Has anyone gone from stock 19” Pirelli P Zeros to Michelin Pilot Super Sports?

[Howie Dub]

Hi everyone. I got a flat on one the the rear tires about 6 weeks ago and had it plugged since I was heading out of town that day. I’ve gone over 1000 miles on It so far, but I’m thinking it’s probably best to change the tires. Has anyone gone from the stock 19” Pirellis to the Michelin Pilot Super Sports? Or does anyone have experience with the Super Sports?

Been researching online and it seems like the Michelins are better tires, but there a few things that makes me wonder if I should get them or just get new Pirellis. First is that they don’t have the acoustic foam the Pirellis have and I’m wondering how much louder they are?

Second is that they are SL rated instead of XL like the Pirellis. Not sure how much that matters since the total load rating is still higher than the MSP’s GAWRs and GVWR. I’ve read that it’s best not to go from XL to SL rated tires if XL is required for the car, but I can’t find any info on that in the owner’s manual.

Last is weight and rolling resistance. They’re slightly heavier and have a bigger contact patch. The bigger contact patch might be better for grip, and possibly acceleration, on dry pavement, but I wonder how much that and heavier tires affect range?

Thanks in advance for your help and insight.

 

[mswlogo]

First, replacing tires because one is plugged is silly. Second, acoustic foam has less impact than the tire design itself. It might be worse on noise or better, regardless of the foam. Did you know foamless tires are easier to plug

Going SL is a really bad idea. It’s not based on just the weight of the car. This is 10x riskier than running on a plug.

Guaranteed your range will go down significantly.

 

[beatle]

Tire shops and car manufacturers will tell you to use the same load index as the tires that came on the car, but some people have had their cars delivered with tires with different load indices. Here is a recent forum thread about the load index:

Refresh S Tire Load Question

Hello all, picked up a set of winter tires for my Refresh LR. Noticed that the front tires don't have the "Extra Load" load rating but the rears do. The front tires load rating is 100V so according to that the tires can withstand the weight of my S, not sure if I need XL tires and can't find too...

teslamotorsclub.com

My 2015 came with 19" SL Michelin MXM4s, and my 2019 came with 19" XL Michelin AS4s. Both cars were purchased from Tesla. Either way you go, you have plenty of time to figure it out. Your current tires will be fine with a plug. I've had a plug in a tire on my truck for probably 5 or 6 years.

As far as range, expect a decrease going to summer tires. Even going from a touring to a performance all season can dock you a few percent. A summer tire can knock 10% off your range or more compared to a touring tire.

 

[Howie Dub]

First, replacing tires because one is plugged is silly. Second, acoustic foam has less impact than the tire design itself. It might be worse on noise or better, regardless of the foam. Did you know foamless tires are easier to plug

Going SL is a really bad idea. It’s not based on just the weight of the car. This is 10x riskier than running on a plug.

Guaranteed your range will go down significantly.

Tire shops and car manufacturers will tell you to use the same load index as the tires that came on the car, but some people have had their cars delivered with tires with different load indices. Here is a recent forum thread about the load index:

Refresh S Tire Load Question

Hello all, picked up a set of winter tires for my Refresh LR. Noticed that the front tires don't have the "Extra Load" load rating but the rears do. The front tires load rating is 100V so according to that the tires can withstand the weight of my S, not sure if I need XL tires and can't find too...

teslamotorsclub.com

My 2015 came with 19" SL Michelin MXM4s, and my 2019 came with 19" XL Michelin AS4s. Both cars were purchased from Tesla. Either way you go, you have plenty of time to figure it out. Your current tires will be fine with a plug. I've had a plug in a tire on my truck for probably 5 or 6 years.

As far as range, expect a decrease going to summer tires. Even going from a touring to a performance all season can dock you a few percent. A summer tire can knock 10% off your range or more compared to a touring tire.

Thanks guys. I just had concerns with the plug b/c from what I've read after getting the tire plugged, they aren't that safe. Given that I have a lead foot, last thing I’d want is the plug to give out at 80+ mph on the freeway on a $100k+ car.

I was considering the Super Sports because those are the ones Ingenext used when they hit 216mph in their Plaid. What's interesting is that the factory 19” sizes were made for Porsche and are the only ones that are SL rated. Every other size is XL. My current Pirellis are summer tires since I’m in SoCal, but I would expect a range hit with the Super Sports since it has a larger contact patch and more rolling resistance.

If you have gone 5-6 years with a plug beatle, I guess I can go longer with mine. I saw the thread you linked and it sounds like I should stay with an XL tire, although neither Model S’s owner‘s manual nor the sticker inside the door specify that an XL tire is required. The Model X one doesn’t either, but the Model Y one does, which is odd since it’s lighter and less powerful than both S and X.

 

[beatle]

XL is the safer choice.

Even if the plug were to start to fail, it wouldn't be a dramatic explosion where you suddenly lose traction and veer off into another lane or off the road. You'd likely just get a TPMS warning that the tire is low on pressure. I keep a can of tire slime and a 12v compressor in my sub-trunk in case of a flat. Autopilot is far more likely to kill you than a tire plug.

 

[Cal1]

Can’t agree more!!! Tire sales people use a lot of techniques to get you to buy a new tire or even a new set of tires. FEAR works well. I had a guy tell me I couldn’t patch my Honda Ridgeline tire and that I couldn’t replace it with an exact brand replacement because the difference in wear between the new and old tires would cause my transmission to destroy itself. They insisted that the only choice I had was to replace all tires. Driving around town there is no way you’re getting your tires anywhere near a dangerous temp or or pressure. The worse is a flat tire. If you’re hot footing it (around town) on a really low pressure tire you might do damage to your rim or lose control but you‘d know it way before by bothTPMS and the way the car would handle. Track work is another story.

 

[Howie Dub]

Happy New Year's guys! Thanks for the responses and advice.

XL is the safer choice.

Even if the plug were to start to fail, it wouldn't be a dramatic explosion where you suddenly lose traction and veer off into another lane or off the road. You'd likely just get a TPMS warning that the tire is low on pressure. I keep a can of tire slime and a 12v compressor in my sub-trunk in case of a flat. Autopilot is far more likely to kill you than a tire plug.

Thanks. A quick blowout is my biggest concern. The puncture wasn't a slow leak and would deflate so quickly I had to fill it up a few times to find the hole since whatever punctured it wasn't in the tire.

Can’t agree more!!! Tire sales people use a lot of techniques to get you to buy a new tire or even a new set of tires. FEAR works well. I had a guy tell me I couldn’t patch my Honda Ridgeline tire and that I couldn’t replace it with an exact brand replacement because the difference in wear between the new and old tires would cause my transmission to destroy itself. They insisted that the only choice I had was to replace all tires. Driving around town there is no way you’re getting your tires anywhere near a dangerous temp or or pressure. The worse is a flat tire. If you’re hot footing it (around town) on a really low pressure tire you might do damage to your rim or lose control but you‘d know it way before by bothTPMS and the way the car would handle. Track work is another story.

I don't track the car, but I have done some 0-60 tests. I've done a couple with the plug, and even gunned it to over 100 on the freeway, and it seems to be okay. Part of the reason I was looking into new tires was to see if a grippier one would chirp as much as the Pirellis.