That would be a good choice in my opinion simply because first of all the speedometer is about 1% optimistic in most model 3s (at least it is in our two cars) . Secondly it gives you a little bit more tread, which obviously is desirable anyway.
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M3P OEM Michelin Pilot Sport 4 vs 4S
- Thread starter jriv
- Start date
Actually it is. It's a night and day difference when I switch between the tires with foam and without.
Also, when I bounce the tire/wheel on the ground and hear the basketball-like noise then that is another confirmation that the pinging low frequency sound is caused by the tire without the foam.
Someone did a technical video on this and the foam really only blocked frequencies +/- 200hz
Yes! Please reread my original post. Different size, but same make and model of tire.
To summarize
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S OEM Tesla 235/35/20 - no basketball bouncing-like noise
Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 235/45/18 - basketball bouncing-like noise is present
And for good measure
Michelin Primacy MXM4 OEM Tesla 235/45/18 - no basketball-bouncing-like noise
I bounced these individual tires (fully assembled with wheels) on my concrete garage floor. There is clearly a difference in the type of noise they make.
I’m going to go with car and driver’s results through an actual test, over your ‘but I know it works’ assertion
Tested: Do Acoustically Insulated Tires Really Hush Road Noise? – Feature – Car and Driver
Tested: Do Acoustically Insulated Tires Really Hush Road Noise? – Feature – Car and Driver
I can also confirm the non Acoustic foam ones, are certainly louder, especially in a Tesla Model 3 and on the front. About a year ago i replaced 2 of them with non -TO ones so I can see the difference right on my car.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the actual casing of the 235/35-20 P4S -TO compared to the non -TO is also wider by about 0.7". This also gives more curb rash protection. Not sure if this is true of other sizes.
Seems it worked in the narrow range for which it was designed. Not a panacea, simply a tiny improvement - “the tone of the sound has changed”.
Also worth considering C&D has gotten pretty weak compared to their former glory - this is one test with one manufacturer’s tire. They even point out that not having a second car hampered their A/B impressions.
Actually it would be section width that would give you curb rash protection rather than tread width. We have speculated that the extra tread width relative to the same size in non Tesla spec tires is about giving a bit more lateral grip without going to a bigger section with which affects rolling resistance. A 235 section width is a bit modest for a 4000 pound car but when you look at tread width in the tesla-spec tires there actually the same tread width as an average of 255/35 in the 20" size.
While I agree with your logic and the math about tire sections, the -TO is physically larger at the edges, where the non -TO doesn't have as much rubber protecting the rims.
This also makes sense when you think about it, a wider tread needs a wider sidewall to support it. Its tough to see but you can see the non-TO on the left, and the -TO on the right. The non -TO has some concavity between where the rim protection occurs, to the tread block. The-TO has a slight outward bulge in the same area.
I posted some A/B pictures to compare. Its not super easy to see in a picture though
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Yes but
A 4000 pound car rolling on the road presents a different type load than an unloaded wheelset bouncing on concrete.
It sounds *different* in that garage environment sure, but has to be translated to how it sounds in operating conditions, observed from inside a car cabin.
Where are you seeing that the tesla spec tire has an extra 20mm of tread width? That's a huge amount and not sure they could get away with intentionally mislabeling a measurement with the DOT.
Read the specifications page on the tire at Tire Rack listing. It's right there in black and white. All you got to do is look. And by the way Sam and you should know this section width is not the same as tread width. If you look at the entire specification page for all the 235/35 tires, you will see that the Tesla spec tire has about 1/2 inch extra tread width compared to the other tires with that section width, and is listed (and measures!) at 8.8 in wide. That means it averages up close to the tread width but not the section width of several 255/35 tires and the tread is actually wider than any 245 / 35 Tire in that 4S group.
It's pretty clear that Tesla wanted a different tire for their electric vehicles, one with the lower rolling resistance of a tire with narrower section width, but one that would mitigate handling deficits that you would expect in a 4000 pound car with a 235 section width Tire. On top of that it's dual compound so the outer tread that does most of the work in cornering is probably a softer compound while a harder Compound on the crown prevents accelerated Crown wear from high inflation pressures.
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Ok that's just specific to the 20" wheels. I was only looking at the 18"s where the T0 is actually thinner than the non T0 PS4S. I figured that the 20" was the same deal as the 18".
I haven't checked that page out but my understanding is that anything that is to spec is going to have a wider than average tread even though the section width is the same. I haven't confirmed that by surfing through all of the TO spec tires but it would be a bit weird if they did it for only 20 inch sizes. In any case you see the same widening of the tread relative to the section width for example in the Tesla spec 275/30 4S Tire. Its tread is tread wider than an average of several 285/30s, and roughly about the same tread width as a number of 295/30s.
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yeah it’s definitely different for the 18”, that’s why I bought the non T0 ones for my car since they had marginally more tread. Was throwing me off because you were saying the 20” were much wider and I just expected all of the sizes to be similar, and definitely not 1/2” wider... which they appear to be
rincewind
Member
jriv said: ↑
Thanks for the info, i’m definitely getting the PS4S even though they don’t have to acoustic foam.
They do a Pilot Sport 4S Acoustic
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Just verified my assumption that the corner tread/sidewall compound is harder than the middle tread. Corner compound is 70HA, middle compound is 65HA.
Interesting. The opposite of dfwatt’s assumption but he was right in saying there are two compound hardnesses in the tire.
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