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Another Tire help thread

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I've owned a lot of fast cars in the past so I know how important good tires are.

I have the 2020 base model 3 which is the rear wheel drive. I absolutely ripped my back tires up the first couple months lol. currently at 12,500 miles. at about 6K i did a rotation where mobile service came out for $50. it was great and i was very pleased. now all 4 tires tread is looking like I am close to needing a complete tire swap within 1000 miles. I live in a wet climate so don't want to wait too long. so i plan on buying 4 new tires. I currently have the Michelin 235 45 r18 98W extra load that came with it. the same ones will cost me about $300 each online.

I've done a lot of research and it seems like run flat tires are a bad idea with these cars since it takes away from the performance and they weigh more.

also I plan on keeping this car no more than 22 more months before giving it back in a lease return

my questions are:

1. which tires should i get ? a set of the same ones cost $1200 which i don't mind paying. but i don't want to be a fool and buy those if there are better tires for less. the Michelin pilot sports are $950. would those be the same/better/worse? or should i be looking at another brand entirely?
2. there is a decent auto mechanic i have used in the past on prior non Tesla's to change tires. they say they have a lift there, i don't need to worry about them screwing it up right? because apparently tesla requires you to go in a service place to swap tires, no more mobile service unless you are just doing a rotation :(

thanks first time poster and first time swapping tires on a tesla amongst my friends so I am the guinea pig who wants to do it right with your help!
 
I've owned a lot of fast cars in the past so I know how important good tires are.

I have the 2020 base model 3 which is the rear wheel drive. I absolutely ripped my back tires up the first couple months lol. currently at 12,500 miles. at about 6K i did a rotation where mobile service came out for $50. it was great and i was very pleased. now all 4 tires tread is looking like I am close to needing a complete tire swap within 1000 miles. I live in a wet climate so don't want to wait too long. so i plan on buying 4 new tires. I currently have the Michelin 235 45 r18 98W extra load that came with it. the same ones will cost me about $300 each online.

I've done a lot of research and it seems like run flat tires are a bad idea with these cars since it takes away from the performance and they weigh more.

also I plan on keeping this car no more than 22 more months before giving it back in a lease return

my questions are:

1. which tires should i get ? a set of the same ones cost $1200 which i don't mind paying. but i don't want to be a fool and buy those if there are better tires for less. the Michelin pilot sports are $950. would those be the same/better/worse? or should i be looking at another brand entirely?
2. there is a decent auto mechanic i have used in the past on prior non Tesla's to change tires. they say they have a lift there, i don't need to worry about them screwing it up right? because apparently tesla requires you to go in a service place to swap tires, no more mobile service unless you are just doing a rotation :(

thanks first time poster and first time swapping tires on a tesla amongst my friends so I am the guinea pig who wants to do it right with your help!
What things are most important to you for the new tires? Cost, traction, wet grip, all season performance, rim protection, weight, noise, efficiency, or something else?

I use the 235/45/18 Michelin PS4S tires and they are great for performance and weight. However, there are some non EV Pirelli PZ4 tires on Tire Rack that should be even lighter and less expensive than the PS4S tires I have. Should be about the same performance too.

You could even go down to a 225/45/18 if you wanted to do a non standard size with the PZ4 tires. However, the 235/45/18 Pirellis would probably be a good choice if the PS4S tires are too expensive.

Don’t get the 18” EV specific Michelin PS4 tires unless you REALLY want the noise dampening or other EV specific features. They are heavier and cost more. Personally I don’t think they are worth the price difference.
 
thanks for your response.

I live in a wet climate in FL
no snow to worry about ever
performance is important, i like to hit the acceleration hard
all of the other stuff you mentioned is important, i am looking for a good quality tire overall. def not going the cheap route cause i want these to last as long as possible and want to enjoy the car.
 
thanks for your response.

I live in a wet climate in FL
no snow to worry about ever
performance is important, i like to hit the acceleration hard
all of the other stuff you mentioned is important, i am looking for a good quality tire overall. def not going the cheap route cause i want these to last as long as possible and want to enjoy the car.
“Last long” and “performance” don’t go together. You really have to pick one or the other.

However, if you are only doing 15,000 miles or less with the car then even the performance summer tires might get you that far if you aren’t too hard on them.
 
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“Last long” and “performance” don’t go together. You really have to pick one or the other.

However, if you are only doing 15,000 miles or less with the car then even the performance summer tires might get you that far if you aren’t too hard on them.
the ones i have on there now that came with the car. those michelin's... are those more performance or last long? i'm assuming they are performance right which is why they are already finished at 13K miles
 
While the Michelin PS4S tires are known as the current Gold Standard in that class of tire the latest Pirelli PZ4 tires have tested very well too. Both of those tires are excellent summer tire choices. The Pirelli PZ4 tires are almost always less expensive.
 
the ones i have on there now that came with the car. those michelin's... are those more performance or last long? i'm assuming they are performance right which is why they are already finished at 13K miles
There are several Michelin tires that can come on the Tesla Model 3. However, I believe the 18” tires that come on the Model 3 are the all seasons. I am not fond of those tires especially for Performance.

If you somehow have the PS4S tires then those are great. Show us a picture of what tire you currently have.
 
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okay here are the ones i have now that came with it

235/45 r18 98w extra load michelin primacy mxm4. pics included
 

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@@heist80 Those MXM4 you have now are very...non-performing. They're focused on efficiency #1, quiet noise #2. They have decent tread life (your driving habits aside ;)) but not amazing given how poor their performance is - there are other non-performance tires that can last significantly longer in gentle driving (at the cost of efficiency).

If you want your next set of tires to be the ones you return your lease on, first check if you have a minimum tread depth requirement for lease return! Then estimate how many miles you're going to put on the car before then. That might force you to buy a longer-last, lower-performing tire. Or to budget for another set of tires before lease return. (Which depending on timing could maybe either be the absolute cheapest, crappiest new tires you can find, or even a used set of tires that still has decent tread left.)

In terms of your driving and weather I agree the Michelin PS4S would be a great choice. In that same category I'm also very happy with my Bridgestone Potenza Sport in 245/45R18 on my Model 3. Really fantastic wet and dry. However neither of those tires or anything else in that category will last super long!

I'm also going to suggest NOT getting the Pirelli PZ4. That's what my M3P came with, and they were inferior to these Potenza Sports in most ways. The PZ4 had worse wet grip, worse dry grip, and they got almost obnoxiously squealy in hard driving. Yes I've read the Tire Rack comparison test where they ranked the PZ4 highly, but that doesn't match my experience with them at all. In other comparison tests I've seen the PZ4 rank much lower, usually with the PS4S and Potenza Sport vying for the top, and that much better matches my experience.

I should note I've not used the PS4S myself yet, but the old PS2 were excellent for their class back in their day, and friends who I trust have vouched for the PS4S. So I don't doubt they are very good. In terms of comparing PS4S vs Potenza Sport, based on my experiences and some anecdotes I've read here, I expect the main difference one would feel is stiffer sidewalls on the Potenza Sport / softer sidewalls on the PS4S, especially in sizing with decent sidewall height like 245/45R18 (what I'm using on my 18x8.5" wheels) or 235/45R18. Stiffer or softer sidewalls is really a matter of preference - do you want to err towards the sharpest possible handling, or a slightly smoother ride? (Note PS4S sidewalls won't be so soft as to worsen grip or anything like that. Just Michelin tends to err towards a smoother ride in the summer street tires.)


Edit: I swapped out my PZ4 and stock wheels at 1k miles. So my PZ4 were still very fresh for my comparison with the Potenza Sport, not at all worn out, yet I did get to put the PZ4 through their paces with lots of twisty road miles and a couple late night excursions for pushing their limits on empty highway ramps.

The only worse aspect of the Potenza Sport is they are slightly louder on the highway than the foam lined Tesla-spec PZ4. Not too loud at all, they're just fine for the category and I've had much louder performance tires, but the Tesla-spec foam lined PZ4 were especially quiet for a performance tire. However the PZ4 won't come with the foam liner in 18" sizing! I don't know how important that liner really was for their quietness. My guess is the liner makes some difference, but also the PZ4 are generally quiet for a performance tire, even without the foam. That's just my guess. But on the flip side, the PZ4 are too loud when driving hard (squealing), whereas the Potenza Sport are nicely quiet in such driving. So again, pick your priorities...
 
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thank you all for the help. seems like the biggest pain in the butt with tesla's when new are the tire situation. i'm likely gonna have to get another set before i return my lease since they require atleast 4/32 tread. anyone know if you can just put on cheap tires BEFORE i have to give the car back if my tread is too low? i know with BMW they required certain brand but i could just throw on used ones with enough tread before i handed it in and they were good.
 
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