast when I put them on in November, and over Christmas I had a sidewall lose a fight with an insane pothole on Route 30 in VT on Christmas Eve. I wound up taking what the tire shop in VT could get me on that day; the Nexxen Windgaurd. It was cheap and expedient and I've had nothing but trouble. Two tires had manufacturing issues and had to be replaced under warranty. My wH/M have been much higher than the last two winters. I went to the service center in Milford and the basic message was it was a soft tire and this is likely part of the cause, not to mention how much colder it has been than 2012/2013 or 2013/2014.

So, in an attempt to learn from that mistake of getting what was cheap and available, I'm looking for guidance from the inexhaustible resource that is the TMC forum. I tried to find a summer tire specific thread, but it didn't seem to fit what I found, so here goes.

Thanks in advance for the advice and spirited debate.

Do you cruise? Or do you race? If you're a cruise type of driver, then the OEM Michelin Primacy MXM4 are excellent long lasting tires with decent grip, especially in rain. They also are LRR (which is rare for the tire size) so they'll keep you efficient. I have the MXM4s on my S85 and just drove through a large downpour this morning, and they were confident even in standing water. The alternative Bridgestone Serenity Plus on Tire Rack looks OK too, but I'm pretty particular to Michelin these days. Every time I stray from Michelin tires, I always regret it.

If you "race", then Michelin PS3 is the one you want -- LRR, tire warranty, and gobs and gobs of dry and wet traction as long as the ambient temperature is over ~40F. Any other tire will wear out within a year and waste electricity.

Mike_Schlechter · Mar 2, 2015

I personally don't race. I commute about 115 to 120 miles a day (though changing offices, so likely less so soon) and then make various road trips on the weekends. I like efficiency and don't like too much road noise. Wet traction is certainly a good thing.

jerry33 · Mar 2, 2015

Mike_Schlechter said:
A little context on me and tires (note, I'm just not a car guy, and always need help on things like this). My Nokian snows were also pretty close to toast when I put them on in November, and over Christmas I had a sidewall lose a fight with an insane pothole on Route 30 in VT on Christmas Eve. I wound up taking what the tire shop in VT could get me on that day; the Nexxen Windgaurd. It was cheap and expedient and I've had nothing but trouble. Two tires had manufacturing issues and had to be replaced under warranty. My wH/M have been much higher than the last two winters. I went to the service center in Milford and the basic message was it was a soft tire and this is likely part of the cause, not to mention how much colder it has been than 2012/2013 or 2013/2014.

I think the lesson here is don't purchase a tire brand you've never heard of. (I realize you were stuck, and there was no help for it. I had the same thing happen, but was able to return the tires a couple of days later for proper tires at full credit.) The way the tire industry works is that the manufacturing equipment lasts longer than the tire sales cycle, so to get their money back the first tier manufacturers sell outdated equipment, molds, compounding, etc. to the second tier, and so on. Any of the tires that Tesla uses as OE will be fine, though I prefer the Michelins.

JPP · Mar 3, 2015

FWIW my S came with the original 19" Goodyears (later replaced by the Primacy as TMs OEM choice). At 24k miles I was due for replacement (not unhappy with mileage given weight of car and my driving style. I ran through a price-performance analysis (and also read every post here plus privately consulted with Lola...). I ended up just replacing the Goodyears with the same tire. At $120/tire it cost half of the Primacy and I don't think I will see a major mileage or handling penalty. YMMV.

doc@tirerack · Mar 4, 2015

For "commuting", there are few options in 245/45R19 but I'd have you look at the OE Michelin Primacy or the Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus as our favorites ! Pirelli is also a player with their Cinturato P7 AS Plus, but we haven't had the tire long enough to have any long term durability opinions.

Chris · Mar 11, 2015

Fellow Tesla drivers and tire specialists,
My OEM 21 Contis are nearing their end of life. After considering a switch to 19s primarily for better tread life I am now thinking about getting the Michelin 245/35/21sSuper Sports (I may regret this later but so far had been lucky without any blowouts). Many posters here had good things to say about the PSS.

@doc: Tirerack lists PSS on backorder. Any idea when they become available? Also the PSS is listed as OEM but I think the PS2 are the OEM tires. My local service center would not even mount the PSS.

doc@tirerack · Mar 12, 2015

Chris said:
@doc: Tirerack lists PSS on backorder. Any idea when they become available? Also the PSS is listed as OEM but I think the PS2 are the OEM tires. My local service center would not even mount the PSS.

We received our last shipment of the Super Sports (245/35R21) late last year, and have been waiting ever since for more. Based on information we have from Michelin, I'm inclined to assume we won't have new tires for several months. In the absence of the Super Sport, I'd go with the Continental DW if I needed tires soon.

Cyclone · May 10, 2015

Mike, what did you end up getting? How do you like them so far?

SBerg · May 11, 2015

We have a MS 60 with 43,000 miles on OEM Goodyears. I have no point of reference for the noise of the Michelins (or any other brands) compared to the Goodyears but I can't imagine the 2X price of the Michelins is really worth it.

mknox · May 11, 2015

JPP said:
FWIW my S came with the original 19" Goodyears (later replaced by the Primacy as TMs OEM choice). At 24k miles I was due for replacement (not unhappy with mileage given weight of car and my driving style. I ran through a price-performance analysis (and also read every post here plus privately consulted with Lola...). I ended up just replacing the Goodyears with the same tire. At $120/tire it cost half of the Primacy and I don't think I will see a major mileage or handling penalty. YMMV.

I'm doing the opposite right now. My original Goodyears have about 30,000 miles on them (I use separate winter tires/rims) and late last summer season, they started getting really loud. Sounded like I was driving on big nobby off-road tires. Over the winter, I took them in to my tire guy and had them checked out and re-balanced, but they're still crazy loud now. Even though the Goodyears still have lots of tread left, I ordered a set of the Primacy tires and am having them installed Friday. You're right that they're about twice the price, but I just couldn't see the point if replacements start getting unbearably loud after 18 months of use. Maybe I had a bad set and would have been okay with Goodyears again, but I figure Tesla must have switched to the Primacy for a reason. FWIW, I've always had very good service from Goodyear tires in the past on previous cars and have often gone to the brand for replacements. Just not sure what happened this time.

Gizmotoy · May 11, 2015

doc@tirerack said:
We received our last shipment of the Super Sports (245/35R21) late last year, and have been waiting ever since for more. Based on information we have from Michelin, I'm inclined to assume we won't have new tires for several months. In the absence of the Super Sport, I'd go with the Continental DW if I needed tires soon.

Doc, any word on if the PSS will eventually come to our 19" sizing? I'm guessing with supply problems as-is they're not expanding the line.

matbl · May 11, 2015

I'm having the same thoughts as the TS. What to replace the stock goodyears with?
i can't get the same tyre or the primacys since neither is sold here. We only get summer or winter tyres, not all-seasons sonce they're only good for summer here anyway...
my options are basically the following:
Michelin PS3
Continental Sport Contact 5
Goodyear Eagle F1 assymetric 2

I'm a cruising type so no hard driving so I prefer low noise and low RR.

anyone with thoughts?

jerry33 · May 11, 2015

matbl said:
I'm having the same thoughts as the TS. What to replace the stock goodyears with?
i can't get the same tyre or the primacys since neither is sold here. We only get summer or winter tyres, not all-seasons sonce they're only good for summer here anyway...
my options are basically the following:
Michelin PS3
Continental Sport Contact 5
Goodyear Eagle F1 assymetric 2

I'm a cruising type so no hard driving so I prefer low noise and low RR.

anyone with thoughts?

I don't know what sizes Nokian has available in your country, but if there are any eNtyre available, they have very low rolling resistance.

matbl · May 12, 2015

jerry33 said:
I don't know what sizes Nokian has available in your country, but if there are any eNtyre available, they have very low rolling resistance.

eNtyre is an all-season so no we don't get those here. All-season are not an option since they for us are illegal in the winter and For summer use only, a proper summer tyre is better here...

what's your thought on nokian zLine? I think that's what's called hakka black here.

jerry33 · May 12, 2015

matbl said:
what's your thought on nokian zLine? I think that's what's called hakka black here.

I wouldn't use the eNtyre in winter, even in Texas. It's really a summer tire. When installed on the 2004 Prius I averaged over 69 mi/U.S gallon.
The zLine comes in the right size, but nothing the Nokian website mentions LRR, so I'd suspect it won't do that well from an energy standpoint.

taraquin · May 12, 2015

Matbl: check out landsail ls588 uhp 245/45/19. They are available in some stores, are cheap, scored decent in the large summertyretest in Finland recently. They are the only B-rated summertyre 8n RR that I know of. A norwegian guy tested them against primacy 3 and got about 10% lower consumption

matbl · May 12, 2015

taraquin said:
Matbl: check out landsail ls588 uhp 245/45/19. They are available in some stores, are cheap, scored decent in the large summertyretest in Finland recently. They are the only B-rated summertyre 8n RR that I know of. A norwegian guy tested them against primacy 3 and got about 10% lower consumption

I think I'll pass on the chinese budget brands... Difference between B and C rating shouldn't be much either...

- - - Updated - - -

jerry33 said:
I wouldn't use the eNtyre in winter, even in Texas. It's really a summer tire. When installed on the 2004 Prius I averaged over 69 mi/U.S gallon.
The zLine comes in the right size, but nothing the Nokian website mentions LRR, so I'd suspect it won't do that well from an energy standpoint.

Ok. But since it's marketed as all-season it's simply not available here.
zLine (hakka black really) have C rating just as the other tyres I listed earlier.

have anyone gone from the stock goodyear to any of those? How does they compare in regards to noise?

taraquin · May 13, 2015

matbl said:
I think I'll pass on the chinese budget brands... Difference between B and C rating shouldn't be much either...

- - - Updated - - -

Ok. But since it's marketed as all-season it's simply not available here.
zLine (hakka black really) have C rating just as the other tyres I listed earlier.

have anyone gone from the stock goodyear to any of those? How does they compare in regards to noise?

Actually, landsail stands out as a exeption from the general rule, they have done well in several test now lately with several different tyres. The differende between B and C is sometimes 4% according to tests, that`s 10-15 km on our cars.

mnx · May 13, 2015

matbl said:
I think I'll pass on the chinese budget brands... Difference between B and C rating shouldn't be much either...

- - - Updated - - -

Ok. But since it's marketed as all-season it's simply not available here.
zLine (hakka black really) have C rating just as the other tyres I listed earlier.

have anyone gone from the stock goodyear to any of those? How does they compare in regards to noise?

I've got zLines on my car. They are as noisy or noiser than the OEM goodyears. Also they are wearing fast. 50% of the tread is gone in the rear after only 2000km. I drive like a maniac but I got 10X the life out of the goodyears... I have to think that my alignment is way off, however it was checked last year. Either way I'll know at my next SC appointment in 2 weeks.

On the plus side, they obviously do have a lot more grip than the OEM Goodyears.

Summer tire reccomendation

Model S - P457

Member

Model S - P457

(S85-3/2/13 traded in) X LR: F2611##-3/27/20

Active Member

Member

Member

Member

Cyclonic Member ((.oO))

Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Member

(S85-3/2/13 traded in) X LR: F2611##-3/27/20

Member

(S85-3/2/13 traded in) X LR: F2611##-3/27/20

Member

Member

Member

2018 M3P

Similar threads