1.5 Roadster Tire Thread

[jerry33]

So basically I can spend ±$1300 on a new set of tires & wheels and do it myself, or have a chain shop that's never seen a Tesla replace the tires for me... Kind of feel like either way I'm taking a big leap of faith!

If you can get to the right people, Michelin makes a manual tire changing table and tire levers for passenger car tires. This is small and inexpensive (use the FUSIL, and FACE levers). Basically the stand clamps to the edges of the wheel and can be moved to various angles to allow the tire to be mounted easily. Sorry, I can't remember the part name of the of actual tire changing table--it's been a while since I used one.

Note that tire mounting is something of an art, so you'll want to practice on some cheap tires and wheels to perfect your technique before tackling your Tesla wheels.

[pgwoosley]

So basically I can spend ±$1300 on a new set of tires & wheels and do it myself, or have a chain shop that's never seen a Tesla replace the tires for me... Kind of feel like either way I'm taking a big leap of faith!

When I purchased my used roadster, the rears had to be replaced before I could get the car registered. I ordered tires from one of the mail order places, removed one rear wheel and tire and took it plus the new tire (in another car) to a small non-chain shop and had the new tire mounted and balanced. Then I repeated for the other side.

Some time later, I ordered new front tires and drove them in the Tesla to the same shop and had the new tires installed. I watched closely.

In this part of the country there are a lot of individually owned tire shops. The one I went to does not even have a lift. Having seen the picture of the Lotus above and read the story, I felt better that the shop did not even have a lift. In my mind, the key is to be sure the shop does not try to lift both sides of the rear at one time. The small shop did not try to keep me from supervising with an insurance excuse.

We do not need to use Winter tires here, so I cannot comment on what I would do if I had to swap tires or tires and wheels two times a year.

Be sure you guard the "key" for the locking wheel bolts. You will need to order a new one from Tesla for about $50 if you lose it.

[Doug_G]

OK, now we're on the same page.

So basically I can spend ±$1300 on a new set of tires & wheels and do it myself, or have a chain shop that's never seen a Tesla replace the tires for me... Kind of feel like either way I'm taking a big leap of faith!

Just do it yourself. You know you'll take your time, double-check everything, and do it right. Once you've done it once you'll realize how easy it is.

[dhrivnak]

I had a local tire shop replace my rears with the Continental DWS Extreme Contacts. They were a reasonable price, for a Roadster, about $350 for both which included the mouting and balancing. They were VERY careful with the car and were happy to let me watch. I have done business with these guys for over 25 years a nice family owned and operated place. They exist just ask around in your town.

[Eric from NE]

Local tire guy recommended Michelin Pilot Sport A/S.

Any thoughts?

[btown]

I posted this over in the 2.5 thread and someone suggested I post it over here as well. Based on what I was seeing folks say over on the 2.0 thread I decided to give the Michelin Pilot Super Sports a shot this time around. Looks like this thread hasn't been active for almost a year, so we'll see if anyone is interested in discussing. I'm particularly interested in the traction control during regen issue. Here's my post from the 2.0 tire thread:

I put a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the rear last week based on the positive experience some other owners had expressed. I was looking for a bit better wear and better rain performance. Here's my experience so far:

• They are much quieter
• Haven't had any rain yet, but the tread pattern definitley looks like it should do very well
• They are sticky enough to launch (full accelleration) on dry flat ground without any traction control. This does not of course mean they are as sticky as the Yokohoma, but the only way to know for sure would be in aggressive cornering at high speeds and/or acceleration, which I have not tested. Fortunately, I think I've gotten past the reckless point of testing such capabilities (like I did back when I first got the car).
• Traction control comes on a lot during regen (steadily blinks), but only for the first 1-2 miles after each start

That last item is an interesting one. At first I was concerned the tires were not sticky enough. However, the tires are proving capable of much larger Gs during acceleration than they are trying to inflict on the car during regenerative braking. That coupled with the fact the traction control during regen goes completely away after 1-2 miles makes me suspect this is possibly a minor issue related to the new tire diameter??? The new tires are 25", whereas the AD07s are 24.9". That doesn't seem like enough difference to be an issue, but I can't think of any other explanation. Here's my theory. The rear tires are larger and therefore spin slower than the "stock" tires. During regen, it appears to the car that the tires are slipping (ie. real slipping caused the rear tires to turn slower during regen). My guess is that the car monitors the speeds of the front vs rear tires during normal cruising (ie. not heavy accel or decel) and comes up with the proper ratio to base the traction control on. I'm guessing that when you start the car you are at a default ratio and the car is learns the real ratio after a mile or two? The only odd thing with this theory is the fact they wouldn't store the learned ratio for use on the next drive. However, doing so might cause some safety issues on the first mile or two after replacing tires. So perhaps they took the more conservative approach by always starting with a factory default which is over cautious (ie. more prone to throw on the traction control vs. less prone which would be less safe). I have NO idea whether this is really what is going on, so I'm all ears if anyone can come up with a better theory. Thankfully, the traction control during regen still allows probably about 50-60% of normal regen AND everything goes back to normal after a mile or two. I'm confident this will probably just go away once the tires have .1" of wear on them.

All in all, I'm very happy with the tires so far and consider the traction control a minor issue. I wouldn't be saying that if it was coming on during acceleration of course!

[frequencydip]

I have one set of rims with out TPMS and while the VDS complains it does not cause any issues with regen or traction control. I've also experienced the issue where a 25 inch diamater tire causes regen to be at 50% for the first few minuts of driving it always goes away and back to normal.

[btown]

I have one set of rims with out TPMS and while the VDS complains it does not cause any issues with regen or traction control. I've also experienced the issue where a 25 inch diamater tire causes regen to be at 50% for the first few minuts of driving it always goes away and back to normal.

It sounds like I'm experiencing exactly what you have seen. I'd say traction control is right around 50% (steady rate of blinking, but doing some amount of regen) and it always goes away after a few minutes. I think the new tires are all of about .1" larger than the AD07s, so I suppose it will stop happening after some amount of wear.

[doug]

I posted this over in the 2.5 thread and someone suggested I post it over here as well. Based on what I was seeing folks say over on the 2.0 thread...

I don't quite understand the division of these tire threads. Is 2.5 any different from 2.0? Perhaps one of these threads needs to be renamed.

[Doug_G]

I don't quite understand the division of these tire threads. Is 2.5 any different from 2.0? Perhaps one of these threads needs to be renamed.

Yes, this should be the 1.5 thread. The 2.0 and 2.5 behave identically from a tire perspective.