Does foam in tires, noticeably reduce noise and noticeably increase range?

[BobCat]

I have a 2021 Model Y and some of my tires are at/below 2/32" tread depth at 18,000 miles. I've been rotating at 6,000 miles. Apparently this isn't uncommon. I have recently been told I should rotate at 5,000 miles. In trying to pick a better tire than original equipment, I wonder:

Does the tire foam noticeably reduce the road noise?

Does the foam noticeably increase range?

 

[thesmokingman]

It supposedly reduces noise not range, but we haven't really ever gotten the data behind that. The downside to foam is that it makes fixing flats harder and a lot of shops will just pretend they can't do it.

 

[804son]

To answer your questions:
Does the tire foam noticeably reduce the road noise?
Very little, if any.

Does the foam noticeably increase range?
Not at all.

 

[jcanoe]

The difference (foam versus no foam) is measurable but in real world conditions may not be audible. The offending noise is a low frequency resonance that comes from inside the hollow tire cavity. Wind, road surface and tire tread noise, audio system and passengers will probably drown out the tire cavity resonance.

The foam adds ~1 lb to the weight of the tire. The affect of the weight of the foam on range is negligible.

Here are some alternatives (some of these tires do have a foam liner sound treatment.)

OE 19" size 255/45R-19, XL, 104Y

Michelin Crossclimate2 (In stock at Tirerack.com)
Michelin Pilot Sport All Season (AS) 4 (In stock at Tirerack.com)
Vredestein Quatrac Pro (Back ordered at Tirerack.com)
Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus (In stock at Tirerack.com)
Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack (In stock at Tirerack.com)
General Altimax RT45 (In stock at Tirerack.com)
Goodyear Electricdrive GT (New!, In stock at Tirerack.com)

Tirerack.com (Tirerack has a network of local tire installers and also has mobile Tirerack service trucks in some areas.)

America's Tire/Discount Tire (If AT/DT has tire centers in your area go there. Purchase the AT/DT tire certificate when you buy the tires, in the future you will not have to pay for any damaged or punctured tire repair or replacement for the life of the tires.)

 

[ATPMSD]

Do not replace with the OEM tires, they are crap! Foam makes very little difference and if you listen to the radio you will not notice anyway. Foam tires cost more and many shops will not fix a flat if they are foam. I suggest you do not get foam tires.

 

[Stach]

And the foam can become loose, which it has done for me on 2 cars, and cause major balance issues.

 

[BobCat]

Thank you again. This has been an educational experience. I wish I had started the trying to figure out what's going on and what to do about it before I needed new tires.

A couple more questions:

1. What is the quietest and longest lasting 19" tire that will work on a Model Y?
2. Why don't Teslas' (All EVs?) tires last as long as other all wheel driver vehicles? A 20,000 life doesn't seem right. I've always received 40K to 60K miles on tires before the Tesla.

 

[jcanoe]

Thank you again. This has been an educational experience. I wish I had started the trying to figure out what's going on and what to do about it before I needed new tires.

A couple more questions:

1. What is the quietest and longest lasting 19" tire that will work on a Model Y?
2. Why don't Teslas' (All EVs?) tires last as long as other all wheel driver vehicles? A 20,000 life doesn't seem right. I've always received 40K to 60K miles on tires before the Tesla.

The tires may not last due to the weight of the Tesla Model Y vehicle ~4500 lbs and the strong off the line acceleration that is true for Tesla, other EVs. You could drive in Chill mode all of the time, reduce tire wear but where is the fun in that?

Tire noise has a lot to do with tire tread and tire construction but also the type of road. A longer wearing tire will generally have harder rubber compounds but grip may be reduced in wet weather especially in colder temperatures. Tire manufacturers have to make trade offs. What drivers need is a tire that performs well in all temperatures and road conditions with good handling. The perfect tire for one region will likely not perform as well in another. Having a second set of wheels and tires is the most expensive but the best option as you can have summer performance tires for 6 to 8 months and winter tires the rest of the time.

 

[ATPMSD]

Why don't Teslas' (All EVs?) tires last as long as other all wheel driver vehicles?

The tires that come with the car are crap, they don’t even come with a mileage warranty (at lease mine didn’t). Maybe some people will comment on the mileage they are getting with non-OEM replacement tires? I put 50K mileage tires on my MS, but I have only put about 5K on them so I have nothing to offer as to wear just yet.

 

[Fourdoor]

I have a 2021 Model Y and some of my tires are at/below 2/32" tread depth at 18,000 miles. I've been rotating at 6,000 miles. Apparently this isn't uncommon. I have recently been told I should rotate at 5,000 miles. In trying to pick a better tire than original equipment, I wonder:

Does the tire foam noticeably reduce the road noise?

Does the foam noticeably increase range?

Thank you again. This has been an educational experience. I wish I had started the trying to figure out what's going on and what to do about it before I needed new tires.

Personal opinion since you are now at 2/32" of tread unless you live in the desert southwest you needed new tires about 3 or 4 thousand miles ago. Tesla's are getting a reputation for hydroplaning because the OEM tires wear out so fast that people don't replace them before they become dangerous to drive in the rain.

As others have already said, foam has more negatives than positives and you are much better off with high quality non-OEM tires. If you live in a mild climate, you can just get some good quality all seasons, but when I lived in an area that got more than a couple of weeks of snow I always opted for summer high performance tires in summer and dedicated snow tires for winter. Right now I live in a warm climate and have summer high performance tires, and a spare set of 19's with OEM all season tires for if I want to take a road trip to less warm parts of the country in the winter... I should just sell the set of 19's since I haven't used them since I got my 18's

Later,

Keith

 

[BitJam]

Personal opinion since you are now at 2/32" of tread unless you live in the desert southwest you needed new tires about 3 or 4 thousand miles ago. Tesla's are getting a reputation for hydroplaning because the OEM tires wear out so fast that people don't replace them before they become dangerous to drive in the rain.

Here in deserts of New Mexico we are prone to flooding due to monsoon rains in the summer. In the downtown area of my sleepy little town the sidewalk curbs are often over 24" high in order to keep the flood waters off the sidewalks and out of the stores. Due to poor land management our main street was washed away in severe floods over 100 years ago leaving a deep ravine that is now Big Ditch Park.

 

[ucmndd]

The tires that come with the car are crap, they don’t even come with a mileage warranty (at lease mine didn’t).

Few if any factory tires come with mileage warranties.

 

[ATPMSD]

Few if any factory tires come with mileage warranties.

Wonder why? Fortunately for me my new cars came with tire warranties.

 

[Chisale]

Just to add another comment from the anti-foam crowd....my experience is that plugging a hole is not particularly more difficult with a foam tire than non-foam (though it's not exactly the same). But tire stores who are anti-EV and recalcitrant to learn how to lift them use the foam as an excuse not to repair them. Stores who want to move into the future and know that they'll have to service EVs to stay in business will do them just fine.
I had foam tires as original and then replaced them with non-foam. I couldn't tell any difference in sound if my life depended on it. For me, it's just a non-factor when deciding what to buy.

 

[whisperingshad]

Hankook IONs out now too

 

[1965Falcon]

I actually just had my front passenger side tire repaired about 2 hours ago (ran over a bungee cord) in my model 3, put a pretty good sized hole in them. The shop had no problem with the foam. These are newer tires, less than a 3000 miles, I went with OEM (Continental ProContact RX) because of the range hit with going with other longer lasting tires (as well as road noise and availability). There is a trade off between range and longevity. I did get 28,000 miles out the originals, I can live with that again. There might be better options now as that was a few months ago, but I'd consider the rolling resistance in your tire choice.

 

[brkaus]

Got 44k miles out of our factory tires in our model 3LR.

Replaced with pilot sport AS4. Didn’t notice any additional noise (over the worn out tires) but range did take a hit. Will see once we have some miles on them.

 

[1965Falcon]

Got 44k miles out of our factory tires in our model 3LR.

You must be able to stay off the accelerator!

 

[brkaus]

You must be able to stay off the accelerator!

Wife's car. And I don't think so. Likes the accelerator and brakes. But she's definitely easier on the corners than I am.

 

[Fourdoor]

Here in deserts of New Mexico we are prone to flooding due to monsoon rains in the summer. In the downtown area of my sleepy little town the sidewalk curbs are often over 24" high in order to keep the flood waters off the sidewalks and out of the stores. Due to poor land management our main street was washed away in severe floods over 100 years ago leaving a deep ravine that is now Big Ditch Park.

Yup, and during flash flood conditions it doesn't matter how good your tread depth is unless you are in a Sherp or a similar contraption

Keith