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?

 

[240vPlug]

Foam has no impact on range. Most say no impact on sound but all the Tesla OE tires seem to have it so Tesla must feel it has an impact

If your tires are worn out at 18,000 miles something is not right. Even if you drive like you stole it 100% you should get more than that. The OE tires for me at 25k had between 6 and 7 32nds left. They are 9/32nds new.

People are raving about the cross climate 2. MY is a heavy car and has a lot of torque. Tires will not last as long because of this. Other factors will also impact it such as maintaining proper inflation and the types of roads your driving, etc.

All rotation does is even put the wear. Even Tesla says not to rotate until you have 1/32nd difference in wear between front/back.

If your replacing the tires get a 4 wheel alignment BEFORE the new tires go on. Tesla are known to leave factory with bad alignment.

 

[exxxviii]

Foam probably reduces range because it would increase contact rolling resistance. But it probably reduces noise.

And if you are frequently enjoying the torque, 18K sounds about right.

 

[240vPlug]

if you are frequently enjoying the torque

This is me, but my LR above wore good after 25k. 5k on my performance with the 19s and I'm still at 8/32nds all the way around.

 

[avramd]

Few if any factory tires come with mileage warranties.

The Continental ProContact RX T1's and T2's both come with 45k mileage warranties when bought through Tire Rack. I have no idea whether they'd have that warranty if they came with a car. Mine are T0's, which aren't sold anymore, so I can't easily look up whether they would have a warranty.

In my case it also probably doesn't matter b/c I have winter wheels & tires on for 1/3 of the year, and there would be no way to prove that those miles weren't on the Conti's. My car has about 32k mi on it, and I think the tread depth left on the Conti's is enough that if you pretend all the miles were on them, there's enough tread depth left to get them to the end of that warranty if they have it, or that my compensation would be trivial, since it is pro-rated.

 

[avramd]

Would someone mind explaining to me what extra work a tire shop has to do when repairing a foam tire, and more importantly, what would go wrong if someone didn't do that?

I've gotten nails/screws in two of my OEM tires, and I simply plugged them myself the old-fashioned way, with the $2 gummy rope and T-handled spike kit that you can get at any gas station. That was around 10,000 miles ago, and I haven't had any problems that I'm aware of. They are not losing pressure.

Note that I do not often push the car to its dry cornering limits, so if that's what it takes to cause a problem with a foam-oblivious repair, then that would explain why I've been ok so far.

 

[brkaus]

Would someone mind explaining to me what extra work a tire shop has to do when repairing a foam tire, and more importantly, what would go wrong if someone didn't do that?

I've gotten nails/screws in two of my OEM tires, and I simply plugged them myself the old-fashioned way, with the $2 gummy rope and T-handled spike kit that you can get at any gas station. That was around 10,000 miles ago, and I haven't had any problems that I'm aware of. They are not losing pressure.

Note that I do not often push the car to its dry cornering limits, so if that's what it takes to cause a problem with a foam-oblivious repair, then that would explain why I've been ok so far.

A tire shop will typically put in a plug & put a patch on the inside of the tire.

With a foam lined tire they have to trim back the foam and maybe have a bit extra work cleaning the inside surface for their patch.

I also use the t handle cord patches. Even done on foam tires. I did learn that no tire shop in my area will re-patch a tire that has a cord plug in it if it ever does start to leak. So I now default to a pro fix if possible.

 

[dafish]

WTH do I know, but Michelin (as I recall) reports tread depth is a tangible, even significant, detractor from range. It's not much of an assumption to think the OEM's are selecting tires w/o much tread depth (life) to boost their EPA numbers.

I've nothing to show they are, as an example, buying a ProContact w/70% retail tread depth, I'm just sharing data is out there showing they'd have pretty strong reason to do it.

(if this gets to be an issue I can probably find those links for anybody that wants to read more...