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Review: Hankook iON evo AS vs Pirelli AS+ Elect vs Michelin PS 4S vs Michelin PS AS 4

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I tested all these tires back to back on either a Tesla Model 3 or Y. I have both a Model 3 and a Model Y (wife’s).

My goal was to have a great handling tire (makes me happy) that can handle the occasional snow, is quiet, and has good range.

For context, I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on both the 3 and Y. This is by far the best handling tire, really amazing, our benchmark for handling, and is just a joy to drive. I’m in Colorado though and for nov/dec/apr, we can see temps below 40, which is a no-no for driving the PS4S, so I wanted something more cold tolerant during the shoulder seasons. We have winter wheels (Pirelli Sottozero 3, which we love) for ski season.

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4:
I drove this on a Performance Model Y (Tesla test drive). Handling is very good, and I hear it’s also very good in the snow. Negatives is that it’s loud and it’s not great for range, the former being more important to me.

Pirelli All Season Plus Elect:
We bought these for our Model Y. Handling is good if not great. And it’s quiet and comfortable, and of course it’s tuned for EVs and has good range. We really really like these tires. I would give the edge to the PS AS 4 for handling, but it is slight and totally not enough to justify the range hit or how loud they are.

Hankook iON evo AS ih01:
I just bought these for my 3. It was a gamble because I couldn’t find any reviews on them. They are brand new to the market. Overall, I definitively do not like them. The handling is terrible for a car like the model 3 w/ AB. It feels super floaty and squirrelly when cornering. The noise level is not great either surprisingly. Strangely enough, it’s relatively louder at slower speeds, but does seem to be quiet on the highway. The Pirelli’s have way better handling and seem quieter all around. Aside from noise and handling, there is one thing the evos does really well. It feels like a bat out if hell when accelerating in a straight line. You can tell the engineering is optimized for that trait. I do like that a lot, and I’m sure it has great range, and I would accept the noise level too, but the handling is just too awful, I can’t accept it. That said, if you’re not a spirited driver, I think the evos are a great value. They’re just not for me.

Overall, I think the Pirelli AS PE hit all the cords I’m looking for. The Michelin PS AS 4’s are a close second and might also be better in snow, but we’re not optimizing for snow since we have winter tires. And the quiet ride and good range is also very much appreciated.

I hope this review helps others out there!

All these new EV tires are very exciting. I’m a huge Michelin fan, but they need to up their game on EV tires. For now, Pirelli is winning my business.

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Can we be clear here? If I were driving a MY, I would consider the Hankooks. Comfort and noise suppression is at a premium in this model and the Hankooks deliver on both fronts.

But that car is not a performance vehicle. I bought an M3P because it is the best handling electric sports sedan under $100K. And with my emphasis and preference on superior handling, physics let me to believe that something has to give if you also want a cush ride. And handling is not the Hankook's strong suit.

I made a conscious choice to get the best handling tire on the market, noise and comfort be damned, and when you make that choice I have just learned that there is no such thing as the "best of all worlds".

To each their own. From my experience the Hankook's handle just as well as my Michelin PS4 AS so to be clear, the gap you're alluding to with handling between the two is non existent from what I have experienced. I think you took the best of all world's comment too literal. What I had meant was that the iON's deliver in all the categories very well.

Update:

Just got back from a 500 mile road trip and drove through heavy rain/hail. The iON's performed really well, staying well planted, even through puddles of water on the hwy where it's common to hydroplane for a bit. We've driven this route numerous times in the same conditions and did not find any difference vs the PS4 AS tires. As for wet performance in the real world, it's on par with no evidence to indicate otherwise.
 
Just got back from a 500 mile road trip and drove through heavy rain/hail. The iON's performed really well, staying well planted, even through puddles of water on the hwy where it's common to hydroplane for a bit. We've driven this route numerous times in the same conditions and did not find any difference vs the PS4 AS tires. As for wet performance in the real world, it's on par with no evidence to indicate otherwise.

Wet performance was often quite opposed to high efficiency. I don't know the chemistry and physics involved but it was a continuous issue that low rolling resistance tires were poor in wet.

If the Hankook iONs are good in wet and still very high efficiency they have a real tech breakthrough.
 
Wet performance was often quite opposed to high efficiency. I don't know the chemistry and physics involved but it was a continuous issue that low rolling resistance tires were poor in wet.

If the Hankook iONs are good in wet and still very high efficiency they have a real tech breakthrough.
I drove about 150 miles in an absolute flooding downpour at 70+ mph with the Hankook iON EVO AS tires. The efficiency dropped off dramatically from the standing water and higher speed but the tires seemed to handle the standing water quite well.

I certainly would have slowed down if I still had the summer tires on that I had before in that torrential rain.

These Hankook tires come with pretty decent tread depth right from the start. I think that helps with aquaplaning?
 
This thread and others have me sold on the Hankook iON evos. Last night I looked on Amazon and they were $277.16. I only looked an Amazon as someone said they got Discount Tire to price match. DT has them for $338 each. Of course this morning they are up to $337.99 on Amazon. I have a screenshot of the old price, but I don't know if DT will match that. I've never been able to figure out the price fluctuations on Amazon, but I'm hoping they go back down. I would have thought it was a Memorial Day sale, but today is MD!

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations.
 
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I have been going back and forth between the Hankook ION EVO and the Pirelli ELECT but instead pulled the trigger on Goodyear ElectricDrive GT. Thanks to the Discount Tire sale, I was able to order them for $875 installed vs $1100+ for the Hankooks and Pirellis. Install scheduled for mid June, hoping to get more than 28k miles out of them...
 
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This thread and others have me sold on the Hankook iON evos. Last night I looked on Amazon and they were $277.16. I only looked an Amazon as someone said they got Discount Tire to price match. DT has them for $338 each. Of course this morning they are up to $337.99 on Amazon. I have a screenshot of the old price, but I don't know if DT will match that. I've never been able to figure out the price fluctuations on Amazon, but I'm hoping they go back down. I would have thought it was a Memorial Day sale, but today is MD!

Anyway, thanks for the recommendations.
Not quite 277 but you can try to PM to walmart: Robot or human?
 
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I have been going back and forth between the Hankook ION EVO and the Pirelli ELECT but instead pulled the trigger on Goodyear ElectricDrive GT. Thanks to the Discount Tire sale, I was able to order them for $875 installed vs $1100+ for the Hankooks and Pirellis. Install scheduled for mid June, hoping to get more than 28k miles out of them...
I tried the Electric Drive before switching to Hankooks. They were really bad mileage wise. And the road noise wasn't great either.
 
I tried the Electric Drive before switching to Hankooks. They were really bad mileage wise. And the road noise wasn't great either.
Unfortunate to hear. There is an upcoming Electricdrive 2, I presume an updated model, as the existing model doesn't seem so great.



There is a 235/45R18 according to the website but I haven't seen it sold anywhere.

And Kumho has its EV tuned tire now as well: Kumho Majesty 9 Solus TA91 EV

supposedly OEM with some Tesla's made in Shanghai.

But the Hankook iONs seem to be the ones with the entire product line designed from scratch for EV and that seems to be to their benefit.
 
I tried the Electric Drive before switching to Hankooks. They were really bad mileage wise. And the road noise wasn't great either.

I have been using the Electricdrive GT for the last 20,000 miles. Yes, the initial mileage was 10% worse than the worn out MXM4s. But that went away after some break-in period. Its been creeping down ever since.

Worn out MXM4 ~229 Wh/mi
New Electricdrive GT ~250 Wh/mi

Current Electricdrive GT ~ 229 Wh/mi

Long story short: My lifetime with Electricdrive GTs are now 229 Wh/mi and keeps getting lower. Wear is currently 6/32nds. Running 45-46psi cold after seeing center tread wearing less than the shoulders at 42psi cold. Whatever.

The real test, wife took the car for a day, did 61 miles and 225 Wh/mi. I was impressed since she "speeds" (62-65 in a 50, the horror!) and gives no F's about efficiency... so she drives like a normal person.

I am very happy with the tires with respect to wet handling and efficiency (after the break-in period). I do think they are more noisy here and there but nothing hateful.

When I get to 40,000 miles, I bet my cheapass with probably go with these tires again because they seem like they are on sale all the time. I would love to try the Ion EVOs.
 
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I have been using the Electricdrive GT for the last 20,000 miles. Yes, the initial mileage was 10% worse than the worn out MXM4s. But that went away after some break-in period. Its been creeping down ever since.

Worn out MXM4 ~229 Wh/mi
New Electricdrive GT ~250 Wh/mi

Current Electricdrive GT ~ 229 Wh/mi

Long story short: My lifetime with Electricdrive GTs are now 229 Wh/mi and keeps getting lower. Wear is currently 6/32nds. Running 45-46psi cold after seeing center tread wearing less than the shoulders at 42psi cold. Whatever.

The real test, wife took the car for a day, did 61 miles and 225 Wh/mi. I was impressed since she "speeds" (62-65 in a 50, the horror!) and gives no F's about efficiency... so she drives like a normal person.

I am very happy with the tires with respect to wet handling and efficiency (after the break-in period). I do think they are more noisy here and there but nothing hateful.

When I get to 40,000 miles, I bet my cheapass with probably go with these tires again because they seem like they are on sale all the time. I would love to try the Ion EVOs.
Which trim level is that with? Is this a RWD, LR, or Performance model?
 
well it's getting time to replace my tires. OEM Hankook kinergy GT 26k miles Model 3 LR. i've been reading this thread and its between Hankook iONS EVO or PS4S.. got about 3k miles left in mine. looking for quieter ride and efficiency. Leaning towards Hankooks.
ld lean heavy that way as well! I have the PS4S in 265/35/19 and they get loud once you put 17-19k miles on them.

I really wish the Ions were made in this size but alas. I would get the Ions all day long. Have them on our model S and it’s noticeably better in comfort and quietness vs any tire we’ve put on that car (conti, and Michelin).
 
We were really enjoying the Hankook Ion EVO AS on our 2016 Model S before we sold it. Yesterday I had the first tire rotation done on our Model Y at Discount Tire & I asked about the Hankooks since the OEM tires won't last long. The employee said that they are not a good tire. The SUV version that would go on the Y has no tread warranty, which is odd because the ones that went on our S did. So now I'm really unsure about what tires to get. He recommended the Michelin Crossclimate 2, which is a good all-weather tire. I'm just not sure if I'd want that versus a more efficient tire. The Michelin X-ICE Snow tires that we had on the S were very efficient for winter tires & we were very happy with them.