About to order 255/50/19 Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 tires (non spec). Any considerations/ other recs?

[KatLand]

MYLR 2021 19" geminis, 25k on the OEM Conti Procontacts.
I am aware of the MANY posts on the topic of tires for the model y. I've gone down most of the rabbit holes that exist on here. I had actually just wanted to message a couple of people here about their experiences but I don't seem to have messaging privileges yet.

What I'm looking for:
Probably All season Grand Touring (I can appreciate high perf tires, but not if the ride is harsh/loud)
Softer ride than the procontacts, we have a lot of potholes and rough roads in portland.
Quieter than the OEM on highway/freeway
Need good dry/wet traction, don't care much about snow/ice (that's what we have the subaru for)
Mostly around town but I also drive lots of winding highway miles.

Considering:
Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 255/50/19 -America's Tire says no problem putting these on
Conti Procontact Rx (same as OEM but I read the after markets are softer/better??)
Conti Extreme Contact DWS06

Cost is not a big factor, because good tires are important. But I did balk at the new Pirelli Scorpion MS price, $449 each, huh. How good are they to fetch that price?

I was all set to go with the DWS06s, but then I read the posts by @Sunny D and @Pianewman about the Scorpions. They rank well on Tire Rack and I like that they might take some of the harshness out of the ride, since they are taller. Sunny D noted a decrease in acceleration. I DO enjoy the acceleration of the Y for sure, I only use chill mode for passengers. but that might be okay. There's no perfect tire, everything is a compromise.

I've never spent so much time researching tires for a car. Thanks for any input!

 

[KatLand]

Still about to order. America's/discount tire sale ends today.
I'm looking at Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 255/50/19 vs. Pirelli P7 AS Plus 3 255/45/19. They are, I believe, basically the same tire, diff spec. I see these two getting lots of love from owners of other cars, but not so much here, and I don't know why.

 

[Pianewman]

1500miles on the 255/50 X 19 Scorpion A/S Plus 3s.

I still like them very much. On certain coarse concrete surfaces, they have a low frequency resonant hum that's a bit annoying. I honestly think THESE tires would benefit from the "foam" inner belt that other tires have.

I'm running them at 36-38psi for daily use. I don't challenge the traction, either wet or dry, so I have no opinion on their handling manners.

Efficiency? I don't obsess over it, but I don't think I've lost much.

 

[Magellan]

Consider going to an 18. I9s and 20s are fine for some folks, but not necessary for the Y. The Martian MW05 in a 18X10.5 width gives you a more flush side profile with zero rubbing or fitment issues. As a fully forged wheel, they are also stronger. Combined with a 295/45/18 all season tire with a solid XL load and treadwear rating, I saved around 7 pounds of unsprung weight on each corner. The car rides and handles great as a daily driver, and IMO, looks much more proportional and sporty. I also have an 18" winter set up. Love it also. Good luck!

 

[MattM24]

Consider going to an 18. I9s and 20s are fine for some folks, but not necessary for the Y. The Martian MW05 in a 18X10.5 width gives you a more flush side profile with zero rubbing or fitment issues. As a fully forged wheel, they are also stronger. Combined with a 295/45/18 all season tire with a solid XL load and treadwear rating, I saved around 7 pounds of unsprung weight on each corner. The car rides and handles great as a daily driver, and IMO, looks much more proportional and sporty. I also have an 18" winter set up. Love it also. Good luck!

Looks good! Staggered or did you put 295 in the front too? Did they rub?

 

[Magellan]

Looks good! Staggered or did you put 295 in the front too? Did they rub?

Thanks! Square set up so I can rotate Front/Back. No rub whatsoever. The wheels have a 40 offset and the tire height is within limits for the control arm and components. Full turning radius and no tramming on rutted roads.

 

[Matt1667]

Ahh man, I'm going down the tire rat-hole right now myself. Currently have the 20" martians but not entirely happy with how harsh the ride is. Was thinking of going down to Gemini's, or even based on Magellan's post, 18's! But not sure what tired to get if I go either way.

What direction did you end up going?

 

[KatLand]

Ahh man, I'm going down the tire rat-hole right now myself. Currently have the 20" martians but not entirely happy with how harsh the ride is. Was thinking of going down to Gemini's, or even based on Magellan's post, 18's! But not sure what tired to get if I go either way.

What direction did you end up going?

It’s a deep and convoluted rathole isn’t it. I just had the Hankook ion evo as suv tires put on yesterday. They drive just fine, quiet, smooth. But… the ride is harsher than the Oem procontacts. Was expecting a little improvement, not worse. Took them down to 39 psi, still feeling more vibration than before through the steering wheel. Like it’s humming. Actually I’d say they feel about the same over bumps and cracks. But the vibration. I’m taking the car back in to Americas tire tomorrow.
They were surprised, they deal with 10 teslas a day and they say people have been happy with the Hankooks.
They do have the 30 day thing, but then I’ll be faced with the rabbit hole again.

 

[Discount Tire]

It’s a deep and convoluted rathole isn’t it. I just had the Hankook ion evo as suv tires put on yesterday. They drive just fine, quiet, smooth. But… the ride is harsher than the Oem procontacts. Was expecting a little improvement, not worse. Took them down to 39 psi, still feeling more vibration than before through the steering wheel. Like it’s humming. Actually I’d say they feel about the same over bumps and cracks. But the vibration. I’m taking the car back in to Americas tire tomorrow.
They were surprised, they deal with 10 teslas a day and they say people have been happy with the Hankooks.
They do have the 30 day thing, but then I’ll be faced with the rabbit hole again.

We are sorry to hear about your tire vibration issue. Was the America's Tire location able to resolve the problem?

 

[KatLand]

I did take the car back in to America's Tire and I picked it up without talking to them. So I don't know what, if anything, they found. It seemed better after. Not dramatically better. I've driven about 100 miles on them, and it seems like they're settling in a bit. I don't think it's just a matter of me getting used to it. I think they feel a whole lot like the conti procontacts did when new, except the handling seems better than I remember. Noise: sometimes I think the hankooks are quieter, sometimes the same. But the contis never seemed loud to me at all. I hear more wind noise than tire noise. These are very quiet tires, and that was a priority for me.

I do think the Hankook ions are stiffer than the contis. They feel about the same over bumps and cracks, still a little more vibration over rough road (we are very lacking in smooth asphalt around here). That's with the air pressure lowered to 39. So that's why I think they are stiffer than originals, because I had those at 41-42 mostly. Over smooth asphalt, they are nice. All the vibration I'm still getting is straight from the road. We have a lot of coarse, old asphalt around here, and lots of potholes. In the passenger seat it's okay. In the driver's seat, I feel it through the steering wheel. Way better tho than the first 20 miles on them, during which I felt it through the accelerator and the seat back also.

Continental extreme contacts were what I almost ended up getting. I was all set to order. But I got cold feet about the possible droning noise. And are they noisy especially on wet pavement, because of the tread pattern? People vary so much in their noise sensitivity, so it's hard to know when someone says the extreme contacts are quiet, is that because they have the radio on all the time, have some hearing loss, or just wouldn't notice noise unless it was intense? The Extreme Contacts do sound like they're better handling, more sporty, and better in snow and ice. I wasn't concerned with that, that's why we have a suburu with winter tires. I had decided against the pirellis in either the regular size or upsized, because people elsewhere said they were great at first but at around 20k miles they ran quite a bit louder, more so than other tires do as they age.

@MattM24, if you're prioritizing comfort, the Hankooks aren't it for you. For anyone else considering them, they are very similar to the original contis. But better handling, better in the rain, perfectly connected to the road. I drive a lot of twisty highway, and the hankooks feel better, if I can remember back to when I first got the car.

Check Walmart's price, Americas/Discount tire will match.

 

[KatLand]

Update, the tires are feeling fine now. Just got back from a windy coast route trip. Similar to OEM procontacts when they were new, but these are better. They feel WAY better than the OEMS at 25k did (obviously).

 

[MattM24]

Update, the tires are feeling fine now. Just got back from a windy coast route trip. Similar to OEM procontacts when they were new, but these are better. They feel WAY better than the OEMS at 25k did (obviously).

Is that windy like winding roads or windy like a breeze?

 

[Pianewman]

When posting in a chain of posts about tires, please start the post by reminding us WHICH tires (model/size) you're talking about.

 

[Dr. D Flier]

Happy with my Pirelli Scorpion MS (255/45R19) that came on the Gemini wheels on my 2023 Model YLR. Very quiet tire. Maybe not the smoothest at 42-43 psi but then again our local roads are pretty bad.

I did look up the Scorpion's just to see the cost . I may be looking down some rabbit holes in a year or two.

I just checked the depth of tread after 5,000 miles - original is suppose to be 10/32" (but I didn't check them when new) and mine are all even at 8 to 8.5/32". If the original depth was really correct they may last another 20 to 25K miles before they hit the minimum. Sure won't match the 60 to 80K I got on Michelins on my Yukons.

 

[Matt1667]

Update, the tires are feeling fine now. Just got back from a windy coast route trip. Similar to OEM procontacts when they were new, but these are better. They feel WAY better than the OEMS at 25k did (obviously).

Glad to hear the vibration is solved on your iON evos now!

I didn’t mention, my 20” Martian wheels had ION evo SUV AS (255/40 r20), and I loved the tires, so quiet and seemed to get better range than the Pilot Sport AS they replaced (didn’t test so don’t have proof, not to mention I think I had a bung pair of Pilot Sports that Martian put on the wheels originally, as they would vibrate at 65mph). I wouldn’t recommend taking the iON evo’s to the snow though, we did and it was a slippery ride (during one of the big storms in Tahoe this season).

We recently had a baby though and the 20” were too rough for the streets around where we live (even after I put redwood FPV coilovers on, that’s another story). Could the iON EVO’s been contributing to the harsh ride? Maybe now you mentioned it, I’m on a 2022 MYP though so it was rough to begin with.

So end result for me, I ended up swapping to 19” Gemini's that were powder coated satin black with Continental DWS 275/45 r19s, hard to say if it was a big improvement or not because I’m still trying to figure out some clunking / vibration / rattling I’m getting from the coilovers, I do like the beefier look of the 275’s on 19’s more than the 255’s on 20” martians though.

Sorry long post, rathole indeed. I’ll be posting my Martian Wheels for sale soon after I get some minor curb rash fixed if anyone is interested - post to come in the marketplace, heck I might sell my Uberturbine 21”ers that came with the car and have been living rent free in my garage for the last two years while I’m at it.

 

[rogbmw]

I absolutely HATED the Pirelli's. We had them on our Volvo XC90 hybrid and could not wait to get rid of them. Replaced them with Yokohama Geolander X-CV GO57 and love them. Night and day difference in comfort. I don't think they come in the correct size for the Y.

 

[Dr. D Flier]

I absolutely HATED the Pirelli's. We had them on our Volvo XC90 hybrid and could not wait to get rid of them. Replaced them with Yokohama Geolander X-CV GO57 and love them. Night and day difference in comfort. I don't think they come in the correct size for the Y.

Which Pirelli's did you have?