Hello! I'd like to keep my 18-inch stock Tesla wheels and purchase a new set of tires to help with ride comfort. What type of tire would be better (less jarring) on bumpy city roads compared to the stock Michelin tire on 18-inch wheels? I'm willing to buy tires that don't last as long and need to replaced sooner, and I'm willing to give up a LITTLE bit of handling in exchange for ride comfort on bumpy roads. I already deflated my stock Michelin tires to 39psi to match Elon's suggestion to improve ride comfort, I don't mind the range loss. I can re-inflate for long highway trips. I'm in Southern California, let's assume the roads will be dry year round with temperature between 40 and 95 degrees. Any help is appreciated!
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Best aftermarket tires for ride comfort on bumpy city roads
- Thread starter Sunshine Speed
- Start date
jdcollins5
Member
You do not say what Michelin’s you have now. The manual shows the Michelin Pilot Sport and the Primacy MXV4 as options. The Pilot are listed on the Michelin site as Excellent Handling but a 30,000 mile warranty. The Primacy are listed for Comfort and Safety and 50,0000 mile warranty.
Snow Drift
[Off-Road Assist] Activated
It's the suspension, not really the tires. Especially since the PSI is high stock, and the tires aren't aggressive. My cars don't feel much more comfortable when I put on snow tires, which are a different size/stye than stock.
I can't imagine the ride is that rough, but maybe you are used to softer suspension cars (or air suspension). If it's really THAT bad, you should consider new springs that have better travel.
Read up on these springs...
RWD springs: Tesla Model 3 Sport Lowering Springs - Single Motor (2WD/RWD)
AWD springs: Tesla Model 3 Sport Lowering Springs Pre Order - Dual Motor (AWD)
I can't imagine the ride is that rough, but maybe you are used to softer suspension cars (or air suspension). If it's really THAT bad, you should consider new springs that have better travel.
Read up on these springs...
RWD springs: Tesla Model 3 Sport Lowering Springs - Single Motor (2WD/RWD)
AWD springs: Tesla Model 3 Sport Lowering Springs Pre Order - Dual Motor (AWD)
IIf your car's RWD I've read great things about these:
MPP Model 3 Comfort Coilovers RWD
If AWD you'll have to wait but they're coming:
MPP Model 3 Comfort Coilovers AWD/Performance PRE-ORDER
MPP Model 3 Comfort Coilovers RWD
If AWD you'll have to wait but they're coming:
MPP Model 3 Comfort Coilovers AWD/Performance PRE-ORDER
Thanks for the replies so far, I have the Michelin Primacy MXM4 TO tires from the factory on 18-inch wheels. Ride has gotten somewhat better now that I have 200 miles on the car, maybe the suspension is softening, and dropping the tire pressure to 39/40 PSI has helped. The ride is smooth on most roads but bumpy/noisy/jarring on several roads. It's probably normal for a sports car but I'm coming from a Lexus GS430 which had a fast V8 and smooth/quiet ride on the same roads, although much worse handling compared to Model 3. I'm starting to wish I had waited for dual motor with air suspension, but since I plan to own the car for 10 years I thought the maintenance would be expensive on that, and I wanted to lock in the tax credit so I bought now.
I could be interested in the springs or coilovers you posted, that's really helpful, thanks! But there would need to be several reviews that *clearly* resulted in better ride comfort that is noticeable. So far I didn't see that.
Currently I love everything about the Model 3 except the rough ride on city roads in Los Angeles. I'm hoping to find an aftermarket tire that will improve the ride quality and lower noise too. On other cars I've owned, changing tires got rid of a whole lot of noise.
I could be interested in the springs or coilovers you posted, that's really helpful, thanks! But there would need to be several reviews that *clearly* resulted in better ride comfort that is noticeable. So far I didn't see that.
Currently I love everything about the Model 3 except the rough ride on city roads in Los Angeles. I'm hoping to find an aftermarket tire that will improve the ride quality and lower noise too. On other cars I've owned, changing tires got rid of a whole lot of noise.
spesler
Member
Maybe aftermarket 17” wheels? More sidewall will give you a softer ride.
My experience with 18 inch wheels, comfort improved little when I lowered the tire pressure and also little bit less noise. But overall tire noise is still problematic on less than perfect surfaces.
Different tires probably help it reducing little bit of sound and smoothen the ride little bit, but does not address suspension issues. As some folks mentioned above, replacement suspension helps with smooth ride, better tires will help reduce some noise and to suppleness of ride.
Had highly rated Continental Pure Contact on couple of my previous cars, and those did help in ride and noise compared to Michelin MXM4. But it seems Tesla version of Michelin Tire is different and has a foam inside. So don't know if there would be considerable difference or not.
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17 inchers may not clear rear caliper. Atleast that is the case with spare I tried.
I got my 3 last April and have always felt the ride was a bit rough. I lowered my tire pressure to 39 but still thought it a bit rough. It isn't so rough that it is uncomfortable or that it makes me dislike the car, but I never felt like I could describe it as a comfortable ride to others.
Yesterday my friend brought his 3 over to my house. He got his about a month after I got mine. We went for a ride in his car and I immediately realized his car rides smoother than mine. We then jumped in my car and after drivingon the exact same route he agreed that it was a very noticeable difference. His tires, by the way, were inflated to 42.
Not sure what is going on, but I'm going to talk to Tesla service about it. I recall that the very early deliveries had stiffer shocks or springs and that Tesla gradually went with different shocks or springs. I always believed that my car would have been one of the "softer" riding ones but it sure isn't.
My experience sounds the same as yours. I'm unhappy about the Model 3 suspension in my car, VIN is 53xxx built in July, stock aero wheels. My suspension is kinda bumpy and not as good as other RWD Model3 that I rented (that one had 19 inch wheels). My new pilot sport 4S tires are larger size 245/45 and bigger sidewall but it's not really more comfortable on bumps. It's not terrible and my friends don't notice it much because their cars don't have good suspension either, but I'm coming from a super smooth Lexus GS so I'm bothered by my Model 3 suspension. My strategy is:
1) Always ride with front tires at 40 PSI and rear at 41 PSI
2) I got new larger pilot sport 4s tires with bigger sidewall installed recently.
3) After driving 500 miles on the new bigger tires I will make a Tesla Service Center appointment.
4) Hopefully they can modify or adjust the dampers or springs to improve suspension comfort.
5) If I'm still unhappy after Tesla service center, then I move to aftermarket suspension to improve comfort, which might involve lowering a bit so springs have more travel. Problem is that I won't buy any aftermarket suspension unless I drive it first on another Model 3 that has it installed already. That's probably not possible so I could be stuck.
Related to my original post in this thread, the new tires were installed at Costco and fit properly, but I've only driven 150 miles since then. After I hit 500 miles I'll take a drive out to twisty mountain roads and start accelerating hard out of turns to check how sticky these Pilot Sport 4S are.
Summary: I always look forward to driving the Model 3 due to the comfortable seats, great screen, amazing sound system, speed, handling, and autopilot. But I'm annoyed on bumpy roads (I live in the city) and I stop short of recommending this car to others because of the bumpy ride on many roads. When I'm in suburbs or cities with nice roads (like Phoenix) I don't have the problem and the car is perfect.
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