Summer tires for wet road / rainy weather all year

[ytdj842x]

Hi folks,

I’m looking for a new set of summer tires for Long Range 2022 that’s hard to puncture, handle wet climate road well and (ideally) quiet.
At the moment I have Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 EV T0 19’ that came with car but:

• they’re very easy to puncture with any kind of metal construction garbage
• don’t handle curb damage well
• tires worn out after 30k km, lasting under 2 years
• dont’t handle wet conditions well, the car skids on sharp turns
• noisy af on 120 - 130 km/h

I thought an easy choice would be to buy Michelin Sports EV tires but they have a lot of negative reviews due to the frequent problem of the soundproofing layer falling off and causing dangerous instability and other wild effects.
Could you suggest something?

I did research on the matter but for the most part people recommend all season tires which nowhere to be found where I live on rainy island.
The options I think of:
1) Pirelli P Zero E - recently released, not sure if I can even buy them yet
2) Continental Ultracontact NXT - recently released, no feedback, no reviews
3) Pirelli P Zero (pz4) Sport - available, can buy, suppose to be good/better than Ventus I have atm.

 

[bobkart]

I don't see Bridgestone Potenza Sport on your list. According to Tire Rack, they have a rating of 8.9 for wet performance, which is the highest rating for wet performance of the nine Max-Performance Summer tires that TR says fit my 2023 Model Y LR (with 19" wheels). Second best is Michelin Pilot Sport 4 at 8.6. Granted these rating can be quite subjective, so they are only suggestive as opposed to completely answering your question.

Unless reduced road noise and increased tire efficiency are high priorities, you may want to consider dropping the 'EV' aspect of the tire in your search. In addition to the foam inserts (which add cost and weight, and can complicate repairs), EV-variant tires tend to have lower rolling resistance than their non-EV versions. The easiest way to reduce rolling resistance is to use a harder rubber compound. Harder rubber compounds tend to provide less grip (all other things being equal). Bottom line: you usually end up trading some grip for that efficiency.

 

[ytdj842x]

I don't see Bridgestone Potenza Sport on your list. According to Tire Rack, they have a rating of 8.9 for wet performance, which is the highest rating for wet performance of the nine Max-Performance Summer tires that TR says fit my 2023 Model Y LR (with 19" wheels). Second best is Michelin Pilot Sport 4 at 8.6. Granted these rating can be quite subjective, so they are only suggestive as opposed to completely answering your question.

Unless reduced road noise and increased tire efficiency are high priorities, you may want to consider dropping the 'EV' aspect of the tire in your search. In addition to the foam inserts (which add cost and weight, and can complicate repairs), EV-variant tires tend to have lower rolling resistance than their non-EV versions. The easiest way to reduce rolling resistance is to use a harder rubber compound. Harder rubber compounds tend to provide less grip (all other things being equal). Bottom line: you usually end up trading some grip for that efficiency.

I was considering Potenza Sport but for 19” they provide no protection to wheel cover whatsoever. Very first curb might destroy it completely. These tires just are not wide enough.

I want to save range hence looking at EV specific models only as regular tires reduce it, sometimes significantly. Took a note on pilot sport 4 tho, thanks.

 

[bobkart]

I think any 255mm-wide-nominal tire on stock wheels will suffer from the 'not wide enough to protect the stock rim' problem. If you move to 285/40R19, you'll gain 15mm more sidewall width on each side of the wheel and keep the stock diameter. But you'll lose some range due to about 1kg more weight per tire. To really solve that issue without increasing tire weight, a narrower (or smaller diameter) wheel would be called for. 19" x 8.5" wheels are fairly widely available, and can often have considerably less weight than stock (2-3kg per wheel). Moving to 18" diameter wheels could also help, but then fitment starts to be an issue. And of course your costs just went up by at least $1K.

Keep in mind that having good grip and having good tire efficiency are usually at odds with each other. Same with grip versus tread life. I'll also point out that I've never seen a rating for a tire's puncture resistance, other than having a 'run-flat' capability, and those tires are considerably heavier than the non-run-flat version.

If your temperatures get down below 45F / 7C more than a few times a year, you may want to consider All Season tires. I saw that they're not available at shops where you live, but I suspect they can be shipped to you. Yes the summer tires will likely have marginally more grip at the highest of ambient temperatures (over, say, 80F / 27C), but the cold/wet situation will usually favor the All Season tires. My MYLR came with Continental ProContact RX (400 A A), and I'll be switching to Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 (540 AA A) when they wear out. The former rate 8.4 on wet handling at Tire Rack, with the latter coming in at 9.1. Here in Washington State we have similar weather to where you live (a fair amount of rain).

 

[WFLG]

I think any 255mm-wide-nominal tire on stock wheels will suffer from the 'not wide enough to protect the stock rim' problem. If you move to 285/40R19, you'll gain 15mm more sidewall width on each side of the wheel and keep the stock diameter. But you'll lose some range due to about 1kg more weight per tire. To really solve that issue without increasing tire weight, a narrower (or smaller diameter) wheel would be called for. 19" x 8.5" wheels are fairly widely available, and can often have considerably less weight than stock (2-3kg per wheel). Moving to 18" diameter wheels could also help, but then fitment starts to be an issue. And of course your costs just went up by at least $1K.

Keep in mind that having good grip and having good tire efficiency are usually at odds with each other. Same with grip versus tread life. I'll also point out that I've never seen a rating for a tire's puncture resistance, other than having a 'run-flat' capability, and those tires are considerably heavier than the non-run-flat version.

If your temperatures get down below 45F / 7C more than a few times a year, you may want to consider All Season tires. I saw that they're not available at shops where you live, but I suspect they can be shipped to you. Yes the summer tires will likely have marginally more grip at the highest of ambient temperatures (over, say, 80F / 27C), but the cold/wet situation will usually favor the All Season tires. My MYLR came with Continental ProContact RX (400 A A), and I'll be switching to Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 (540 AA A) when they wear out. The former rate 8.4 on wet handling at Tire Rack, with the latter coming in at 9.1. Here in Washington State we have similar weather to where you live (a fair amount of rain).

Will 285/40R19 even fit with the stock Geminis? Having a hard time finding anyone who has confirmed it would fit without rubbing against any components.

 

[bobkart]

I can't confirm that it will fit, but Tire Rack did give me back several matches for that tire size.

OD is same as stock (28.0"), but that extra 30mm of maximum section width is a good question. That probably equates to ~10mm wider at the tread per side. Given that I hear people running up to 20mm wheel spacers, I think the outside edge of the tread is okay, leaving just the inside tread edge and sidewall 'bulge' as questions.

If your car was off the ground you could get under it and eyeball where the sidewall gets closest to the various suspension components to see if there's at least half an inch there (probably want more like a full inch to allow for the tire shifting under lateral load). Then of course run the steering lock-to-lock to look for potential interference with the inner tread edge. And keep in mind that this check would be at full suspension droop, so clearances will be slightly different at other ride heights.

 

[WFLG]

Will probably only fit the rears. From what I could tell, they would clear the front knuckle but could rub on the abs wire clip. Seems like 275/45r19 might be the max safe size without spacers.

 

[DanielBlystone]

I just put Bridgestone Turanza Quietrack 255/45 R19 104V XL on my 2012 MYLR. They are much quieter and more responsive when turning. I had Conti RX on before. 5lb heavier per tire but have not seen any loss of range. All around a good tire.

 

[fiehlsport]

Don't change your tire size on the off-chance that it will protect your wheels. Rubber is soft, running into a curb usually pushes the tire away and hits the wheel regardless. Or, drive more carefully near curbs.

How fast are you going on sharp curves that you're sliding in a summer tire on wet roads?? And metal construction garbage is going to puncture any tire, there is nothing out there that will perform any differently against punctures unless you get a truck tire. Tires are all made of metal belts and rubber.

 

[ytdj842x]

I ended up buying Continental Ultracontact NXT because pirelli was not available. No issues so far. Noise level while driving 120km/h on motorway is 70-72db on average, in worst case 74-76 depending on road surface.