I decided to dump the Pirelli Pzero stock tires from my Model 3 Performance. The Pzeros lasted about 23K miles. I wasn't about to shell out another >$400 per tire and so took my chances with the Falken Azenis FK510 235/35ZR20. This was at the recommendation of the tire shop. They were $182/tire and have a higher wear rating than the Pzero.
My impressions for the Falkens is extremely positive for the cost.
Here they are on the car:
They have a noticeably "softer" thud to bumps which translates to a less harsh and quieter ride over the Pzeros. On the freeway, they have much less drone than my Pzeros did and offer a much smoother ride (which was odd and unexpected given the Pzeros have foam insulation - I believe now Pirelli has to use the foam for not "better" sound performance, but just to meet acceptable sound performance levels due to their design). I inspected the Pzeros to dig further into differences in design that could be causing this and discovered the Pirellis have this very hard rubber center line down the middle of the tire. This hard rubber center line on the Pzeros is bound to cause added road noise as it wasn't as soft as the surrounding rubber and had an odd bumpy feel/look to it. The tire shop says this was not caused by my alignment and they thought my alignment was fine and the Pzeros have this hard structural line all the way through the tread. My tires have been properly inflated, so any unusual wear would be a head scratcher. But maybe this is why the Pirelli Pzero's need the foam to counter act the noise caused by this design element (it was on all 4 tires)?
Here is a pic of that Pzero hard rubber center line:
Efficiency was unnaffected by the Falkens. I typically got around 220 Wh/mi on my morning commute and these Falkens have proved to be no different in regards to efficiency which I was worried about given the tread is slightly different.
Here is a pic of my commute efficiency after 17 miles same lane/same route (trip "A" value):
I don't track my car, so I'm not concerned with track performance etc. But, flooring from a stop in a straight line they seemed to offer the same Pzero performance off the line and traction control kicked the same way, so I'd say no perceptible difference in grip in dry, 70 degree F conditions.
I will probably never go back to the expensive Pirellis at this point. These Falken Azenis FK510 are perfectly acceptable replacements for a daily driver (non-track perspective) and extremely cost effective. I'll update this thread as the miles go on and I reach end of life on the tires as well.
My impressions for the Falkens is extremely positive for the cost.
Here they are on the car:
They have a noticeably "softer" thud to bumps which translates to a less harsh and quieter ride over the Pzeros. On the freeway, they have much less drone than my Pzeros did and offer a much smoother ride (which was odd and unexpected given the Pzeros have foam insulation - I believe now Pirelli has to use the foam for not "better" sound performance, but just to meet acceptable sound performance levels due to their design). I inspected the Pzeros to dig further into differences in design that could be causing this and discovered the Pirellis have this very hard rubber center line down the middle of the tire. This hard rubber center line on the Pzeros is bound to cause added road noise as it wasn't as soft as the surrounding rubber and had an odd bumpy feel/look to it. The tire shop says this was not caused by my alignment and they thought my alignment was fine and the Pzeros have this hard structural line all the way through the tread. My tires have been properly inflated, so any unusual wear would be a head scratcher. But maybe this is why the Pirelli Pzero's need the foam to counter act the noise caused by this design element (it was on all 4 tires)?
Here is a pic of that Pzero hard rubber center line:
Efficiency was unnaffected by the Falkens. I typically got around 220 Wh/mi on my morning commute and these Falkens have proved to be no different in regards to efficiency which I was worried about given the tread is slightly different.
Here is a pic of my commute efficiency after 17 miles same lane/same route (trip "A" value):
I don't track my car, so I'm not concerned with track performance etc. But, flooring from a stop in a straight line they seemed to offer the same Pzero performance off the line and traction control kicked the same way, so I'd say no perceptible difference in grip in dry, 70 degree F conditions.
I will probably never go back to the expensive Pirellis at this point. These Falken Azenis FK510 are perfectly acceptable replacements for a daily driver (non-track perspective) and extremely cost effective. I'll update this thread as the miles go on and I reach end of life on the tires as well.
