I just bought my first Tesla Model 3 and was thinking ahead to the winter. I live in the northeast (MA +CT) so there can be bad winters with snow and ice. I would like to get better tires but not sure the best route to go. I could get just winter tires and switch them out for the winter months and use the stock tires it comes with for the other 3 seasons. Or I was looking with the all weather tires (Michelin CrossClimate+) and have those on always. I like the second option but feel like it might be a waste since I already have the tires the Tesla comes with so why not get better winter tires? Any advice would be appreciated!
It's a difficult decision, but only you know your specific Winter conditions and driving requirements, your skill level in snow/ice, etc.
I live in Maine, on a dirt road, that gets plowed, but not always by the time I leave in the mornings. I drove on the OEM tires the first winter to get a baseline of the Model 3's capabilities in snow with the OEM tires. Since then, I had to replace two fronts because the inside shoulders were worn, too much toe angle. Because of that, I went ahead and replaced all four with the Vredestein Quatrac 5, similar to the CrossClimate+ in that it has the 3PeakMountainSnowflake mark, that I'll run year-round.
The OEM tires were acceptable in Winter. I have lots of winter driving experience so a little sliding is enjoyable, but I felt there were better tires I could run if I wanted to run year-round, like the Continental DWS tires. However, when I needed a pair of tires, I learned there's a new category, 3PMSF, that are snow-rated, ie they pass a snow tire test not like the M+S tires that don't pass anything. I thought the Michelin CC+ and Vredestein Q5 looked the most promising, but since I had a set of tires with a tread pattern similar to the CC+ in the past that were noisy, I decided to try the Vredestein.
For my purposes, the Vredestein are great. Not as good in the snow as a pure snow tire, but pretty close. I had no issues whatsoever last winter driving thru all types of conditions. Complete confidence. As a summer tire, they are no louder than the OEM tires, and very close to the same efficiency. ABRP calibrated my efficiency at 65mph at 235Wh/mile, which I think is very good for LR-AWD models. As far as driving, they are definitely not sport tires. A little soft in the twisties, but what do you expect? Can't have everything with a year-round tire. There are trade-offs, but I think the Q5 were a good compromise for me. If I ever see a nice pair of wheels, I might switch to a dedicated set of snows and summers, but I haven't seen anything I really like. Can't really say much about durability, since I've only had them since November and with Covid, haven't been driving nearly as much. I did get a nail in a treadblock that caused a slow leak that I plugged. No issues since.
While I like the Q5, I would probably try the CC+ next, since alot of people like those, just to see if they're a little tighter in cornering. Of course, there may be other tire choices by then.