What knowledge do we have about best tires for range efficiency and low road noise?

[avramd]

Everyone, I apologize in advance for starting another thread that sounds so similar to numerous threads that are already out there. I've read a couple dozen threads before posting this, and haven't found a solid answer, so I'm hoping that phrasing the questions differently will make a difference:

• What have you all learned about tire options in terms of equalling or beating the efficiency and noise reduction vs OEM tires?
• Are there any resources with testing-based info about tire efficiency and/or noise level?
• If there are any non-OEM tires that equal OEM's w/rt noise & efficiency, what are their other pro's & con's?

My OEM tires were Continental ProContact RX T0's. From what I can tell, "T0" means it is the first version of the tire that was spec'd as OEM on a Tesla. Conti and Tesla appear to be up to T2 of this tire now.

Note: I run separate winter tires, so I don't care about snow or ice performance, but I do care about cold weather dry performance. Other threads make it clear that some OEM Tesla tires have poor dry grip in cold weather. Does anybody know if that varies across the three versions of my Conti OEM's? Does the T2 by chance solve that problem?

Tire Rack does not have significant input on this. They let you filter on "Eco Focus," "Noise Reduction Tech," and "EV Tuned." But none of that is quantitative, it's just yes/now whether a tire fits that category. Only four tires pass those three filters in OEM MYLR 19" Gemini size - the same Conti except in T1 and T2 versions, the Goodyear "ElectricDrive GT," and the Pirelli PZero PZ4. Of those, only the Conti's claim to be Low Rolling Resistance. I asked a rep there what he recommended, and he said "If it were me, and those were my priorities (efficiency, noise reduction), I would get the latest version of the OEM tire."

I was happy with the handling and quiet of the OEM tires that came on my '20 MYP non-PUP. It's time to replace them. If I can either save money, or get something longer lasting without sacrificing handling, quiet or range, I'd like to. If not, I can just replace them with the same exact tire, but I do subscribe to the notion that OEM tires are rarely the best replacement option for one reason or another (usually high cost when bought in low quantities like 4 instead of millions).

 

[Pianewman]

Simple answers?

1) Too many regional variables for definitive answers. Road surfaces, temp/weather deviations, elevation changes, etc.

2) Not enough accrued miles on any replacement tires yet.

I'd offer ZERO possibility of a consensus that could accurately answer your questions.

People are devoted to tire brands the way they're devoted to car brands.

 

[avramd]

1) Too many regional variables for definitive answers. Road surfaces, temp/weather deviations, elevation changes, etc.

2) Not enough accrued miles on any replacement tires yet.

I'd offer ZERO possibility of a consensus that could accurately answer your questions.

People are devoted to tire brands the way they're devoted to car brands.

Pianewman (I like your handle, btw ,

I wasn't asking for consensus, I'm totally happy consuming different experiences w/rt my questions. I just want to know what anybody feels they have learned on these topics. If there have been actual tire efficiency tests, then those are facts - they might be of limited applicability depending on how much variety the testing included w/rt conditions, but they're still facts.

As far as noise reduction goes, I've done a little more reading here in other threads about that. From what I've seen, the prevailing opinion appears to be that the "foam" trick has little to no real-world value. Beyond that, a comment type that appears common, and makes sense to me, is that the tire compound itself and tread pattern have a bigger impact than noise-reduction technology. These are so fundamental to a tire's performance that I wouldn't want to be on the leading edge of tire mfr's choosing compounds specifically targeting better LRR while potentially sacrificing handling, cornering and braking.

Of course if they are doing that without me knowing it, then too bad for me. Tire Rack did an extensive test of 5 tires, including the Pirelli P0 PZ4, and it certainly held its own against top performing non-EV tires. However it has no mileage warranty and is expensive AF. so I won't be getting those.

 

[Pianewman]

You like my handle but seem to have ignored what I posted.

I think you're going to end up with yet another multiple page thread with advice/experience that's all over the place. The evaluations you're seeking are, for the most part, subjective, especially noise. You've already learned that by the research you've done.

The closest you're going to find to answering your questions is TireRack customer evaluations, ALL of which need to be read and interpreted carefully.

"Of course if they are doing that without me knowing it, then too bad for me." (I think you were referencing manufacturers changing compounds.)

Emphasis on "of course." I have little faith that any tire manufacturer can/will repeatedly build a tire for years on end w/o changing tread compounds. That's the nature of the business.

Another "of course"? No one knows what a tire's sound level will be like after 20k miles in YOUR region, on YOUR car, except YOU!

I've driven from DFW to Frederick, MD, Sarasota, FL, Aspen/Denver,CO, Pheonix, AZ on the 19" OEM ContiPros, then Michelin PilotSport A/S 4s. There were areas of highway (I20, west of Abilene) that BOTH sets of tires couldn't handle, as the highway grooving (for truck safety?) was, literally, deafening. (having to shout to communicate with passengers!) Vast stretches through TN/VA/MD were whisper quiet. Shreveport? Highways need total rebuilding. I wouldn't OWN a Tesla if I lived in Shreveport.

THAT'S my point. The evaluations/testing you've already read are the best you're going to find. Beyond that, it's your own trial and error.

I wish it were easier, but it just isn't. Regional needs are just too varied.

 

[PhilZ]

I suggest you skip all season tires and go with summer tires since you have a winter set. Summer tires don’t have to compromise so have much better braking and wet weather performance, even in cooler temperatures. For example Michelin PS4 or Pirelli PZ4.

 

[jcanoe]

Summer (performance) tires will offer superior grip. The rubber compounds used in summer tires are softer and will wear much faster than all-season tires.

As far as I am aware none of the aftermarket tires are going to match the efficiency of the OE Continential Procontact RX. The Vredestein Quatrac Pro All Season tire comes close. The Quatrac Pro's efficiency is only slightly lower (~4% or 5% lower) than the Procontact RX while offering superior wet traction. Snow performance is of the Quatrac Pro is just OK but still much better that the OE Procontact RX.

 

[theothertom]

Don't know about road noise, but Michelin Energy savers for the (range) win. Article is for a Nissan Leaf but I suspect it's be similar on any EV.

https://evsguy.com/best-tires-for-nissan-leaf/#:~:text=The%20Michelin%20Energy%20Saver%20was%20the%20best%20tire,Nissan%20leaf%20owners%20who%20are%20looking%20for%20efficiency.

 

[jcanoe]

Don't know about road noise, but Michelin Energy savers for the (range) win. Article is for a Nissan Leaf but I suspect it's be similar on any EV.

https://evsguy.com/best-tires-for-nissan-leaf/#:~:text=The%20Michelin%20Energy%20Saver%20was%20the%20best%20tire,Nissan%20leaf%20owners%20who%20are%20looking%20for%20efficiency.

I have owned two vehicles that came equipped with the Michelin Energy Saver All Season tire.

OK dry traction
OK tire wear
OK noise
Poor wet weather traction (easy to break free and also hydroplane in the rain at ~60 MPH)
Just suicide in snow conditions.

From the article - we noticed that they do not have good wet traction.

It is a good thing that the Michelin Energy Saver All Season tire does not have a sufficient load index for the Tesla Model Y.

 

[Pianewman]

I've owned 2 sets of Michelin Energy Saver All Season tires. Terrifying in the wet, I swapped them out around 10k miles.
Agreed, I'm glad they've not made it onto a Tesla list.

 

[dualmotor]

I've heard good things about the Pirelli Elect and the Hankook Ion EV tires. Maybe you can research them further?

 

[Vicj]

I switched from the OE Goodyear to the Pirelli Select when the Goodyears wore out at 25K.
I like them. I found that both wet and dry handling is far superior with the Pirelli, though at a cost of SLIGHTLY more noise. Very slight. Sometimes I think it's my imagination. The Perelli also handle bumps far, FAR better than the Goodyear.
It's hard for me to discuss efficiency differences, as one of the most frustrating ownership issues I have with Tesla is how inconsistent those numbers always are. To me, they were noticeably less efficient immediately after getting them (to be expected with any new tire), but as they've broken in, if anything, I think my watts per mile has actually decreased slightly.
I've had them about 3K miles now, and would never switch back to the Goodyear.

 

[avramd]

You like my handle but seem to have ignored what I posted.

I think you're going to end up with yet another multiple page thread with advice/experience that's all over the place. The evaluations you're seeking are, for the most part, subjective, especially noise. You've already learned that by the research you've done.

You make many of great points, and they add meaningful perspective. I appreciate that.

However, you also seem to be trying to police posts, or train the world to act the way you want. I don't appreciate that. If you feel like a sticky post, or modification to one, is in order somewhere, advocating for community rules around this specific topic, go for it. I certainly acknowledge that it is common here for people to ask questions that have already been asked and answered, and it is mostly down-side for everyone expect the handful of people that don't feel like searching and maybe get other people to do that for them.

In my experience, the phrasing of a question can have a big impact on what it gets for results. Your opinion that my question stood little to no chance of adding value is just an opinion. I disagree. Dismantling an entire post to try to admonish the poster, and doing it publicly in hopes of intimidating other posters into behaving the way you think everyone should is not productive. It does not make this a better place, particularly when the post in question already establishes that the poster has done his homework. What exactly is your admonishment here - it's not enough to search diligently before posting? Everyone here is also expected to give up and keep silent when diligent research didn't yield the perspective the user wanted?

There are much better ways to reduce noise on a forum: For example, Don't respond to posts or threads that you feel do not add value, and use private messaging when you feel a specific user has misunderstood or missed an established community rule. This isn't a wiki.

 

[Pianewman]

Better ways than "do a search" to reduce noise on a forum? I disagree.

Since everyone ignores the search function, and adds yet another thread on a topic that has already created, literally, hundreds of threads, accessing the forum's wealth of knowledge is excessively tedious.

In fact, we're at a point where the search function is useless. Too bad.

 

[jacapuano]

For my Tesla Model 3, I purchased the Pirelli PZero All Season Plus Elect to replace the all season OEM Continentals.I've driven about 6500 miles on them, and in general, I'd say they're slightly better than the Continentals in pretty much every way. Noise is subjectively slightly reduced, ride comfort is slightly improved. Turn in is actually much better than the Continentals, traction both wet and dry are better as well .Efficiency is 238wh/mile over 9 months with the Pirellis vs 244 with the Continentals( 41,500 miles total) Very little visible wear at this point. Cost $280 per tire here in CT. Hope this helps your search a bit, I came very close to simply buying the OEM tire but then the Pirellis became available. One last thing....these Pirellis are "V" rated for speed vs the "W" rating for the Continentals, but I drive like Grandpa, so it's not a problem for me, though it could be a problem for others. Good luck !

 

[meomyo]

Pianewman (I like your handle, btw ,

I wasn't asking for consensus, I'm totally happy consuming different experiences w/rt my questions. I just want to know what anybody feels they have learned on these topics. If there have been actual tire efficiency tests, then those are facts - they might be of limited applicability depending on how much variety the testing included w/rt conditions, but they're still facts.

As far as noise reduction goes, I've done a little more reading here in other threads about that. From what I've seen, the prevailing opinion appears to be that the "foam" trick has little to no real-world value. Beyond that, a comment type that appears common, and makes sense to me, is that the tire compound itself and tread pattern have a bigger impact than noise-reduction technology. These are so fundamental to a tire's performance that I wouldn't want to be on the leading edge of tire mfr's choosing compounds specifically targeting better LRR while potentially sacrificing handling, cornering and braking.

Of course if they are doing that without me knowing it, then too bad for me. Tire Rack did an extensive test of 5 tires, including the Pirelli P0 PZ4, and it certainly held its own against top performing non-EV tires. However it has no mileage warranty and is expensive AF. so I won't be getting those.

ok have had cc2 on for 2 yrs now and tread is wearing very little and i can use all yr..in snow is great too..but not super efficient.

 

[avramd]

For my Tesla Model 3, I purchased the Pirelli PZero All Season Plus Elect to replace the all season OEM Continentals...

Thank you for this input. I looked for these, but couldn't find them. I needed something ASAP b/c I blew out a sidewall in early Dec, and had put my winter wheels on as a quick-fix, since it was time anyway. But then it was April, and the winter tires needed to come off.

I was very close go going with the Goodyear ElectricDrive GT's. Mostly b/c I'm a bit of a Goodyear fan, and since few have reviewed them, I was thinking I would. But the were $315 each, and...

I was able to get a set of Pirelli P7 AS Plus 3's for something like $230 each. On top of that, the 'relli's came with a 70k mile tread-wear guarantee vx the Goodyear's 40k. That's nearly double, so I decided f-it, I can't leave that much $$ and potential $$ on the table just to take a chance.

I can't compare road noise vs the Conti PCRX's b/c it had been 5 months since they were on, and the 'relli's are quiet enough that if there is a difference, it's one I don't care about. I can say that I was not blown away bu the 'relli's turn-in. It is fine, but I found the Conti's turn-in was what I would call impressive. The 'relli's are more like I would neither complain nor rave if I didn't have the Conti's as a reference point.

Range-wise, I can't see a difference yet. I did a couple 200 mile drives after putting them on, and the Wh/m was close enough to the Conti's that the difference between one drive and the next is bigger that the difference in the tires. I've been using teslafi.com since almost day 1, and I compared several long bi-directional drives between the different tires, considering temperature, average speed, and elevation gain. Of course I couldn't find drives that were identical, but as close as I could get, a range difference between the tires didn't stand out.

I did very seriously consider the Michelin CrossClimate 2's. I was impressed by the TireRack review and ratings, and I certainly love the idea of having a fighting chance in the shoulder season (Nov & Mar) when I'd really rather not have my snows on yet. But since I do have dedicated snows, and the tread pattern on the CC's physically looks like it would be inefficient, and the reports seem to match that, I couldn't bring myself to pull that trigger.

 

[JohnB007]

I did very seriously consider the Michelin CrossClimate 2's. I was impressed by the TireRack review and ratings, and I certainly love the idea of having a fighting chance in the shoulder season (Nov & Mar) when I'd really rather not have my snows on yet. But since I do have dedicated snows, and the tread pattern on the CC's physically looks like it would be inefficient, and the reports seem to match that, I couldn't bring myself to pull that trigger.

I did post my info on another thread, but it sort of looks like this:

I've been driving CC2 for about 25k miles now. I used my TeslaFi data to estimate my range loss when I switched to CC2 and in my case, it worked out to be about 2.7%. So I'm happy with the range loss while gaining some winter traction.

As for the traction vs a dedicated set of winter tires, I don't think it's as good as X-Ice which is what I used to use. But I hate maintaining another set of tires, plus these tires are getting too heavy for me to lift into my car, so I'm happy with the trade off.

 

[meomyo]

I did post my info on another thread, but it sort of looks like this:

I've been driving CC2 for about 25k miles now. I used my TeslaFi data to estimate my range loss when I switched to CC2 and in my case, it worked out to be about 2.7%. So I'm happy with the range loss while gaining some winter traction.

As for the traction vs a dedicated set of winter tires, I don't think it's as good as X-Ice which is what I used to use. But I hate maintaining another set of tires, plus these tires are getting too heavy for me to lift into my car, so I'm happy with the trade off.

hi..my cc2 are down to 6 -7/ 32 on all four tires after 35k over 2 yrs time. Wont get 60k but am replacing them in the fall

 

[Pianewman]

avramd: I know you find my "policing" multiple posts on the same subject annoying, but I can't help but comment on something you posted about the appearance of the Michelin CC2.

You said, "...the tread pattern on the CC's physically looks like it would be inefficient..." I totally agree, and think the tread looks noisy even when it's not spinning!

 

[JohnB007]

hi..my cc2 are down to 6 -7/ 32 on all four tires after 35k over 2 yrs time. Wont get 60k but am replacing them in the fall

That's interesting.

Are your drives more highway or city roads?
Also, do you accel/decel aggressively or gently?