To those northerners concerned, have any of you purchased and used the 19in sottozero winter tire package? If so, what are your thoughts regarding winter performance? I've used blizzak tires in the past and they perform very good imo. The sottozero tires are trying to preserve some of the multi seasonal driving characteristics from what I've read about them. I'm curious what the compromise feels like on the road. Thanks in advance for your input...
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thefortunes
Active Member
I run Pirelli Sottozero II on my Roadster and Michelin X Ice Xi3 on my Model S.
Certainly not apples-to-apples with the different vehicles, but imho the Michelins are the better winter tire choice in Wisconsin or Michigan, unless your roads get cleared better and more quickly than where I live.
From the TireRack website:
Bottom line, I don't think you could really go wrong with either of the two above or the Nokian Hakkas or Blizzaks. All personal preference, priorities, availability and cost.
Certainly not apples-to-apples with the different vehicles, but imho the Michelins are the better winter tire choice in Wisconsin or Michigan, unless your roads get cleared better and more quickly than where I live.
From the TireRack website:
The Pirellis are "Performance Winter/Snow Tires for drivers wanting enhanced dry road handling from their winter / snow tires and are willing to trade some snow and ice traction to get it."
The Michelins are "Studless Ice & Snow for drivers wanting to maximize snow and ice traction from their winter / snow tires without the inconvenience of using winter tire studs."
The Michelins are "Studless Ice & Snow for drivers wanting to maximize snow and ice traction from their winter / snow tires without the inconvenience of using winter tire studs."
Bottom line, I don't think you could really go wrong with either of the two above or the Nokian Hakkas or Blizzaks. All personal preference, priorities, availability and cost.
While I've never put snow tires onto my tesla I have used them on other rwd cars and it is my experience that the nokian hakkapelltas (sp) cannot be surpassed by any other tire. The caveat to that statement is that are not the best choice for using on dry pavement.
Thanks for the info everyone. Great feedback. It's always a toss up in Michigan as to how much snow we will actually get but I may try the Pirelli's and gamble on a light snow from time to time. I have used the blizzak tires in the past and they were very good on snow and ice but we have had quite a few winters with long dry spells. The blizzak's didn't do real well on dry pavement.
At any rate, the feedback was much appreciated
At any rate, the feedback was much appreciated
Struja
“Frost”
I have used Blizzaks and Hakka's. No doubt the Hakka's are better but this year I am going with X-Ice 3's. Not because I think they are the best but both the Blizzaks and Hakka's were terribly noisy and I am hoping the Michelin's are quieter.
PJFW8
Red Menace may hurt me
I had Blizzaks on two previous cars (RWD Mercedes and FWD Ford). Nice tires but noisy and poor wet performance. My current car has the Michelins. Quiet (relatively) and better wet and dry performance, Really good winter performance. I would buy X-Ice 3's again.
I had Michelin Xice3 in my fwd Honda Accord and it was incredible in the snow and even better in ice.
I have the tesla sottozero package for the Model S and it’s decent but in my opinion not as good on icy conditions as the Michelin.
If I were to do it again I’d buy just the stock wheels and tpms and get Michelin’s for winter.
I have the tesla sottozero package for the Model S and it’s decent but in my opinion not as good on icy conditions as the Michelin.
If I were to do it again I’d buy just the stock wheels and tpms and get Michelin’s for winter.
Ditto. Nice compromise between the really-soft Nokkians and the crappy Pirellis that came with my winter rims. (Was constantly getting stuck on 1 degree slopes with the Pirellis!)
Struja
“Frost”
That's great news. I loved my Hakka's but absolutely DESPISED my Blizzaks. I am looking forward to the Michelins.
Grand Haven. Lake Effect, although last winter was mild. Ran Michelin X-Ice 19" on RWD 2014 S85. No slippage, best winter driving experience in 11 years.
Drive on 21" Continentals in the summer. Handling on dry pavement after I switched was initially a little soft and jarring, but got used to the softer tires on dry pavement. Efficiency was very small loss for colder winter driving, going from 21" to 19"....maybe 10%...but it was a mild winter.
Have Tesla mount your winter tires. With no local service center, I had a pretty good tire shop try to mount my winter tires, and got a shimmy at about 45mph. Tesla corrected the balance and it rode great after.
Good luck.
Cheers.
Drive on 21" Continentals in the summer. Handling on dry pavement after I switched was initially a little soft and jarring, but got used to the softer tires on dry pavement. Efficiency was very small loss for colder winter driving, going from 21" to 19"....maybe 10%...but it was a mild winter.
Have Tesla mount your winter tires. With no local service center, I had a pretty good tire shop try to mount my winter tires, and got a shimmy at about 45mph. Tesla corrected the balance and it rode great after.
Good luck.
Cheers.
I use Michelin X-Ice winter tires (19") on my 90D. Everything from slush to snow to icy roads - the car and tires make driving very easy and predictable. One suggestion - make sure to lower regen breaking to "low" setting when roads are iced, snowy and slippery - Normal regen setting caused me to slip a few times when slowing down for another car, stop sign or traffic light.
Struja
“Frost”
This will be my first winter with my S90D. I am coming from a pretty light, Lexus IS350, RWD with Blizzaks on it.
Taking a left turn on a wet road at 25-30 km/hr was pretty treacherous so I am looking forward to how my S handles the Toronto snow (although to be fair - I can't even remember the last time we've had significant snow in Toronto).
Taking a left turn on a wet road at 25-30 km/hr was pretty treacherous so I am looking forward to how my S handles the Toronto snow (although to be fair - I can't even remember the last time we've had significant snow in Toronto).
Did anyone tried installing 18" wheels on model S? 18" tires are much cheaper and have more sidewall.
I was @ Costco today, they refused to install winter tires on Tesla. Apparently somebody @ Costco put the jack on battery instead of lift spot. Thus puncturing the battery, now costco issued blanket order for not touching the Tesla.
I was @ Costco today, they refused to install winter tires on Tesla. Apparently somebody @ Costco put the jack on battery instead of lift spot. Thus puncturing the battery, now costco issued blanket order for not touching the Tesla.
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