Best All Season Tire?

[ashotk13]

Hey guys,

So I own a M3 LR and my current tires (MXM4) are nearing the end of their life. I had horrible experiences with these tires and am looking at switching to another All Season Tire.

I live in Toronto, Canada so we do get a fair amount of snow. I was looking at the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires but what are your recommendations.. (Price isn't a factor)

 

[Rodney!]

Best? Loaded question.... Lots of variables there. Driving style, summer and winter conditions, etc all come into play.

Imho, i have run the michelin mxv4, the conti dws06+ and michelin psas4 on my m3p.

Imho, the Michelin psas4 is the "best". The tread design is less squirrelly then the others. YMMV.

*Edit* price is not a factor? Then get winters on separate wheels.

Personally, I have 5 sets of wheels and swap wheels/tires to fit the conditions..
Having one set is going to be compromise, in both performance and safety. Again, YMMV.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Best depends on your priority of tire characteristics. For example, how important are each of the following to you?

• Tire effect on economy and range (the Michelin Primacy MXM4 T0/T1 are among the best at this).
• Dry weather handling and braking.
• Wet weather handling and braking (note: this tends to get worse as the tread wears down).
• Snow and ice capabilities (note: snow capabilities tend to get worse as the tread wears down).
• Tire effect on comfort (ride and noise).
• Tire tread life.

For example, most reviews of the Michelin CrossClimate 2 versus the Michelin Primacy MXM4 T0/T1 find that the CrossClimate 2 performs better, and is particularly good for an all-season tire in snow and ice, but is likely to cost ~10% in economy and range versus the Primacy MXM4 T0/T1.

As mentioned by another poster, if you have a snow and ice season (as opposed to sporadic snow and ice mixed in with lots of non-snow/ice days), then getting another set of wheels with winter tires can be preferable.

 

[coleAK]

I run the MXM4’s in the summer here in Alaska and am happy with them after 4 summers. I have a 2nd set of wheels/tires for winter (studded Hakka 9’s).

 

[Yyuu]

Michelin CrossClimate 2.

 

[3sr+buyer]

Here is a Tire Rack comparison between the Primacy MXM4 T1 and the CrossClimate2 on a Tesla Model 3 long range.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=298

Basically, the CrossClimate2 wins on wet and dry performance aspects, but the Primacy MXM4 has a 11-12% advantage in economy and range, and is a bit better on ride and noise. However, they did not (yet) test snow or ice, although the CrossClimate2 is generally regarded as being good for an all-season tire in snow and ice.

 

[jrweiss98020]

I went with the Continental DWS06+. Read reviews of the tires mentioned here, and make your choice.

 

[Sorny]

CrossClimate 2 are awesome for 4 real seasons... But, they're nowhere near as efficient as the MXM4s. By that I mean you'll see at least 10% less range (or use 10% more battery for same use as MXM4). I'll probably try the DWS06 when my CC2 wear out, I had DWS06 on a different car and the tires were fantastic, so I expect they'll work well on the model 3 as long as they are not as inefficient as the CC2.

 

[Leeclanual]

I went with the Continental DWS06+. Read reviews of the tires mentioned here, and make your choice.

I had them on my 3… awesomeA/S tires and look good.

 

[TimTam]

If price isn’t a factor I would strongly recommend good snow tires on a separate set of wheels. You are at about the same latitude we are and I have never regretted having a second set of wheels. Granted, that’s partly because they were free (long story, Tesla used to bend over backwards to fix VIN issues) but mostly because my family and I would likely have got into accidents without them. The soft compounds and carbide bits allow for grip that just isn’t feasible with all seasons (the same compounds would be mush above 60 degrees F).

 

[TimTam]

To be honest the snows, while useful on snow, are REALLY helpful on black ice or after freezing rain. Conditions that terrified me in upstate New York with a 4WD Volvo on all seasons are relatively manageable on proper snows, whether on an RWD or AWD model 3 (sold the RWD SR+ to buy an AWD LR, and sold the 19” sport wheels with it so that I could hang onto my snows!). I can’t overstate how much safer it feels driving on snows in really scary ditch-magnet conditions.

 

[UncleCreepy]

+1 on using winter tires on an extra set of wheels. At least where I live summer tires or all seasons are just not feasible during the winter.

I was recently shopping for new summer tires and learned that all the big brands are pretty much >$300 CDN plus tax. While I agree that good traction, short stopping distance and other factors are important, I don't believe that the difference is that relevant for an average driver who doesn't care about racing or tailgating. At the very least the price difference between brand name and budget tires seems to be a complete ripoff. I know that's debatable, feel free to downvote me if you must.

In the end I went with a set of Landsail LS588 UHP tires (235/45R18 98 W) which cost me less than $600 CDN including shipping and taxes. I read somewhere that their wet handling is horrible which I can't confirm. Other reviews also indicate that there are no significant downsides. What I can confirm is that they have an incredibly low rolling resistance. Even with the current temperature around here (~4 °C/39 F) I'm getting about 140 Wh/km (225 Wh/mile) if I stay clear of highways.

I'll have to see how long they last. My current winter tires (Kumho WP72) are the first tires ever on my M3 that triggered an uneven tire wear (front/rear) warning after only three months. When I checked the tread the rear tires indeed had 2/32 less than the front tires. They seem to wear pretty fast although I don't usually accelerate hard. They also increased the Wh/km by quite a bit so I will probably switch to a different brand once they need to be replaced.

Once I have more information about the LS588 UHP tires (tire wear in particular) I'll post it here. These tires have a 500/A/A rating so I'm not expecting the same excessive tire wear as with the Kumho WP72 tires (can't even find a rating for those).

 

[canasion35]

To OP’s question - the PSAS4 is your best all season tire. Essentially a lessor than PS4S that can handle some snow and ice.

 

[Apprunner]

To OP’s question - the PSAS4 is your best all season tire. Essentially a lessor than PS4S that can handle some snow and ice.

Yeah...the stock MXM4s feel like garbage driving fast. I've run PS4S for the last 20 years on my cars but recently switched to PSAS4 due to tire longevity being annoying on the PS4S...i feel like its a great compromise given the additional life you get. The stock MXM4s definitely suck all the fun out of it.

 

[804son]

If price really isn't a factor, then definitely get a set of dedicated Winters tires on your stock rims, and some nice wheels with Summer performance tires. The best of both worlds.

 

[XPsionic]

Yeah...the stock MXM4s feel like garbage driving fast. I've run PS4S for the last 20 years on my cars but recently switched to PSAS4 due to tire longevity being annoying on the PS4S...i feel like its a great compromise given the additional life you get. The stock MXM4s definitely suck all the fun out of it.

I do wish the PS AS4 have better efficiency, it's like a 10-15% reported drop vs MXM4s. However none of the other EV specific all season tires seem to have more grip than the MXM4s. So at the current time there's no magic tire that is grippier and as efficient as the MXM4s.

 

[Clover]

Another one with a strong vote to dedicated winter and summer tires. The reality is that All season tires are manageable in snow, but the best all season tires is still far, far off the performance of a good snow tire on ice. Go look at any stopping distance comparison on snow and ice between all season and dedicated winter tires. Huge difference. All season are closer to summer tires performance than snow tires in performance when on snow. If you only have space for one set and don't get much snow, all seasons may be a decent option for you. But dedicated winter/summer would always be much better if your willing to get them swapped. If price really is no object, use the right tool instead of a poor compromise that can be made to work.

 

[chinney]

I just ordered a replacement set of all-season. tires for my 3 -year-old Tesla. After doing a fair bit of online reading - including in various TMC tire threads - I went for Nokian One tires to replace the original MXM4s. The Nokia One seems to be very well rated. I'll see how it works out.

That is for May to October driving mind you. For the other months, for around here, I have winter tires on (in my case Yokohama V905, which have been fine). If I were in Southern Ontario and did not drive in heavy winter conditions that often, I might try to see if I could get away with one of the new 'all weather' tires like the CrossClimate for full 12-month use. 'All weather' are winter rated, unlike 'all seasons', though perhaps are not as great for heavy winter conditions as dedicated winters. (Another notable all-weather choice is the Nokian WRG4.) You apparently take a bit of a range hit with the CrossClimates compared with summer or all-season tires during the warm months, although perhaps not as much as indicated in some of the earlier posts above.

 

[3sr+buyer]

'All weather' are winter rated, unlike 'all seasons', though perhaps are not as great for heavy winter conditions as dedicated winters. You apparently take a bit of a range hit with the CrossClimates compared with summer or all-season tires during the warm months, although perhaps not as much as indicated in some of the earlier posts above.

Seems like it is really a continuum in potential non-winter and winter performance moving in opposite directions:
* Summer tires.
* All season tires (M+S).
* All weather tires (3PMS).
* Severe duty winter tires (3PMS).

"Potential" above means the theoretical limits of performance; actual tire models may not meet the theoretical limits of performance of their type, due to other considerations like rolling resistance (economy / range), tread life, ride, noise, and price. The Michelin Primacy MXM4 is an example of compromises made for low rolling resistance, while the Michelin CrossClimate2 is an excellent performer for its type at the cost of higher rolling resistance.

3PMS refers to the symbol below that can be found on the sidewall of all weather and winter tires, and indicates a higher minimum level of winter performance compared to M+S that is found on all season tires.

 

[chinney]

Anyway, just to round out this thread, since I was just in the market for all-seasons, below are some other tires that I researched and considered for our Model 3 LR with its 235/45R18 98XL tire specs - other that the Nokian One tires that I actually bought:

- Pirelli P Zero All-Season Plus
- Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus
- Yokohama Advan Sport A/S Plus
- Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

I did not consider the OEM Michelin MXM4 again, as I was not entirely happy with them, though they were not bad. Also, I did not consider any of the 'all weather' tires mentioned above, not because they are not good, but because I feel I need dedicated winter tires in this area for the winter months.

i am sure that any of the above choices would have been fine. All tires involve trade-offs, but high-end tires from reputable manufacturers are all pretty good these days, so I don't think that any would be a 'bad' choice.