Tire/wheel setup on P85D

i changed to the staggered setup with the PS2's. i regret not being able to rotate them but thats about it. car gets the same time in a straight line. bigger tires in the back has an understeer effect.

When you say "right" setup, does this mean Tesla acknowledged the error and made it "right" or did you raise a big fuss to get it corrected? When I test drove the P85 (before ordering) I did check the tires and the cars were staggered, so I as a customer would be very surprised to not have the 265s on my newly ordered car. I ended up ordering a 85D BTW.

I swapped mine to the Michelin PS2 staggered setup. Much better cornering traction because the PS2 is a stickier tire. The Continentals are quieter, wear longer and can be rotated. Depends on what your priorities are.

The Michelins will be able to put the power down better in corners due to their wider contact patch. I'd go for the PS2s in a heartbeat. The CSC5 is a good tire, but the narrower rear wheels (The PS2s come with 0.5" wider rear wheels) and tires aren't optimal for a car this powerful.

mike-415 said:

The Michelins will be able to put the power down better in corners due to their wider contact patch. I'd go for the PS2s in a heartbeat. The CSC5 is a good tire, but the narrower rear wheels (The PS2s come with 0.5" wider rear wheels) and tires aren't optimal for a car this powerful.

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Also the tread width of the Conti's in the same size (245) is almost an inch narrower than the PS2's, according to Tire Rack.

I have a P85+. I love the Michelins and the wider rear tires. A must have with all the power thrown to the rear end including the P85Ds.

I have a P85D with the 245 Continentals all around. The car understeers moderately when pushed in a corner. Simply putting on wider rear tires will not improve cornering. Putting on stickier tires would help, as would improving the front camber. The tire compound is more important in this case than the rear width.

My experience with this comes from my Lotus Elise street/track car, which has a significant difference in front/rear tires.

@ERP
excellent point. AWD will understeer coming in hot to a corner. You're right a stickier tire will effect that more than anything else. I hope you will move to the Pilot Sports when it is time. A good comparison point.

question - is this just a tire change, or are the rear wheels wider to accommodate the 265's?

visionik said:

question - is this just a tire change, or are the rear wheels wider to accommodate the 265's?

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Rear wheels are 1/2" wider (9.0 vs. 8.5)

Since we're on this topic, what other tire options out there offer similar grip as PS2 but quieter ride?

ERP said:

I have a P85D with the 245 Continentals all around. The car understeers moderately when pushed in a corner. Simply putting on wider rear tires will not improve cornering. Putting on stickier tires would help, as would improving the front camber. The tire compound is more important in this case than the rear width.

My experience with this comes from my Lotus Elise street/track car, which has a significant difference in front/rear tires.

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I just picked up a P85D. I love the car, but am faced with the Conti vs. Michelin-Staggard dilemma. I have always drove a performance car with staggered wheels. I was surprised to see the non staggered set up on my 125K car. Is there any benifit to the Conti's? My DS, says the change was made for many reasons. The only one he could tell me is that it is quieter Ride, which is not important to me. I have coils, because I wanted a stiffer ride. My last car was a 911S. I need to decide if I should demand the changing of the tire's and rear wheels.

dcohen said:

I just picked up a P85D. I love the car, but am faced with the Conti vs. Michelin-Staggard dilemma. I have always drove a performance car with staggered wheels. I was surprised to see the non staggered set up on my 125K car. Is there any benifit to the Conti's? My DS, says the change was made for many reasons. The only one he could tell me is that it is quieter Ride, which is not important to me. I have coils, because I wanted a stiffer ride. My last car was a 911S. I need to decide if I should demand the changing of the tire's and rear wheels.

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Same here - my daily drivers are usually 911s or BMW M cars and I have a bias for handling/grip over less tire wear and less road noise. I just ordered my car and was told I couldn't get the staggered setup, so I ordered it with 19s and my DS has arranged for me to order the staggered wheels from my local service center and they will be put on before delivery. I'll then sell the 19s. This works out to be about $700 more than if Tesla would sell me the staggered setup directly but it's worth it to me.

If you test drove a P85D with the staggered setup, then I think you'd be well within your rights to demand they swap them out. In my eyes the 245 square setup with Contis is a downgrade and not what you paid for.

mattwhite said:

I have a bias for handling/grip . . . I couldn't get the staggered setup, . . . order the staggered wheels from my local service center . . . $700 more . . . but it's worth it to me.

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Are you swamping for the tires or the wheels, and if the wheels, what is the evidence that the wheels (staggered or 21" provide superior handling/grip?

bhzmark said:

Are you swamping for the tires or the wheels, and if the wheels, what is the evidence that the wheels (staggered or 21" provide superior handling/grip?

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I'm swapping both tires and wheels. I'm going on a few things. The opinion of other owners who have posted their experiences (see the posts by Dennis on his experiences starting with the square setup and replacing it with the staggered setup). And my personal experiences with Continental tires over the years (not great and certainly not as good as I've had with Michelins). The Michelin PS2s are not only a stickier tire than the Contis but with the staggered setup there's probably at least 4 more inches of rubber on the pavement. Just on size the rears give you about 2" more rubber, and the front 245 Contis are about 1" narrower than the 245 PS2s each side. Add that to the fact that I think a 245 21" rear tire on a car this size just doesn't look very good, and it's a no brainer for me.