New Owner - Want New Tires

[PineNut]

I had a 2022 MYLR with the Continental ProContact tires. I thought they rode and held up well, although I did feel and hear the cracks in the road. With the MY suspension being firm, it was hard to tell if the suspension or tires was more responsible In our Colorado snow (not a huge amount of snow and roads are plowed pretty well) they did well enough that I didn't see a need for snow tires around town. Driving high speed over passes would be different.

I just picked up a 2024 Austin MYLR and it came with Pirelli Scorpion MS tires made for EVs. It looks like these are expensive tires since they are listed at $422 each at Tire Rack. I've only had the car a few days but the tires do run a bit smoother and quieter than the Continentals. However this may be because they are new. They seem to handle well on dry pavement and have foam for a quieter ride and supposedly have lower rolling resistance. I was getting about 245 Whr/mi on the Continentals overall, and am getting about 260 Whr/mi so far on the Pirellis. But it's winter and the tires are new so I think that will improve enough to do better long term than the Continentals.

We've got a good snow storm coming tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how the tires do in the snow. However, I've got a PPF appointment next week and may not want to get the car dirty so I might wait for the next storm to try them. There are only three reviews at Tire Rack so far, and one is negative regarding snow performance. I wouldn't be surprised because while the tires do have pretty deep grooves in the rolling direction for rain, I don't see much in the way of cross grooves for snow. I hope the AWD helps.

Pirelli Scorpion MS at Tire Rack

 

[corbis]

Hi All,

DISCLAIMER: I did research this forum prior to posting this.

I am a new owner, well more so my wife is a new owner of a 2023 MYLR w/ 19" Gemini wheels (Continental Procontact RX). We live in Salt Lake City, UT and we can have decent winters. We have lived here our whole lives and winter is nothing new to us.

I have concerns about the MYLR and the Regenerative Braking and lack of "Snow Mode" on OE tires: Continental Procontact RX and have a few questions for your folks.

1. What MYLR Braking settings would you recommend driving with in Utah or similar winter climates?
2. Tires... I've narrowed it down to 3 selections based off of my research prior to posting this but want to hear your thoughts.

Some context... We recently sold my wife's 2021 Kia Sorrento with Kumho Crugen Premium KL33 Tires and that is what my wife drove year-round, no winter tires, no replacement/better A/S tires. I am going to take their TireRack ratings as a baseline, and as you can see the baseline for the Kumho in winter is 6.1 score.

These are the three tires (in no particular order) for the MYLR 19" wheels I have narrowed down to, but I am open to suggestions. I am aware the Range/Efficiency is going to take a hit with all of these tires but feel with the Regen Braking, a better tire may be warranted in UT for wintertime (Without a dedicated winter tire).

My wife drives about 50-60 miles daily, most of it highway/interstate to and from work. We have a Wall Mounted charger and charge daily to 80%. I know for better winter/snow traction, we are going to take a decent hit in efficiency.

Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations! Thanks so much!

• MICHELIN CROSSCLIMATE2 Snow Rating of 8.8
• CONTINENTAL EXTREMECONTACT DWS 06 PLUS Snow Rating of 7.6
• VREDESTEIN QUATRAC PRO - Snow Rating of 8.2

Thanks everyone for the help in advance!

TL;DR: Use off-road mode on snow and ice, it makes a MASSIVE difference.

I have a 2021 MYLR on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 all seasons. I drive from Denver to the mountains almost every weekend in the winter to ski. Regen braking on snow used to terrify me due to the surprise oversteer that I’m sure you’ve read about on here. For the previous two winters I had Continental VikingContact snow tires, but even then I still got stressed driving on snow packed roads - the Contis did not fix the oversteer issue.

This winter I started using off-road mode when conditions get slick, and it’s impressive enough that I’m skipping the snow tires this year. Yes, snow tires are absolutely the best investment you can make to improve your cars handling on snow and ice. But even with dedicated snow tires I never felt truly confident in the MY; as I said, it didn’t fix the oversteer under breaking.

Off-road mode completely fixed the unpredictable behavior under regen braking, at least in my experience. The reason has to do with brake bias. Pretty much every other road car applies the majority of the braking force to the front wheels, which keeps the car stable under braking (this is known as a “front brake bias”). Teslas, at least under regen, apply the majority of braking force to the rear wheels, due to the rear motor being larger and more powerful than the front. This setup is known as a “rear brake bias,” and it causes instability and rotation under braking.

Off-road mode forces the front and rear motors to apply exactly the same amount of force both when accelerating and when braking. This helps with stability in both scenarios, and it’s made an especially big difference for me when braking. You still have the same limitations as any other car on snow and ice - it’s still harder to start, stop, and turn than on dry pavement - but at least tone the car does start spinning out wildly when you least expect it.

The biggest complaint I’ve seen about off road mode on here is that “it disables traction control,” but that is absolutely not the case. It reduces traction control (which allows a bit more wheel spin to get the car moving in mud or snow), but TCS will absolutely still cut power if it detects too much slip. Tesla really needs to change the icon that appears on the screen when using off road mode, because it misleads people into believing the system will be more dangerous than it actually is.

If you get dedicated snow tires and use off-road mode, your car will be absolutely unstoppable in snow.