Looks Like I'm Going to Need New Tires Sooner Than I Thought...

[wdolson]

On the way home from running errands Saturday I ran over some piece of metal and I think the tire is toast. The tow truck driver thought so too, but I won't know for sure until Tuesday. My bad luck to get a flat on the first day of a holiday weekend. The tire was losing air so fast I had to limp it to a gas station and try to get it to seal with a can of sealant, but it lost air as fast as I was putting it in. Tesla's roadside assistance got me a ride share home so I could get our other car which made things easier.

After we got the car on the flatbed, the damage was right on top so I was able to get a good picture. It looks like some kind of bracket or retaining cleat.



Last time I was into the service center they said the tires still had tread on them, but they were within 1/32" of when they recommend replacing them. I figured they would last the summer and I would replace them before the winter rains started up again. But if I'm going to have to replace one tire, I might as well replace them all in one go.

Anyway, me being me, I had done some research and my go to was the Michelin Primacy MXM4s. The Goodyears (19") that came on the car have been OK, but they haven't worn well at all. The car only has around 16K miles on it and the original tires are getting close to end of life already. I did a few hard accelerations early on, but my stomach didn't like it and i really don't see the point in it really. I tend to accelerate moderately and try to maximize regen when slowing down, but all the regen might have worn the tires.

If I need to get new tires, I'm probably stuck with what the local shop can provide on short notice or let the car sit there for a week until something else can be ordered. They're closed until Tuesday, but I looked at their tire selection on their website. They claim to carry the Primacy MXM4, but the largest they have on their site is 18". They did have the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus advertised in my size, so they might be able to get those same day.

Both the Primacy MXM4 and the Pirelli are advertised as low rolling resistance, good mileage tires and both are well rated on TireRack.com. Though the Pirellis were rated better in every category.

I thought I would ask what other's experiences have been with the two tires. I'm most interested in efficiency and traction under various weather conditions as well as wear. Low noise is a nice to have feature, but if the better tire is a little noisier I can live with it.

 

[Lasttoy]

Call Tire Rack. Best deals. My local shop charged me $20 each to mount. Saved $300. I got German made high speed tires, Dunlap sport maxx rt, 98y speed rated hard compound. Not soft tire, but i love them,

 

[Lasttoy]

Next year we can buy Goodyear Electric Vehicle tires. Just for Tesla. They are in Europe now. Google it. Www.goodyear.com/eu
Listen to VP tell about them.

 

[ucmndd]

Ya that tire is toast even without the big chunk of metal in it.

I switched to the MXM4 after, like you, barely eeking 20k out of the OEM Goodyears. Very satisfied with that choice, there is no perceptible difference in noise, they handle very well, no perceptible difference in efficiency, and they went for 30k instead of 20k.

Replacing the MXM4s next week with another set of MXM4s.

 

[Graffi]

This is the reason that as soon as we got our Tesla I went down to Discount Tire and purchased the Road Warranty on all 4 tires. I get free Tire Rotation, but top off the air once per month.

So far I have only needed to get one tire patched that picked up a screw.

If you had this plan they would have given you a new tire.

 

[ucmndd]

This is the reason that as soon as we got our Tesla I went down to Discount Tire and purchased the Road Warranty on all 4 tires. I get free Tire Rotation, but top off the air once per month.

So far I have only needed to get one tire patched that picked up a screw.

If you had this plan they would have given you a new tire.

Looking at that picture leads me to believe there’s no way that tire has 3/32” tread left, so a discount tire certificate wouldn’t yield anything at all.

Some people swear by their tire certs, and I can see the appeal, but as an insurance product the House always wins. At $30/tire I figure I need at least one covered event on every set of tires just to break even.

 

[mspohr]

On the way home from running errands Saturday I ran over some piece of metal and I think the tire is toast. The tow truck driver thought so too, but I won't know for sure until Tuesday. My bad luck to get a flat on the first day of a holiday weekend. The tire was losing air so fast I had to limp it to a gas station and try to get it to seal with a can of sealant, but it lost air as fast as I was putting it in. Tesla's roadside assistance got me a ride share home so I could get our other car which made things easier.

After we got the car on the flatbed, the damage was right on top so I was able to get a good picture. It looks like some kind of bracket or retaining cleat.

View attachment 304171

Last time I was into the service center they said the tires still had tread on them, but they were within 1/32" of when they recommend replacing them. I figured they would last the summer and I would replace them before the winter rains started up again. But if I'm going to have to replace one tire, I might as well replace them all in one go.

Anyway, me being me, I had done some research and my go to was the Michelin Primacy MXM4s. The Goodyears (19") that came on the car have been OK, but they haven't worn well at all. The car only has around 16K miles on it and the original tires are getting close to end of life already. I did a few hard accelerations early on, but my stomach didn't like it and i really don't see the point in it really. I tend to accelerate moderately and try to maximize regen when slowing down, but all the regen might have worn the tires.

If I need to get new tires, I'm probably stuck with what the local shop can provide on short notice or let the car sit there for a week until something else can be ordered. They're closed until Tuesday, but I looked at their tire selection on their website. They claim to carry the Primacy MXM4, but the largest they have on their site is 18". They did have the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus advertised in my size, so they might be able to get those same day.

Both the Primacy MXM4 and the Pirelli are advertised as low rolling resistance, good mileage tires and both are well rated on TireRack.com. Though the Pirellis were rated better in every category.

I thought I would ask what other's experiences have been with the two tires. I'm most interested in efficiency and traction under various weather conditions as well as wear. Low noise is a nice to have feature, but if the better tire is a little noisier I can live with it.

That tire should have been replaced a long time ago. Dangerously low tread.
The good news is that you damaged a completely worn tire, not a new one.
I've had good performance from the Michelins and Pirellis and never a good experience with Goodyear. YMMV.
Tire Rack seems to have the best selection and prices but the last time I replaced my Michelin Primacy tires, the Tesla service center had a better price (plus they threw in a 4 wheel alignment). It pays to shop around.
Always replace all four tires.

 

[wdolson]

Tire Rack has good prices, but they don't have any stores in this area. They have some affiliated shops they will ship tires to, but the nearest one is 20 miles away and the car is undrivable right now. I could have it towed, but the cost of the tow would probably be more than the price difference between Tire Rack and the local place. The car is sitting right now at a local shop where I used to take my ICE for maintenance. They have been affiliated with Tire Factory, but my SO said last night all the Tire Factory signs were covered with something that said "Points". It probably won't be practical to do anything but buy tires from the local guys.

Michelin's direct price for the MXM4s was better than Tire Rack's, but the nearest shop they could ship them to was 25 miles away and in Portland (the next state). The same place I went to for the last set of tires for my Buick.

The entire bracket isn't embedded in the tire. It has a couple of little spiky things that are stuck in the tire itself. I'm not optimistic the tire can be patched, but if it can, that buys me a little time to order tires and arrange installation somewhere.

For the last 25 years I've mostly only bought Michelins, but I did have a set of Pirellis once. Both brands gave great service. Since I started working at home I wasn't racking up miles as fast as I once did and the last time I changed tires it wasn't because they were worn out, but they were beginning to crack from age. They were about 8 years old at that point. I think I still had over 40K miles on them, and my Buick weighed only a little less than my Model S.

I was impressed with how the Goodyears handled the snow we had in early 2017. I've never had a car handle so well in snow, but I think it was more the car than the tires.

 

[wdolson]

They put a plug in there and fixed it, but I'm planning on ordering new tires later today. I've been obsessing with these tires more than I ever did with ICE tires. EV tires are a more complex thing. Noise is more of a factor, but so is efficiency. And they wear quicker.

 

[jelloslug]

I replaced my 19" Goodyears with Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus and have been happy so far. They are approaching the miles that I had on the Goodyears but still have plenty of tread.

 

[wdolson]

I got the Primacy MXM4s from Costco. Costco has a special on Michelins until June 17. Their price was $20 less a tire than the best online price I could find. Plus installation was cheap too.

My only issue was with the install. It looks like they got the tires on there OK, but the person who went to back the car out of the bay wasn't familiar with Teslas and for some reason the car was going into Park every foot. They had a lot of problem getting the tire sensors to reset and eventually went through the reset from the center screen even though that said it was only needed if you were changing tire size (19s to 21 or vice versa).

From the flat fix last week I knew the sensors take a bit of driving before they start to read OK, so I was happy to get my car back. A couple of blocks from Costco the sensors did start to read and they all read between 35 and 37 PSI. I went back and they told me it was going to take longer for them to read correctly. I drove 13 miles home with the sensors reading low the whole way. When I got home I put the tire pressure gauge on there and found the sensors were reading very accurately. I added air to each tire. I haven't driven on them since, but I expect that will be OK.

My energy usage on the way home was terrible ~30 Wh/Mi more than normal, but with the tires underinflated, that probably contributed. They said to go back for a lug nut test after driving 25 miles, so I'll be headed back there soon. I'll see what kind of energy usage I get with the tires inflated properly.

 

[TaoJones]

On the way home from running errands Saturday I ran over some piece of metal and I think the tire is toast. The tow truck driver thought so too, but I won't know for sure until Tuesday. My bad luck to get a flat on the first day of a holiday weekend. The tire was losing air so fast I had to limp it to a gas station and try to get it to seal with a can of sealant, but it lost air as fast as I was putting it in. Tesla's roadside assistance got me a ride share home so I could get our other car which made things easier.

After we got the car on the flatbed, the damage was right on top so I was able to get a good picture. It looks like some kind of bracket or retaining cleat.

View attachment 304171

Last time I was into the service center they said the tires still had tread on them, but they were within 1/32" of when they recommend replacing them. I figured they would last the summer and I would replace them before the winter rains started up again. But if I'm going to have to replace one tire, I might as well replace them all in one go.

Anyway, me being me, I had done some research and my go to was the Michelin Primacy MXM4s. The Goodyears (19") that came on the car have been OK, but they haven't worn well at all. The car only has around 16K miles on it and the original tires are getting close to end of life already. I did a few hard accelerations early on, but my stomach didn't like it and i really don't see the point in it really. I tend to accelerate moderately and try to maximize regen when slowing down, but all the regen might have worn the tires.

If I need to get new tires, I'm probably stuck with what the local shop can provide on short notice or let the car sit there for a week until something else can be ordered. They're closed until Tuesday, but I looked at their tire selection on their website. They claim to carry the Primacy MXM4, but the largest they have on their site is 18". They did have the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus advertised in my size, so they might be able to get those same day.

Both the Primacy MXM4 and the Pirelli are advertised as low rolling resistance, good mileage tires and both are well rated on TireRack.com. Though the Pirellis were rated better in every category.

I thought I would ask what other's experiences have been with the two tires. I'm most interested in efficiency and traction under various weather conditions as well as wear. Low noise is a nice to have feature, but if the better tire is a little noisier I can live with it.

Condolences re the early demise.

After the usual diligence and after getting only 26K from the miserable Goodyear Eagle Touring OEMs (compared to mid-50Ks with the previous OEMs (Michelin Primacy), I elected a couple of weeks ago to try the Pirelli Cinturatos. Same money as the Michelins, longer tread warranty (70K versus 45K), more difficult to deal with (Pirelli requires shoulder to shoulder even wear at the wear bars before they’ll part with a penny), but since the Michelins were loud during the last 1/3 of their lives, I figure if the Pirellis last the same 53K-60K and are 1 dB quieter, it’s a win.

Will have the first rotation and re-balancing next week along with adjustable rear camber links installed and a subsequent re-alignment.

With that along with religious rotations and air pressure monitoring, the idea is that the following never happens again. This was the right rear GET after barely 26K miles.



I failed to have the presence of mind during the 2nd factory pickup to insist upon Michelins. As a result of trusting Tesla re the GETs, my yearly tire cost of ownership has doubled. Thanks, Tesla. Not to mention the Michelin is a better-made tire than either of the Goodyear OEMs (belts edge to edge and deeper stiping).

Initial thoughts re the Pirellis - harder ride as inflated to 49psi versus 45psi for either the Michelins or the GETs. Did fine in rain and light hail. Efficiency was similar to when the Michelins were new. Withholding further judgment until after next week’s work/tuning. Again, for me it’s a win if I get the same tread life as the Michelins with any additional quietude. Yeah, that’s it - quietude. Sure it’s a word. Not that quietness isn’t.

If there’s no additional quietude then I’ll probably go back to the Michelins since Tesla SvCs will rotate OEM variants for free and without grief.

Edit: heh - I see your post from 34 minutes ago confirmed you went with the Michelins. A stellar choice .

Edit redux: about the TPMS - I don’t let the installers replace the TPMS components - except for maybe the o-ring and not even that after 1 year. Just a datapoint. Same behavior otherwise in that it take a few miles for the scary messages to go away.

 

[UberEV1]

I've been very happy with the Michelins as well. Just put the third set on with 55k miles, so getting between 25 and 30k miles per set. Even though it is a bit more expensive, I like having the Tesla Service Center put them on since they have always included alignment at no extra cost.

 

[TaoJones]

I replaced my 19" Goodyears with Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus and have been happy so far. They are approaching the miles that I had on the Goodyears but still have plenty of tread.

You rebel, you.

Go figure - nice price point, impressive warranty, and $70 off a set is often available.

I’ve never owned a set of Bridgestones. On the other hand I’ve never had Continentals either.

Curious to learn how noisy they get, and how well they do in lower temperatures relative to the Goodyears and Michelins.

 

[wdolson]

Condolences re the early demise.

After the usual diligence and after getting only 26K from the miserable Goodyear Eagle Touring OEMs (compared to mid-50Ks with the previous OEMs (Michelin Primacy), I elected a couple of weeks ago to try the Pirelli Cinturatos. Same money as the Michelins, longer tread warranty (70K versus 45K), more difficult to deal with (Pirelli requires shoulder to shoulder even wear at the wear bars before they’ll part with a penny), but since the Michelins were loud during the last 1/3 of their lives, I figure if the Pirellis last the same 53K-60K and are 1 dB quieter, it’s a win.

Will have the first rotation and re-balancing next week along with adjustable rear camber links installed and a subsequent re-alignment.

With that along with religious rotations and air pressure monitoring, the idea is that the following never happens again. This was the right rear GET after barely 26K miles.

View attachment 305963

I failed to have the presence of mind during the 2nd factory pickup to insist upon Michelins. As a result of trusting Tesla re the GETs, my yearly tire cost of ownership has doubled. Thanks, Tesla. Not to mention the Michelin is a better-made tire than either of the Goodyear OEMs (belts edge to edge and deeper stiping).

Initial thoughts re the Pirellis - harder ride as inflated to 49psi versus 45psi for either the Michelins or the GETs. Did fine in rain and light hail. Efficiency was similar to when the Michelins were new. Withholding further judgment until after next week’s work/tuning. Again, for me it’s a win if I get the same tread life as the Michelins with any additional quietude. Yeah, that’s it - quietude. Sure it’s a word. Not that quietness isn’t.

If there’s no additional quietude then I’ll probably go back to the Michelins since Tesla SvCs will rotate OEM variants for free and without grief.

Edit: heh - I see your post from 34 minutes ago confirmed you went with the Michelins. A stellar choice .

Edit redux: about the TPMS - I don’t let the installers replace the TPMS components - except for maybe the o-ring and not even that after 1 year. Just a datapoint. Same behavior otherwise in that it take a few miles for the scary messages to go away.

I was never all that impressed with Goodyear. They are sort of the American McTire. Though they are aiming for the EV market. They came out with an EV focused tire for Europe last year and it will be available in the US soon. I wouldn't be surprised if Tesla switches to it when it becomes available here.

Now they are properly inflated, we can feel the road a bit more with the Michelins. The ride with the Goodyears was a bit squishy by comparison. I did see a hit on energy usage. Before changing tires I was getting about 285 Wh/Mi pretty consistently. Round trip to town today was 303 Wh/Mi. But that's expected, new tires have more rolling resistance and they are a little bigger diameter.

I did almost go for the Michelin Premier A/S. I couldn't find anything definitive on the rolling resistance vs the MXM4s, so I went with the known quantity.

 

[jelloslug]

You rebel, you.

Go figure - nice price point, impressive warranty, and $70 off a set is often available.

I’ve never owned a set of Bridgestones. On the other hand I’ve never had Continentals either.

Curious to learn how noisy they get, and how well they do in lower temperatures relative to the Goodyears and Michelins.

They started out just a tad bit noisier than the Goodyears but they quickly quieted down to the same or less. It looks like I will get at least 50k miles out of them and they are wearing so evenly that I have not really needed to rotate them in the ~20k miles I have put on them. It does not really get that cold here so I cannot comment on true cold weather performance but with the exception of a set of Potenza G019 tires on my wife's car that we had one time, all the Bridgestone tires that I have had have been great.