Model S Plaid: All-Seasons and performance (0-60, 60-130, traction, etc.)

[Vi Althans]

Howdy y'all --

I've looked through most posts here mentioning all-season tires on their S Plaids/LRs -- always questions about fitment, sizes, range/efficiency, etc. but I'm only curious about the changes in PERFORMANCE!

Context: I am currently on the stock 19" Tempests (with the P Zeros) on my 2023 Model S Plaid. I love them, I can hit the numbers advertised, but as this is my daily and we like to road trip, I'm strongly considering switching to a more daily-friendly square setup with all-seasons, much like those offered by TSportline. Most likely, I'd opt for the 20x10" square set with the (285) Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4s.

My question to fellow Plaid owners: has anyone with a square all-season setup, or at least running PS4AS, tested their 0-60mph or 60-130mph times? Or at least, does it feel any different? Do you struggle for traction, either from a dig or roll, with the all-seasons?

Yes, I understand that if you're sporting all-seasons you probably aren't worried about hitting a perfect 9.4s 1/4 time or 1.98s 0-60 times...
No, I'm not drag racing the thing in the snow or mud or rain, and I understand that there will likely be some compromise in performance -- I'd just like to understand by how much!

I switched from stock Überturbines + P-Zero to a 19" TS5 + CrossClimate 2s on my Model 3 Performance and noticed no change in performance whatsoever, but the Plaid has twice the power.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ostrichsak]

If you will ever be in freezing temps and/or snow I would strongly urge you to NOT get those tires. Ignore the reviews that make it seem like they have a slight edge for winter driving because it's not accurate if you actually use them in freezing snowy conditions. The compound gets hard at higher temperatures than other options which will make your care feel incredibly unsure, almost like you're on marbles rolling on glass.

Historically, I've had great luck w/Continental DWS tires going back decades. They subsequent 06 and 06+ have been just as good as the originals. When I saw those tires had slightly better ratings I felt that maybe it was worth the premium for cost to get a "better" tire. Boy was I wrong. I put less than 10k on those tires and couldn't get them off fast enough after my first winter. Luckily they also don't wear well either so Discount measured the tread and have me like 50% of my money back towards new tires since the wear was even due to rotating the tires every 3k miles.

We went back to DWS 06+ that we use year round and never looked back. This is all on Model S (our new Y is on factory rubber still but as soon as it's due we'll get the DWS on it too) most of which are Performance variants and we live at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Northern Colorado. Probably a good candidate for dedicated snow tires but I prefer to not deal with all of that and my wife and I have been driving on this stuff for many decades now here and in Nebraska previously so we're well versed on winter driving conditions.

I agree with the other things you mentioned about a square s/u, at least for the pre-refresh cars. I know that there's some offset differences to consider on the Refresh cars but when I finally get a Plaid a squared 20" setup will be one of my first changes to the car for all of the reasons you mentioned. I just know that my tire of choice will likely always be the DWS unless something happens and they regress in newer versions or if there becomes another option that is dramatically better. I doubt that the latter will happen as most advancements in tires these days are miniscule, marketing hype or (usually) a combination of both.

I've bought many sets of wheels from TSportline over the years (my referral code has gotten quite the workout from friends & family as well) and have had good luck. They're a very solid option and I like the value although the prices have gone up since I started buying from them 5-6 years ago. Still a good value, just not as great as it was then even with inflation factored in. The lighter weight will help your efficiency around town but you'll lose some on prolonged highway speed trips due to aero being not as good as the stock wheels/covers.

For me, I prefer the look of the aftermarket wheels and we don't typically use our Performance cars for the road trip or commuting duties and tend to keep a Long Range variant for that type of stuff. So good to consider if you have only one car that does it all since you'll be sacrificing efficiency in some conditions for looks and the ability to rotate and get better options for A/S tires.

Speaking of tires, I did a gob of tests on our older P85DL and the next P90DL and I can tell you that the difference in the middle of summer in 0-60 times between Pilots and the Continental DWS 06 was barely noticeable on a stopwatch and basically unnoticeable in the seat-of-the-pants-o-meter. It's likely that you'll see more of a difference in performance between little things like tire pressure or ambient air temps and surface conditions than those two tires. The DWS is an UHP A/S tire which means they still have performance in mind and it shows.

I thought it would be more of a performance penalty in summer performance than it actually was in real world use so I was happy. You'd likely notice more of a difference in track conditions with lots of hard breaking and lateral force focus but you wouldn't run an A/S on the track anyway so who cares? For street use, I'll use these tires unless something dramatic happens someday. I'm not planning on that happening in my lifetime.