Best 19 tires replacement

[SilkySmooth]

Hmm... good summary. Thanks for taking the effort to capture.

Given that Bridgestone said the tread was designed to reduce the sounds in the same frequency we talk, are you hearing any noticeable difference with your own ears? I'm wondering now if its more about frequency vs. overall decibels.

The way I look at it is if you can't even see a material difference in the frequency plots, any subjective audible difference would be a figment of the imagination.

Looking more carefully at the curves around 2kHz, it seems that one band may be about 3-4dBC lower with the Bridgestones. Was that noticeable? I can't honestly say. But I will say that with AC on or any music playing, that alone is not a valid reason to buy these tires. Hopefully in the next few weeks I can put some miles on them to get a better all around feel for them.

 

[headcase]

Ok, good explanation - that makes sense. A real disappointment if its more marketing spin vs. actual noise improvements. If that becomes the final verdict after additional testing, I'll probably stick with Low Rolling Resistance tires again for best range.

 

[smilepak]

So it teams from this thread, the top tires people used here are (not in any specific order)

1. Avid Ascend GT
2. michelin primacy mxm4
3. pirelli cinturato p7
4. michelin pilot sport as 3 plus

Of them which offer

The best energy
- Winner?

The quietest
- Winner?

The best Handling
- Winner?

After over a month and about 2k miles, comparing this Michelin Primacy MXM 4 I just put in vs the Pirelli I had previously, I say stick with Pirelli.

The handling between the two, I don't notice much differences. The noise reduction, Pirelli wins. Energy rating, Pirelli wins. I'm averaging about 8-10% more wh/m usage more on these Michelin for the same work route I usually do every day (80+ miles round trip).

I'm going back to Pirelli as my next tires.

 

[headcase]

After over a month and about 2k miles, comparing this Michelin Primacy MXM 4 I just put in vs the Pirelli I had previously, I say stick with Pirelli.

The handling between the two, I don't notice much differences. The noise reduction, Pirelli wins. Energy rating, Pirelli wins. I'm averaging about 8-10% more wh/m usage more on these Michelin for the same work route I usually do every day (80+ miles round trip).

I'm going back to Pirelli as my next tires.

Yeah, I’m likely still staying with the Pirelli P7 for my next set unless something better comes along in terms of having both LRR and noise reduction.

 

[eyedrop]

A microphone doesnt hear the same as we do. Not just the physical differences, but also the perception of sound comes into play. Of course new tires will sound much quieter vs worn ones. But even then, there could be a real world difference...

And why are ya'll running all-season tires in the middle of summer? Model S deserves better if your the type of driver that utilizes the performance.

My personal go to: Falken Azenis FK453 in 245/45/19. Cheap, high performance, very quiet, 12k miles and counting, still have around 5/32... Sidewalls got tested on a curb, lots of potholes, road trip, even light wintery conditions. These tires ate it up... The standard 19s and some summer tires are the way to roll. If you need something for the winter, swap in a cheap set of craigslist new takeoffs with all seasons. Ive seen the standard 19 wheels with meaty stock tires go for under $500.

The old Goodyear touring tires I had before were a joke in comparison, in every way.

 

[headcase]

Like so many others, I use all-seasons because I don't have a P car, and I don't need or want to change out summer tires for winters.

 

[Silicon Desert]

It would be great if the next time someone gets a new Tesla, they could take decibel readings (any iPhone app for the purpose will do) with the new OEMs over a certain stretch of highway, and then 2x,000 miles later, take another set of readings, and then do the same with the replacement tires both at inception and after the same 2x,000 miles or at the same tread depth anyway.

Any new tire will sound quieter than a worn tire.

Funny you should mention that. It is something I have done for almost 25 years with a decibel meter that I once used for helping set sound systems at rock concerts. I still have it and still works fine. I used to place the pickup below the seat in attempt to reduce some wind noise and hopefully get mostly road noise at various frequencies.

This is probably not very helpful information, but I used to check sound after 5,000 miles and hardly noticed any difference, so then I started checking at 10K intervals and noticed only incremental differences until the tires got down to the last few 32nds of tread, then I noticed much more noise at several frequencies. Of course it varied a lot depending on what car I had at the time and what brand/style of tires were on it. Furthermore, I never bothered to test sound at low speeds, just at 55 and 75 mph. So my little one mouse experiment was crude. The biggest variable that made most of these measurements practically worthless is the condition of the roads in various locations. Even when I would record the location where I took measurements, the highway department would come along a couple years later and re-pave it.

The only comparison I have for the Tesla is that I recorded my Centennials on the MX when new (on a specific stretch of I80), and at 10K and 20K and 30K, then replaced the tires with Pirelli. My new Pirellis (with no foam) were only slightly louder at 55 and 75 than the original Continentals. Not enough to be any nuisance to us. I haven't put 10K on them yet to take another measurement. By then Nevada DOT will probably repave the road anyway. As a side note, I agree that probably few if any tires will reach their rated life on these heavy Teslas.

 

[UrsS]

Everybody here blames the weight of the car in the tire's longevity.
I used to drive a Lexus LX450 - 1000lb heavier than the Tesla S but I had no trouble getting 50 - 60,000 miles on a set of tires. I got 20,000 miles on a set of Goodyears on the Tesla. The weight can't be the reason - so why do Tesla's wear out tires so fast?
I'm suspicious that it has a lot to do with the wheel alignment - the factory specs to make the car feel tight and responsive.

 

[Watts_Up]

Everybody here blames the weight of the car in the tire's longevity.
I used to drive a Lexus LX450 - 1000lb heavier than the Tesla S but I had no trouble getting 50 - 60,000 miles on a set of tires. I got 20,000 miles on a set of Goodyears on the Tesla. The weight can't be the reason - so why do Tesla's wear out tires so fast?
I'm suspicious that it has a lot to do with the wheel alignment - the factory specs to make the car feel tight and responsive.

I recently checked the alignment to have a reference to compare with in the future, and all the toe angles where out of the nominal range.
I had only 600 miles at that time. A wider toe angle can can help in cornering at higher speed, but also creates more rubbing noise and worn out.

 

[wdolson]

Everybody here blames the weight of the car in the tire's longevity.
I used to drive a Lexus LX450 - 1000lb heavier than the Tesla S but I had no trouble getting 50 - 60,000 miles on a set of tires. I got 20,000 miles on a set of Goodyears on the Tesla. The weight can't be the reason - so why do Tesla's wear out tires so fast?
I'm suspicious that it has a lot to do with the wheel alignment - the factory specs to make the car feel tight and responsive.

IMO it's regen braking. those who drive a lot of highway miles tend to get longer tire life out of Tesla tires than those who drive a lot around town or do a lot of stop and go driving at rush hour.

 

[Barry]

MO it's regen braking

Agree

 

[Gremlin]

I don't buy a lot of things without reading Consumer Reports. Live in the DC metro area and due to global warming it's raining more frequently. Last summer was the wettest on record. I chose the Michelin Premier A/S for late fall / winter driving based upon rolling resistance, wet traction braking and in top three CR rating. Rarely snows in DC, so wasn't concerned with average snow traction.

When I had the Premier installed they do not corner as well than the OEM but I noticed the wheel /wheel energy dropped over OEM.
I then had the Pilot Sports installed last week. My wife said "Going to kill us in these tires". Picks up everything holds like glue corners like a Cheetah. Wish I lived in CA keep them on all the time! The Premiers I have on some dolly cart from Amazon.

 

[dipper]

Did not see any comments regarding efficiency with the QuietTrack. How much more energy does this tire use compare to OEM.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

I put a set of QuietTracks on the car today. I was considering the Michelins, Pirellis, Yokos and Contis and finally settled on the Bridgestones. My initial impression is very positive, they ride very smooth and they are by far the quietest tires I have ever had on any car. This is my fourth set of tires on this car and this includes 21" Contis, 21" Super Sports, 19" MXM's and now the QT's. I have a running total for energy usage, so I'll do some comparisons to see where the car settles for consumption with the new tires. I'm also departing on a 4,000 mile road trip, so I'l have some great data collection in the next couple of weeks. Based on the ride and noise, I'm looking forward to these tires.

It will also be very interesting to see how far they go before they need replacement, so far the longest I have got out of a set of tires was 22,000 on the Super Sports which was only cut short by uneven tread wear caused by an alignment problem that I didn't catch in time. Oops.

I purchased the QuietTracks at Wheel Works in Walnut Creek, Ca and they did a great job on the installation. They are very familiar with Teslas and know the routine with jack mode, torque and tire pressure specifications. They have done several rotations and tire repairs without selling me a single tire until now. Highly recommended.

 

[headcase]

I put a set of QuietTracks on the car today. I was considering the Michelins, Pirellis, Yokos and Contis and finally settled on the Bridgestones. My initial impression is very positive, they ride very smooth and they are by far the quietest tires I have ever had on any car. This is my fourth set of tires on this car and this includes 21" Contis, 21" Super Sports, 19" MXM's and now the QT's. I have a running total for energy usage, so I'll do some comparisons to see where the car settles for consumption with the new tires. I'm also departing on a 4,000 mile road trip, so I'l have some great data collection in the next couple of weeks. Based on the ride and noise, I'm looking forward to these tires.

It will also be very interesting to see how far they go before they need replacement, so far the longest I have got out of a set of tires was 22,000 on the Super Sports which was only cut short by uneven tread wear caused by an alignment problem that I didn't catch in time. Oops.

I purchased the QuietTracks at Wheel Works in Walnut Creek, Ca and they did a great job on the installation. They are very familiar with Teslas and know the routine with jack mode, torque and tire pressure specifications. They have done several rotations and tire repairs without selling me a single tire until now. Highly recommended.

Given what Silicon Desert shared with his testing of these tires, I wonder how much of this is self fulfilling prophecy and/or low tread tires vs new tiers... as opposed to an actual measurable difference. Don't get me wrong - I want to believe you're experiencing a big difference on the QuietTracks, as I too have been considering them. But sometimes our brains can play tricks on us.

I guess until I can hear them for myself or more folks validate such, my refresh on tires will be the Pirelli P7s again.

 

[CalBlue 85D]

But sometimes our brains can play tricks on us.

LOL! Very appropriate for your forum-name.

 

[headcase]

LOL! Very appropriate for your forum-name.

I didn't even think that when I typed it. Nice!

 

[ByeOil]

The Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus is a great tire, but some people have posted here that it does have some traction issues with the Tesla (specifically on launches). In addition, it is not a low-rolling resistance tire, which can increase energy usage by 10% over the OEM tires.

I'm assuming you want an all-season tire such that you only run one set of tires all year, and as you said, it needs to have wet and light snow traction.

With those parameters, I'd look at 5 different tires.

These first 3 tires are Grand Touring category, which are tuned for smooth, comfortable ride and low noise.

1. Pirelli Citurato P7 All Season Plus - Highly rated, meets almost all of your requirements. Can lose a bit of traction on launches, is not low rolling resistance. Rated for 70K miles, but you will get less.
2. Michelin Primacy MXM4 - One of the OEM tires from Tesla. Excellent all-around tire, low rolling resistance. Not as good with snow traction. Rated for 50K miles, you will get less.
3. Good Year Eagle Touring / T0-Tesla - The newest OEM tire from Tesla. Low rolling resistance and has the noise-reduction foam inside. Probably not as good with snow traction as the Pirelli. Rated for 50K miles, tire is too new to know whether that will hold up.

Note that while these all-season tires can cope with light snow, none of them will be anywhere near a dedicated winter tire. If you are actually going to be driving in snow, you should consider a 2nd set of winter tires.


The other 2 tires are Ultra-High Performance All-Season category, which are tuned for handling and traction at the expense of a bit higher noise and not as smooth of a ride.

4. Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 - Meets or exceeds the Pirelli in performance, good snow traction for an all-season tire. Not low rolling resistance. Rated for 55K miles, you will probably get less.
5. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ - Best performing tire here, best traction and handling. Rated 50K miles and may actually do it. Not low rolling resistance.


Energy use is important to me, so my choice for an all-season would be either the Primacy or the Eagle. If energy use was no issue, I'd probably go with the Pilot Sport.

Great information. Thanks for all the research time.

 

[headcase]

Those with P cars will absolutely experience slippage on launches with pretty much any non-performance all-season tire. The rubber compound is usually much harder on those kinds of tires (especially those designed for longer wear like the Pirelli P7). That's like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Btw, the Pirelli P7 is in fact a low rolling resistance tire. That post was incorrect.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Btw, the Pirelli P7 is in fact a low rolling resistance tire. That post was incorrect.

Yes, it is. We determined that in the subsequent posts in this thread.