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Model Y Performance - Snow Tires Possible?

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I asked my local Tesla dealer about this today. They admitted that they're not expecting to offer winter tires for the Model Y this year.

Their suggestion was that I buy winter tires on my own and have Tesla install them. Note that this would mean swapping out my 21" Überturbines for another set of 21" tires on top of the same wheels. And, yes, that means the different width in the back.

I was actually willing to get 19" wheels with 19" tires in a square configuration, but I'm not sure how practical that would be.

Opinions?

Interesting feedback you received. There's a part of me that tries to recognize that parts and service advisors have been put in a tough spot not having any answers or solutions from Hawthorne/Freemont to give to PUP owners in more than half of the country.

I ended picking up a set of barely used 19" Geminis and will just roll with the fresh A/S tires this winter (and get snows next year). May be a bit of a risk but it seems there are enough images and videos of folks who've gone this route and Tesla even testing with Gemini wheels and the PUP brakes. Receiving tomorrow and planning to put them on in about a week to confirm it'll be good to go.
 
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Interesting feedback you received. There's a part of me that tries to recognize that parts and service advisors have been put in a tough spot not having any answers or solutions from Hawthorne/Freemont to give to PUP owners in more than half of the country.

I ended picking up a set of barely used 19" Geminis and will just roll with the fresh A/S tires this winter (and get snows next year). May be a bit of a risk but it seems there are enough images and videos of folks who've gone this route and Tesla even testing with Gemini wheels and the PUP brakes. Receiving tomorrow and planning to put them on in about a week to confirm it'll be good to go.
They'd have to be used, because I don't see where Tesla sells the Geminis separately from the MY itself.

To be honest, I think I'd prefer 19" tires, especially for winter. It would be nice to have some sidewalls, no matter how sexy the 21" rubber bands look. But to get those now, I'd have to buy new wheels from a 3rd party and then deal with the tire sensor issue. So maybe it's simpler to just go with what Tesla said.

Of course, since it's not a square setup, I can't even buy a set.

Dumb question: Will 4 uninflated tires fit comfortably in the back of a Model Y?
 
So I am trying to understand some thing here... come November and on in the North East, will Tesla stop delivering PUP cars, since the 21s are a summer tire only and can't be driven below 45 degrees or in snow?

Trying to understand how tesla doesn't go with an all season tire or at least give us the choice of summer for Southern states and all seasons for Northern states.

Say we have a little snow on the ground and I am picking up my PUP from the center, do they just wave me off with a "good luck getting home in your brand new car" ? Who is liable if I get into an accident half a block from picking it up?
 
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So I am trying to understand some thing here... come November and on in the North East, will Tesla stop delivering PUP cars, since the 21s are a summer tire only and can't be driven below 45 degrees or in snow?

Trying to understand how tesla doesn't go with an all season tire or at least give us the choice of summer for Southern states and all seasons for Northern states.

Say we have a little snow on the ground and I am picking up my PUP from the center, do they just wave me off with a "good luck getting home in your brand new car" ? Who is liable if I get into an accident half a block from picking it up?

That's a really good way to frame how dumb the situation is they've created. And not just here we're also talking northern Europe, China, Korea, etc. I haven't thought hard enough about the number or units we're talking here but it's not immaterial, so the situation you pose is not far fetched.
 
What's even crazier is that when going through the ordering process, you can't see what tires are equiped with the vehicle. No mention that you can't drive the car on the streets when taking delivery. What worries me here is that when people buy a car in North East during the cold months, they expect an SUV with AWD to come with proper tires for the environment. I bet many don't even think that the SUV they just got delivered is not suitable for the streets. Tesla is breaking the norm in what is expected when you purchase a vehicle. In this case, not in the right direction.

Have an order in for the MY and wife is already on my butt about not wanting to trade in our performance M3. What am I going to tell her? Oh hey, yeah the car that we are paying up 10k+ for.... Yeah, I need new tires for it before you drive it and gotta go through the hassle of selling the ones that come with the car. Yep, makes the case to move to the Y real smooth...
 
What's even crazier is that when going through the ordering process, you can't see what tires are equiped with the vehicle. No mention that you can't drive the car on the streets when taking delivery. What worries me here is that when people buy a car in North East during the cold months, they expect an SUV with AWD to come with proper tires for the environment. I bet many don't even think that the SUV they just got delivered is not suitable for the streets. Tesla is breaking the norm in what is expected when you purchase a vehicle. In this case, not in the right direction.

Have an order in for the MY and wife is already on my butt about not wanting to trade in our performance M3. What am I going to tell her? Oh hey, yeah the car that we are paying up 10k+ for.... Yeah, I need new tires for it before you drive it and gotta go through the hassle of selling the ones that come with the car. Yep, makes the case to move to the Y real smooth...
You're not wrong: Tesla is really screwing the pooch here.
 
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What's even crazier is that when going through the ordering process, you can't see what tires are equiped with the vehicle. No mention that you can't drive the car on the streets when taking delivery. What worries me here is that when people buy a car in North East during the cold months, they expect an SUV with AWD to come with proper tires for the environment. I bet many don't even think that the SUV they just got delivered is not suitable for the streets. Tesla is breaking the norm in what is expected when you purchase a vehicle. In this case, not in the right direction.

Have an order in for the MY and wife is already on my butt about not wanting to trade in our performance M3. What am I going to tell her? Oh hey, yeah the car that we are paying up 10k+ for.... Yeah, I need new tires for it before you drive it and gotta go through the hassle of selling the ones that come with the car. Yep, makes the case to move to the Y real smooth...
You could remind her You both picked a Performance car and as luck would have it they include Performance tires so not really that unusual. Don’t suspect they stop selling other Ferrari, Corvette, etc cars in the winter so my guess is they assume you bought with common sense.
 
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What's even crazier is that when going through the ordering process, you can't see what tires are equiped with the vehicle. No mention that you can't drive the car on the streets when taking delivery. What worries me here is that when people buy a car in North East during the cold months, they expect an SUV with AWD to come with proper tires for the environment. I bet many don't even think that the SUV they just got delivered is not suitable for the streets. Tesla is breaking the norm in what is expected when you purchase a vehicle. In this case, not in the right direction.

Have an order in for the MY and wife is already on my butt about not wanting to trade in our performance M3. What am I going to tell her? Oh hey, yeah the car that we are paying up 10k+ for.... Yeah, I need new tires for it before you drive it and gotta go through the hassle of selling the ones that come with the car. Yep, makes the case to move to the Y real smooth...

Yep, better to have a square set of 19s ready with some decent winter tires mounted....Nokian R3s, Vred Wintraks, Michelin Snows. You'll need a second set anyway, and will make the 21s last longer, if you choose to keep them. Do not drive the 21s even out of the lot in snow or ice.
 
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Photos once you get them on please!

Here you go. Not the best picture, I'll get more later. Bear in mind I have the MPP 1.75" lift kit. I love the wheels! I hate the tires so far. I'll give them a couple of days to see if they break in.

20200926_140330.jpg
 
You could remind her You both picked a Performance car and as luck would have it they include Performance tires so not really that unusual. Don’t suspect they stop selling other Ferrari, Corvette, etc cars in the winter so my guess is they assume you bought with common sense.

Let's not compare a Tesla model Y to a Ferrari or Corvette. Those two vehicles where never meant to see snow. Let's take a high end Porsche SUV, Benz, BMW XM5, Range supercharged.. Etc and let's see if they come with summer tires ONLY at the dealership.

In fact let's see if the dealerships selling those vehicles expect you to buy another set of wheels / tires before safely taking the vehicle home in temps below 45, snow or ice.

Maybe I am part of the few people out there that doesn't know or care the tires that come standard with my car, cause maybe I just assume, that if the dealership is handing me keys to an SUV, in the north east, in cold weather, that they expect me to drive it in snow, sand, off road, wet, cold environments. If we were talking about the Tesla roadster, then maybe I would agree with you, but we are talking about an SUV here that I cant use straight out of the dealership for its intended purpose for 3rd of the year.
 
Let's not compare a Tesla model Y to a Ferrari or Corvette.

Why not? The Model Y Performance PUP is closer to those cars around a race track than the SUVs you mentioned. Even if most Ferraris and Corvettes can't keep up with a Y for one lap around a lot of race tracks.

but we are talking about an SUV here that I cant use straight out of the dealership for its intended purpose for 3rd of the year.
No, when you buy ANY vehicle with 35 series tires in a non square configuration it's intended purpose is to haul ass on a dry, twisty road.

It's really easy. Either order a LR AWD or buy some 19" wheels and tires. It really doesn't matter if the dealer carries those as you can buy better alternatives for less money from the aftermarket anyways. Maybe Tesla will carry winter wheel/tire sets for the Y in October, or maybe they figured out they weren't selling them because most people chose better alternatives. Both Martian and Tsportline carry better wheels for less money than the factory options. Just buy some 19" Martians and some good all season tires and sell your Ubertines, or better yet have a seperate set of wheels and tires for winter.

I honestly don't understand your conundrum. You have to take some responsibility for understanding something so simple as what wheels and tires an expensive car you're buying comes with. I get that Tesla doesn't mention the P model comes with max performance summer tires, and they really should. But the consumer should also take the 5 or 10 minutes required to do a little bit of research. A quick search at Tire Rack shows that winter tires don't exist for the Model Y Performance PUP.
 
Why not? The Model Y Performance PUP is closer to those cars around a race track than the SUVs you mentioned. Even if most Ferraris and Corvettes can't keep up with a Y for one lap around a lot of race tracks.


No, when you buy ANY vehicle with 35 series tires in a non square configuration it's intended purpose is to haul ass on a dry, twisty road.

It's really easy. Either order a LR AWD or buy some 19" wheels and tires. It really doesn't matter if the dealer carries those as you can buy better alternatives for less money from the aftermarket anyways. Maybe Tesla will carry winter wheel/tire sets for the Y in October, or maybe they figured out they weren't selling them because most people chose better alternatives. Both Martian and Tsportline carry better wheels for less money than the factory options. Just buy some 19" Martians and some good all season tires and sell your Ubertines, or better yet have a seperate set of wheels and tires for winter.

I honestly don't understand your conundrum. You have to take some responsibility for understanding something so simple as what wheels and tires an expensive car you're buying comes with. I get that Tesla doesn't mention the P model comes with max performance summer tires, and they really should. But the consumer should also take the 5 or 10 minutes required to do a little bit of research. A quick search at Tire Rack shows that winter tires don't exist for the Model Y Performance PUP.

The conundrum is this: no other SUV that I know of from a high end manufacturer comes with summer tires ONLY in their most expensive trim. Maybe some specialized trim, but generally it virtually does not happen.

Just because it's faster than your mentioned Ferrari and corvette, it does not mean that this is a specialized track only car or summer only car. The general target market for those cars (Ferrari especially) is quite different.

Who tesla competes here with are the high end SUV manufacturers and not ferraris. There is a certain level of expectation when I am purchasing an SUV. That expectation is that I can take the car into less friendly areas that I would a car. Higher clearance for snow, hills, etc. If you are playing in that market and wish to do something that is outside of the expectation, that should be clearly said in big bold letters. For example, when you select the performance trim and mind you this is not a downgrade, but an upgrade of only two available trims, with no way to chose a different wheel / tire setup, you need to explicitly disclaimer that "you are taking high risk driving the vehicle out of the dealership in snow, or low temperature, that may result in an accident or death" - general expectation is for an SUV to be equiped with proper options to take advantage of the intended purposes of the vehicle.

Its akin to Ford F150 SVT coming with summer tires and inability to tow. The decision process in that regard is mind boggling and outside the norm. No, it's not normal to buy a second set of tires to drive an SUV out of the dealership in 40 degree weather. No, it's not normal for an SUV to not be driveable in 2" of snow right out of the dealership.

Give an option to choose all seasons / summer or put an effing disclaimer on the website before somebody kills themselves. I know of not a single person that goes into the dealership asking for a supercharged range and in the same breath asking if they can drive it in snow or below 40 degree weather. Call a spade, a spade. The company is not going to get better through placating bad decisions.
 
The conundrum is this: no other SUV that I know of from a high end manufacturer comes with summer tires ONLY in their most expensive trim.
The first one I checked was the BMW X4M. Configuring one online gives three wheel options, all of which are listed as including “performance non run-flat” tires, but it does not mention if the tire compound is all-season or summer compatible. According to tirerack, all three of the OE tire options are summer tires.

So it seems at least the Model Y Performance and X4M require the same set of assumptions from the buyer, that they are purchasing a high performance vehicle optimized for particular driving situations and conditions. Additionally, neither Tesla nor BMW specifically describes the tires as summer-only nor provides all-season tires as an OE alternative.
 
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The first one I checked was the BMW X4M. Configuring one online gives three wheel options, all of which are listed as including “performance non run-flat” tires, but it does not mention if the tire compound is all-season or summer compatible. According to tirerack, all three of the OE tire options are summer tires.

So it seems at least the Model Y Performance and X4M require the same set of assumptions from the buyer, that they are purchasing a high performance vehicle optimized for particular driving situations and conditions. Additionally, neither Tesla nor BMW specifically describes the tires as summer-only nor provides all-season tires as an OE alternative.

You are right, BMW website doesn't make it clear which type of tire that is. But since I had XM5 I can safely say that it came standard with all-season. My point is that it is not the norm and the the very least should be disclosed, so we can make an informed decision.
 
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Here you go. Not the best picture, I'll get more later. Bear in mind I have the MPP 1.75" lift kit. I love the wheels! I hate the tires so far. I'll give them a couple of days to see if they break in.

View attachment 592620
Those wheels do look nice. However, I'm getting used to the 21s and those 19s look a bit small to me. Let us know how this set up handles once you've put a few more miles on the tires. I've now put about 500 hard miles on the stock setup and I LOVE it. After all the comments about the Ubertines/pzeros I was concerned. But driving around the rural and urban roads - at speed - has been a real pleasure. I will be loathe to switch to winter tires, unless someone finds a great all around set up. Anyone??
Regarding all these posts about the pzeros being only performance summer tires - my experience suggests otherwise. I've run through 2 sets on my BMW M3 year round in the PNW. Granted, on frozen snow with RWD it was tricky, and I did not take it up the ski hill, but for driving around town in the slush, sleet, light snow and heavy rain those tire were fine.
 
Those wheels do look nice. However, I'm getting used to the 21s and those 19s look a bit small to me. Let us know how this set up handles once you've put a few more miles on the tires. I've now put about 500 hard miles on the stock setup and I LOVE it. After all the comments about the Ubertines/pzeros I was concerned. But driving around the rural and urban roads - at speed - has been a real pleasure. I will be loathe to switch to winter tires, unless someone finds a great all around set up. Anyone??
Regarding all these posts about the pzeros being only performance summer tires - my experience suggests otherwise. I've run through 2 sets on my BMW M3 year round in the PNW. Granted, on frozen snow with RWD it was tricky, and I did not take it up the ski hill, but for driving around town in the slush, sleet, light snow and heavy rain those tire were fine.

I couldn't agree more with everything you said. I REALLY like the stock 21s. I'm changing to 19s even on the summer side because I need more sidewall for mild off-road use. Also, the 21s get damaged pretty easy. The 21s are awesome tires. great in the wet, quiet, incredible handling. If you don't need to switch, I wouldn't. The Martians are great so far, but not liking the Bridgestones. 8db louder at 45 mph and worse range--so far--than the 21s. I'll probably return them and get the Vredesteins.
 
You are right, BMW website doesn't make it clear which type of tire that is. But since I had XM5 I can safely say that it came standard with all-season. My point is that it is not the norm and the the very least should be disclosed, so we can make an informed decision.
Looking at the X3M, X5M and X6M online configurators, they all come with summer tires only. It appears this practice is the norm for at least Tesla and BMW.
 
You could remind her You both picked a Performance car and as luck would have it they include Performance tires so not really that unusual. Don’t suspect they stop selling other Ferrari, Corvette, etc cars in the winter so my guess is they assume you bought with common sense.

OP noted that you are not even able to see that it comes equipped with summer rubber when ordering. This is true. 'Common sense' wouldn't dictate necessarily dicate that a stock CUV/SUV comes equipped with summer rubber standard. BMW offers A/S standard on the M40i but summer standard on the X3M. They consider both as performance variants in their line (same for Q and GLC). I feel like the whole point was not, what is the best decision regarding winter - for myself I agree with snows and do a 2nd square set for my 3 and Y regardless - but having zero transparency about this nor any factory option available for customers in more than half of the country, is simply bush league. And moving those units through the winter, with Tesla's trademark turn-and-run-from-you-if-you-have-a-question-same-as-if-you-are
-at-Home-Depot sales advisors, never there to never help, is also second rate. The tolerance for what's even minimally acceptable there is a whole 'nother topic.

They perform the same in some ways. But, I still haven't met anyone who's cross shopping a Model Y PUP vs. a Ferrari or Vette. Maybe that's a thing down south or out west. More of a family mover at least in the midwest...

Jokes aside I think we can all agree what makes the most sense to do if purchasing this vehicle. But that misses the point for what Tesla should be doing like any other potty trained manufacturer to at the very least make some information of any kind available to prospective customers, and also nearly 9 months after the launch of a vehicle have some sort of OEM option available a month ago. If nothing else how many high margin wheel sales are they missing and how many buyers are trading down to the Long Range (also lower margin for Tesla) due to this issue? Double whammy. I ended up buying a set of Geminis from someone who replaced them with a set from Tsportline that is $4K Tesla could have otherwise themselves captured.

Not having any sh*ts to give about details like this could adversely impact or even harm new buyers who want a fast CUV, but, don't spend their evenings checking out message boards like this one with dopes like me to know every inane detail of the car they're buying for themselves or maybe a spouse, family member, child, etc.
 
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I saw in another thread that they will put the tires on for you if you bring them with you. Has anybody done that? I am wondering if they will opt to do it for free if the temps are below safe driving (as recommended by the tire manufacturer) - if they can do that, I will just swap out the tires at delivery and sell the take-offs when possible.
 
A different perspective. Are winter tires necessary? I've seen several Model 3 Performance cars in the middle and northern US that come with Michelin Pilot Sport 4S and Model S with Continental ExtremeContact DW or Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires, where the owner didn't opt for winter tires. At the moment, I don't plan to have winter wheels or tires on my Model Y PUP. I can't justify about 4K for this as of yet, especially in this COVID19 world where we aren't driving nearly as much.