Winter Tires - Michelin X-Ice Xi3 vs. Nokian Hakka R2

[mknox]

Can I verify the new TPMS are working WITHOUT actually attaching the winter set to the car? Or do I have to move the factory TPMS-equipped wheels out of range of the car for the new ones to be recognized?

You have to drive on them for a bit to be recognized. I bought Rial Luganos from Tire Rack along with the Tire Rack sensors and had a local shop mount my rubber to them. Later, I removed my Tesla rims with these rims at home myself. All I had to do was hit the button on the touch screen to recognize the sensors and drive for about 10 minutes. At that point, I got a message saying they were successfully recognized.

 

[tliving]

Perhaps this is simplistic thinking but i'm not big on tires, I just want them to work and be worry free. For winter tires why not just buy the $4,000 package of tires/rims etc from Tesla? What kind of performance or cost difference are you guys looking at if you "roll your own"?

 

[William13]

@tliving, the Tesla packages are either the Pirelli which are just good for cold weather or Studded Nokians which are good for ice but not as good for snow and cold/wet weather. They are also sold at a mild premium.

 

[jerry33]

Perhaps this is simplistic thinking but i'm not big on tires, I just want them to work and be worry free. For winter tires why not just buy the $4,000 package of tires/rims etc from Tesla? What kind of performance or cost difference are you guys looking at if you "roll your own"?

The reason is that the Pirelli tires have been shown to be "Texas All-Seaons". Very poor if you have actual snow and ice. There are videos in the winter tire thread.

 

[Newscutter]

Perhaps this is simplistic thinking but i'm not big on tires, I just want them to work and be worry free. For winter tires why not just buy the $4,000 package of tires/rims etc from Tesla? What kind of performance or cost difference are you guys looking at if you "roll your own"?

TST turbine-look wheels $1500
TPMS $400
Nokian Tires (varies) $1000
---------------------------
$2900 AND look awesome.

No Aeros for me thanks.

 

[matbl]

@tliving, the Tesla packages are either the Pirelli which are just good for cold weather or Studded Nokians which are good for ice but not as good for snow and cold/wet weather. They are also sold at a mild premium.

In sweden and norway, tesla offers a complete package with non-studded nokians as well. I think it's R2's in fact. Mounted on the standard 19" rim.
But for what would translate to about a $1000 premium...

 

[AMN]

Nokians are designed for heavy duty winter driving... for areas of Scandinavia where winter roads are covered by packed snow. It's arguably the best tire brand if you live in Lapland or rural Finland where there are many small towns and villages that don't see plowed pavement for 3-4 months a year. If you live in an urban area where roads are plowed and covered in salt, you should look at characteristics of the winter tire that will complement the car you are outfitting. For 95% of drivers, all big name snow tires will perform equally fine.
I found Ice Xi3 Michelins to be a perfect match for this car. I drove 2 other Teslas (one with Continentals and one with Nokians) and they all felt about the same in the snow. Nokians possibly a bit softer.
We drove our Model S through MN winter on 19" Xi3 tires. It was impressive. So impressive that we sold our winter SUV that was supposed to be for those extra snowy days. AWD Model S or X will be the last car anybody will ever want.

 

[Panacea]

Ok peeps. Looking to harness your collective wisdom. I live in NJ and have a P85 with 21" summer Contis. Wanna buy myself a set of winter tires and was planning to buy a used set of 19 OEM rims that have been powder coated. Would like the get 245/45/19 Michelin x-ice Xi3, based on the discussion here, but I cant seem to find anyplace that sells them. Suggestions? Tried tirerack and discount tire. Also, when should I switch? When the temp drops below 40 or when there is snow on the ground? In case you havent already surmised this on your own, I am clueless when it comes to tires. Many thanks!

 

[jerry33]

Ok peeps. Looking to harness your collective wisdom. I live in NJ and have a P85 with 21" summer Contis. Wanna buy myself a set of winter tires and was planning to buy a used set of 19 OEM rims that have been powder coated. Would like the get 245/45/19 Michelin x-ice Xi3, based on the discussion here, but I cant seem to find anyplace that sells them. Suggestions? Tried tirerack and discount tire. Also, when should I switch? When the temp drops below 40 or when there is snow on the ground? In case you havent already surmised this on your own, I am clueless when it comes to tires. Many thanks!

Tirerack.com has them, but you have to go to the side and select Winter Tires--otherwise they won't show.
Sams club also has them.
There are a number of other places as well. Put this in your browser: 245/45R19 X-ice Xi3

 

[santana338]

Ok peeps. Looking to harness your collective wisdom. I live in NJ and have a P85 with 21" summer Contis. Wanna buy myself a set of winter tires and was planning to buy a used set of 19 OEM rims that have been powder coated. Would like the get 245/45/19 Michelin x-ice Xi3, based on the discussion here, but I cant seem to find anyplace that sells them. Suggestions? Tried tirerack and discount tire. Also, when should I switch? When the temp drops below 40 or when there is snow on the ground? In case you havent already surmised this on your own, I am clueless when it comes to tires. Many thanks!

My local tire shop said Michelin typically makes the performance tire size winter tires at the end of their production run. They said they didn't know when they would be available or what the price would be. They guessed another month to find out. So I went with the Hakka R2s. I plan to get them this week and put them on myself around the beginning of November or the first big snow, whichever happens first.

 

[jerry33]

My local tire shop said Michelin typically makes the performance tire size winter tires at the end of their production run. They said they didn't know when they would be available or what the price would be.

That's mostly bogus. Winter tires are sold to the tire stores in spring and maybe as late as early summer for delivery in the fall. Prices are fixed (a discount is usually offered for pre-booking winter tires--including performance tires). Any Michelin dealer will know exactly what the prices are. They may not know the exact delivery date for any particular size, and yes, the more popular sizes will be made first.

 

[Newscutter]

Picked up my newly mounted Nokians today. Look like pretty aggressive tread-- I don't want to wish my Summer away but am very interested to see how they perform.

Mounted on TSportline TSTs (which I'm also eager to see on the Tesla). Wife had the car today so I just put them alongside my Subaru... and they look pretty good there too!

Will try to remember to update this thread once the snow falls. As a reminder-- $231/each including mount/balance. Bought TPMS from Tirerack. EDIT: Tires are from local retailer, Flynn's Tire, in Pittsburgh area-- AFAIK I got the last set in that size for my area as the website no longer displays them. (Sorry JakeP!)

 

[taraquin]

One thing is is for sure: R2`s are really bad-ass-looking

I have driven about 2000 miles and the rolling resistance, snow\ice-handling and noiselevel is really good. The dry\wet-handling is below average. It feels really soft in curves and TC often kicks in when going pedal to the metal even at dry roads. When going pedal to the metal on really wet roads the car slides from side to side, with the stock Goodyears the TC kicks in sometimes in comparision. I would actually say that for most of us the Xi3 is a better choice except for braking distance on ice and slightly higher rolling resistance.

 

[mknox]

The dry\wet-handling is below average. It feels really soft in curves and TC often kicks in when going pedal to the metal even at dry roads. When going pedal to the metal on really wet roads the car slides from side to side, with the stock Goodyears the TC kicks in sometimes in comparision.

That was certainly not my experience last winter. Even under aggressive acceleration, I had absolutely no TC action or side to side action with my R2s on dry or wet roads.

 

[William13]

I only have the Hakka R2 for the back wheels as my fronts are still the R. I think Taraquin may be noticing the effect at the first 500 or so miles break in for the tires. He ought to rotate them BTW. Most tires are not as gripping for the first few hundred miles. Maybe this is the case for his R2.

He may nonetheless be correct that the Hakka R2 is for true Nordic weather. My concern and reason to get them over the Xice3 is that I am not testing the limits of my car during winter driving. I am trying to make sure no one hits my car and I don't hit anything or get stuck in the snow. The best snow and ice traction is my goal, not the best dry or wet pavement traction. I know that wet pavement is more frequent than ice but the ice is much more likely to see accidents. Last year the only time I was stuck was in my own driveway. I felt the fool until I raised the suspension.

 

[tliving]

TST turbine-look wheels $1500
TPMS $400
Nokian Tires (varies) $1000
---------------------------
$2900 AND look awesome.

No Aeros for me thanks.

This is great info. So for us noobs, where/how do you get the various bits (wheels, tires, TPMS) and how do you get them "assembled" and where/how do you store them? Never had to deal with a second set of tires before (alas the Model X).

 

[Newscutter]

REALLY curious what they'll look like on the Tesla... so I rolled one in front as a preview.

Anyway, TST wheels from https://tsportline.com/
TPMS from www.TireRack.com
Nokian Tires from (LOCAL STORE) http://www.flynnstire.com/

I simply brought the wheels and TPMS to Flynn's when my tires arrived (from another location nearby). They mounted it all up nice-- no charge, because that was included with tire purchase. They would have programmed the TPMS and swapped them on the car too but it's too early for that.

Storage will be in my (dry) basement. I'll be stacking them with cardboard between them, laid flat.

 

[mknox]

This is great info. So for us noobs, where/how do you get the various bits (wheels, tires, TPMS) and how do you get them "assembled" and where/how do you store them? Never had to deal with a second set of tires before (alas the Model X).

I ordered my rims and TPMS from Tire Rack, and they came with the TPMS sensors attached. I took the rims and the summer tires (previously removed from the Tesla rims when I had my winters installed) to a local tire shop who mounted and balanced them for me. I have a floor jack, breaker bar, torque wrench etc. so I do the seasonal swap over myself. I store the tires outside on a covered patio on a rack.

 

[donv]

I just ordered a set of the Michelin X-Ice-Xi3s from Tire Rack, along with the Lugano wheels. They're saying they are out of stock on the tires right now, but will deliver by October 31. That works for me.

 

[santana338]

I picked up my R2s this week. I store them on a wall mounted rack from tirerack.com. Boy they are heavy though. I put the racks up above my garage door. I also have a rack for my PAX Honda tires/non-PAX snow tires. When I put the Honda PAX tires up I thought they were a handful because of the heavy PAX gel. But these wheels/R2s were still tough to lift. I may have to come up with another storage solution when I get to frail to heft these things around...