Costco Winter tires

Caretaker · Sep 15, 2015

I was thinking of getting Winter tires from Costco and have them replaced twice a year on the same set of wheels; they charge around 40 bucks to switch from Summer to Winter tires using the same wheels and I would be doing this twice a year.

I don't see the reason to buy a new set of wheels; I don't ever plan to change the tires myself even if I had a separate set of wheels; all this torque and mounting points confuse me. We don't have a Tesla Service Center close to us or I would buy it from Tesla since I hear they would switch it for free; it is not really as much about the money as it is about convenience.

Any thoughts?

-C

kevincwelch · Sep 15, 2015

I recommend these.

I did get a second set of wheels so I can just swap them out myself. Nevertheless, I've had the tires for two full winters now, and I honestly love them. They've made a huge difference in the snow and cold weather.

(S85 -- no AWD)

dj905 · Sep 15, 2015

One of the GHEVA Tesla drivers has the Nokian WRG3 all weather tires. After one winter and one summer, he said that he is very happy with them. If you are looking for convenience, it may be the best option.

S'toon · Sep 15, 2015

Caretaker said:
I was thinking of getting Winter tires from Costco and have them replaced twice a year on the same set of wheels; they charge around 40 bucks to switch from Summer to Winter tires using the same wheels and I would be doing this twice a year.

I don't see the reason to buy a new set of wheels; I don't ever plan to change the tires myself even if I had a separate set of wheels; all this torque and mounting points confuse me. We don't have a Tesla Service Center close to us or I would buy it from Tesla since I hear they would switch it for free; it is not really as much about the money as it is about convenience.

Any thoughts?

-C

I do this with my current car. Costco charges less than half the price for changes of tires than the tire store I used to go to before I got my Costco membership.

mknox · Sep 16, 2015

dj905 said:
One of the GHEVA Tesla drivers has the Nokian WRG3 all weather tires. After one winter and one summer, he said that he is very happy with them. If you are looking for convenience, it may be the best option.

I would definitely go that route before peeling rubber off rims every 6 months (that can't be good for the tire). The WRG3 is a highly regarded tire.

Personally, I use the Nokian Hakka R2 winter tire on dedicated rims and can't speak highly enough of them.

RDoc · Sep 16, 2015

If you're thinking about summer and winter tires, you might consider some summer only performance tires as well. I do that on my NSX and can't believe the improvement in both summer handling and grip in the snow. On some previous cars I tried changing the tires on the same rims, but decided it was a hassle to have it done and was pretty tough on the rims, although it did have the advantage that the aluminum corrosion inside the rims got cleaned out.

mknox · Sep 16, 2015

RDoc said:
...although it did have the advantage that the aluminum corrosion inside the rims got cleaned out.

That's true. If you live in a climate where they salt the roads, you'll probably have to pull the tires off about once every 2 or 3 years anyway and have the corrosion cleaned out else you'll end up with slow leaks right where the bead seals against the rim. Doesn't seem to be a problem with plain old steel rims, but is so with aluminum.

supratachophobia · Sep 16, 2015

Caretaker said:
I was thinking of getting Winter tires from Costco and have them replaced twice a year on the same set of wheels; they charge around 40 bucks to switch from Summer to Winter tires using the same wheels and I would be doing this twice a year.

I don't see the reason to buy a new set of wheels; I don't ever plan to change the tires myself even if I had a separate set of wheels; all this torque and mounting points confuse me. We don't have a Tesla Service Center close to us or I would buy it from Tesla since I hear they would switch it for free; it is not really as much about the money as it is about convenience.

Any thoughts?

-C

I did this and got the Michelin Ice3's. They were superb in performance. Would highly recommend them again.

electrish · Sep 18, 2015

I second the Michelin x-ice recommendations.
They have good grip on snow and ice and are a very quiet ride, compared with my stock, staggered PS2 set up.
They feel quite rubbery though in comparison to the 21" summer performance tires and our local Costco warehouse couldn't get them last winter when I received the car and therefore had to get them from Tire Rack.

As others have stated, your tires will suffer when you constantly take them off the rims every year.
I got T-Sportline 19" TST rims and am happy with them.

Ohm's Law · Sep 19, 2015

mknox said:
That's true. If you live in a climate where they salt the roads, you'll probably have to pull the tires off about once every 2 or 3 years anyway and have the corrosion cleaned out else you'll end up with slow leaks right where the bead seals against the rim. Doesn't seem to be a problem with plain old steel rims, but is so with aluminum.

Does the corrosion also occur if the tires are inflated using Nitrogen vs regular air? I believe Costco uses Nitrogen in all their tires.

supratachophobia · Sep 19, 2015

electrish said:
I second the Michelin x-ice recommendations.
They have good grip on snow and ice and are a very quiet ride, compared with my stock, staggered PS2 set up.
They feel quite rubbery though in comparison to the 21" summer performance tires and our local Costco warehouse couldn't get them last winter when I received the car and therefore had to get them from Tire Rack.

As others have stated, your tires will suffer when you constantly take them off the rims every year.
I got T-Sportline 19" TST rims and am happy with them.

Are those the cyclone style? And if so, can anyone answer if those rims have the same mileage improvement that the Tesla cyclone wheels claim? 3% is the quoted amount.

mknox · Sep 21, 2015

Ohm's Law said:
Does the corrosion also occur if the tires are inflated using Nitrogen vs regular air? I believe Costco uses Nitrogen in all their tires.

Nothing to do with nitrogen (which is a scam, anyway. Air is about 80% nitrogen). It happens when salt brine works its way into the area where the bead of the tire and the rim meet and can cause the aluminum to pit and corrode.

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Costco Winter tires

Caretaker

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kevincwelch

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dj905

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S'toon

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mknox

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RDoc

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mknox

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supratachophobia

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Ohm's Law

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