We just got the 2021 Tesla S. We're in Tahoe trying to get back home (Marin County). Cal Trans says cars need "FOR WESTBOUND TRAFFIC: CHAINS ARE REQUIRED ON ALL VEHICLES EXCEPT 4-WHEEL-DRIVE VEHICLES WITH SNOW TIRES ON ALL 4 WHEELS ". We have all wheel drive, but we don't have snow tires. I'm concerned that Cal Trans will not let us through their checkpoint if we don't have snow tires. Have any of you driven your S from Tahoe on the 80 in the last couple of days without snow tires? If so, were you able to get through? TIME SENSITIVE AS WE'RE TRYING TO LEAVE TOMORROW. Thank you
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Does the 2021 S need snow tires (in addition to its All Wheel Drive) to get from Tahoe to Marin County?
- Thread starter sharklaw
- Start date
What does it matter what other people have done? You know what the rules are and are not currently in compliance.
You should probably heed the warning so you don’t endanger other people on the road or in your car.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
Do you have 19 or 21” wheels?
CHP considers any “all season” tires with the mud and snow marking (M+S stamping and/or a snowflake in a mountain silhouette image) as “snow tires”. So they will likely let you through.
That said, be super careful. All seasons are marginal snow tires at best, and you’re in a 5,000 pound sled heading downhill on a rather wide set of tires in any case after historic snowfall. That’s a recipe for trouble.
CHP considers any “all season” tires with the mud and snow marking (M+S stamping and/or a snowflake in a mountain silhouette image) as “snow tires”. So they will likely let you through.
That said, be super careful. All seasons are marginal snow tires at best, and you’re in a 5,000 pound sled heading downhill on a rather wide set of tires in any case after historic snowfall. That’s a recipe for trouble.
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
I’m reading that a lot of refresh Model S are being delivered with summer tires. So you’ll need to look closely at what tires you have.
If you don’t have all seasons, it would be very foolish to try and get home on them with chain controls up, whether they let you through or not. Your car is basically a toboggan on 285mm summer tires.
If you don’t have all seasons, it would be very foolish to try and get home on them with chain controls up, whether they let you through or not. Your car is basically a toboggan on 285mm summer tires.
AWD does nothing for stopping. Snows/Chains do.
A 2WD with snows will do better than an AWD with all seasons.
A 2WD with snows will do better than an AWD with all seasons.
WilliamG
Hinge Fanatic
100%. If you’ve never driven with actual snow tires vs no-season, - sorry, all-season tires, you don’t know what you’re missing.
Midnightsun
Active Member
I just took delivery 2 days ago, mine came with Pirelli P Zeros which are a high performance summer tires. I would compare them to leather soled dress shoes trying to walk on snow, good luck is all I can say. All seasons are definitely much better but chains or dedicated snows are no question the way to go. Regardless, you will be illegal doing nothing and a danger to others and yourself.
Is there no other route you can take to avoid the hills/snow/elevation to some extent?
Is there no other route you can take to avoid the hills/snow/elevation to some extent?
ucmndd
Well-Known Member
There’s no better way down than interstate 80. It’s heavily trafficked and chain controls will be gone within a day or two.
Unfortunately Lake Tahoe is absolutely overrun with fair-weather Bay Area tourists that don’t really have any idea what they’re getting into, especially on winter holidays. It’s a mess.
Wait a minute!!! I have a neighbor picking up a MS LR next week. Our Plaid came with 19" Pirelli P Zeros.
I called sales (Portland OR) and was assured that my neighbors car would come with all season radials just like our previous MS's. They explained that Plaids come with summer tires to make sure you can hit the performance spec of 1.99 sec. Hard to do that with all season radials.
Pretty sure the current snow storm will be long gone by next week but this should not be hard. Of course I don't see anything on the website about tire type. Just 91" or 21". I'm pretty sure the neighbor will not be pleased to have to buy winter tires right away.
We were in Tahoe during the storm over the last week. Had our AWD ICE SUV with M&S tires. Handled great, however, no way would have felt safe in my Plaid with 21s and PS4s.
Should be able to get chains or socks for the 19s pretty easily. Much more difficult if you have 21s AFAIK. If you get chains for 19s I'd try to leave the Aero covers on as otherwise might scratch your wheels. Cheaper to replace a damaged aero cover.
Tesla is now selling a winter wheel and tire package. Supposedly they will have them ready to install in my car next week at which time I'll travel up in my MS. Recommendation for next time if you want to take the MS up again.
Honestly no idea how you decided it was OK/safe to travel in summer tires from the Bay Area to Tahoe anytime in the past couple of weeks. Wouldn't advise driving in these conditions until things have improved A LOT.
If you are going to attempt it then I'd recommend traveling when traffic is the lightest due to the possibility that you might lose control multiple times.
Should be able to get chains or socks for the 19s pretty easily. Much more difficult if you have 21s AFAIK. If you get chains for 19s I'd try to leave the Aero covers on as otherwise might scratch your wheels. Cheaper to replace a damaged aero cover.
Tesla is now selling a winter wheel and tire package. Supposedly they will have them ready to install in my car next week at which time I'll travel up in my MS. Recommendation for next time if you want to take the MS up again.
Honestly no idea how you decided it was OK/safe to travel in summer tires from the Bay Area to Tahoe anytime in the past couple of weeks. Wouldn't advise driving in these conditions until things have improved A LOT.
If you are going to attempt it then I'd recommend traveling when traffic is the lightest due to the possibility that you might lose control multiple times.
Midnightsun
Active Member
I can assure you my 2022 Model S LR came with P Zeros delivered 2 days ago. Maybe they are short of stock on all seasons and since there is no definition of the tire type they would not need to swap them out? Just like my car came with no rear window tray and no mats which will be delivered to me when they finally get some. I prefer the P Zeros since I always use a dedicated winter wheel/tire setup.
Didn't mean to imply any doubt just confusion. I can see the logic on my car but it seems like a LR should come with all season radials. Does this happen on M3's? LR car tires the same as performance? Been awhile since I bought a high performance sedan like an M5 etc. Wonder if this happens in BMW or Mercedes land.
LR tires are region-dependent.
Cold weather climates should receive them with All Seasons. California and places of the like should get summer performance.
That being said, Tesla has been short on all season tires and have been shading shipping LR’s to cold weather areas with summer tires. They have been called out on this by a number of owners (myself included) and tire swaps are being performed at Service Centers post-delivery.
If you ordered an LR and live in a place where the temps drop below 40 degrees, Tesla owes you a set of All Season tires. Running the Summer tires in cold climates is a serious hazard. Traction issues aside, they are not made to withstand low temps and the rubber will crack/burst.
Midnightsun
Active Member
In my case I will keep the summers. Here in Quebec, Canada it is mandatory to have dedicated winter tires installed from Dec 1st to March 15th. No all seasons permitted unless it's outside of the dates mentioned. Honestly it makes me feel a bit better knowing when I need to brake sharply in slippery winter conditions, the car behind me has a good chance of stopping also with winters on. Quebec Winter Tire Law
Even if you have snow tread tires (i.e. "M+S" on the sidewall) you'd better be carrying chains. Even if you have AWD and M+S tires and there are R-2 chain controls, are you still required to carry chains whenever you enter a chain control area.
Catbiscuits
Member
Yup. We used to live in CA. ALWAYS carry chains if you are going into the snow, regardless of your tires.
We went to the Sierras for Thanksgiving vacation in 2019. Right before we left we got news of a winter storm coming. Changed our crappy rental into a Wrangler, definitely 4WD and the tires count. Just in case though, I also stopped at Walmart and picked up some chains (there were none at the auto parts stores). When we got to the entry gate at Yosemite, CHP asked if we had chains. Yes, sir! Did we know how to drive in the snow? I learned to drive in snow in upstate NY and have extensive Sierra driving experience, sir. You may pass. We were maybe one in ten cars they were letting through. It was a nice little gift since the park wasn't half as crowded as it would have been (lots of people got there before the snow started). Returned the chains at Wal Mart on the way to the airport.
Teslas may require specific chains. Look into it.
Yeah you can find the chains for Teslas at The Official Tesla Shop | Tesla by clicking on your model and looking in the Wheels & Tires section. As far as I know, all Tesla models are only capable of having chains installed on the rear wheels; the front wheels tend to have insufficient clearance between the top of the wheel and the strut, which unfortunately makes them not ideal snow cars if things ever get bad enough that you need to chain up even with AWD.
Catbiscuits
Member
Yes and also note:
The use of non-recommended tire chains has been shown to cause suspension and other vehicle damage.
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