New tyres soon-ish - any recommendations?

[vitesse]

At 37K miles now and the previous owner told me he had new Michelin Pilot Sport 3s fitted (by Tesla) at 18,000 so the current ones have lasted longer than the first set. I'm running 19 inch rims, so not stupidly low profiles

I am guessing we'll need new tyres in the next 3-5K. I had a look via search here but there isn't anything that recent on tyres in the discussions. I'm not necessarily sticking with Michelins. Living in Herts I have never needed winter tyres and we have all wheel drive.

So what are your recommendations for a tyre that has good life, good economy (rolling resistance), low noise and reasonable grip?

 

[WannabeOwner]

Living in Herts I have never needed winter tyres and we have all wheel drive

I fit Winters to all our cars. In my opinion if they prevent a minor bump once a decade not having the ensuing hassle is well worthwhile, let alone anything more significant, and I think they perform better below e.g. 10C on cold-wet, let alone icy or snow. I'm rural though, so high chance of ungritted back road for a few miles of any journey.

AWD will help you "go" but not "stop"; it might help a bit on corners, but I went straight on in an RS4 at negligible speed on a 90-degree bend with black ice; that definitely would not have happened with Winters.

I put Michelins (summers) on, with the foam inserts. Can't say they were any quieter, in practice, and to my ear the sound changed to a lower noise, which troubled me at first but I must have got used to it as I don't notice it now.

My local tyre fitter is happy to fit mail order tyres, so that's what I do (unless his price is close enough), I've had quite a few from these people and been happy with them.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/

 

[vitesse]

Good point about stopping v.s. 'going' - if it's snowing my wife probably won't go to work as it's hilly where we are. In past years I have had to park our car at the bottom of our road (we're half way up a hill) but I'm confident the Tesla will get up the hill in snow. Going down the hill is another matter, especially at the crossroads at the bottom of our street. Once off our street all the roads will be gritted so black ice is not likely to be an issue.

 

[WannabeOwner]

especially at the crossroads at the bottom of our street

You could always try "The faster you go across a crossroads the less chance you have of hitting anything"

In days before Winter tyres, but AWD, we had a hill with right angle bend at the bottom and it was touch-and-go at the bottom ...

Snow is rare though ...

You will no doubt be aware of the Pro/Con:

having two sets of tyres means only 50% wear on each, p.a. ... so in longer term cost-neutral

but either you shell out on two sets of rims or pay to swap rubber on the same rims

In the olden days I used to have steel rims for Winters, because the salt would wreck alloys .. I'm doubting that is a Tesla-option

black ice is not likely to be an issue.

For me the very fact that it is "not likely" makes it dangerous. I don't know how likely a "bit missed by the gritter" is ... perhaps the bunch of cars in the ditch would be enough warning to slow down!

 

[vitesse]

Well, we've been here for 25 years and never had winter tyres and never really felt we needed them. Storing an extra set of tyres would be a challenge here as well (far too much in storage already!).

 

[WannabeOwner]

we've been here for 25 years and never had winter tyres and never really felt we needed them

Fair enough. I never thought to have them until the first time I drove up an alpine road packed with snow from bottom to top and was amazed at the difference. That was a 2WD and I passed everything else on the road, and had more sure-footed confidence than i could have believed. Having bought them, for that trip (instead of chains) I then had them for the rest of the Winter and decided that I was better off. bit subjective though ...

Storing an extra set of tyres would be a challenge here as well

The VW <spit> garage used to look after ours for us, I think QuikFit et all offer that service too ... but now I have a Big Boy's Shed

 

[vitesse]

[QUOTE="WannabeOwner, post: 4192692, member: 40637"

The VW <spit> garage used to look after ours for us, I think QuikFit et all offer that service too ... but now I have a Big Boy's Shed [/QUOTE]

Big shed here too - full of cr@p - no room for four big tyres!

 

[MrBadger]

Big shed here too - full of cr@p - no room for four big tyres!

Go on, give it a try...

Not sure what we got rid of, I think just a box of bits that we decanted into some crates, but we managed to fit 4 summer tyres, a tow hook bike rack and still end up with more space in the garage.

I think they work like bins, the more you squeeze in, the more space you end up with.

 

[Vidyutyaan]

Have you considered the Michelin CrossClimate+ as a solution to both scenarios?
Supposed to be a good summer tyre that can also handle snow and ice very well.
Prices are comparable to the Pilot Sport.
I know snow is rare but I think the reassurance that a capable tyre would give is worth it.

 

[MrBadger]

On my old car, I asked an indi tyre garage about the Michelin cross climates they were advertising. He shrugged his shoulders and told us to stick with our 'all season' Continentals that were OEM. He said that they were a better winter tyre than some specialist winters. He didn't have to say that as he effectively lost out on a future sale.

 

[ajp558]

I switched my M3P+ from 20" OEM to 18" with Michelin CrossClimate + a couple of weeks ago. I am really enjoying them so far in the colder and wetter weather. I find them very confidence inspiring using the car in Sport Mode, coming from an X5 that was also good with the right tyres. So far, with just a 1000 miles on them I am giving them the thumbs up. No snow here in NE Hamps yet though.

 

[Cherub77]

Crossclimates are ok but in summer in my previous car they would go off and in snow they were ok, better then summer tyres but not as good as winter tyres. I wouldn’t recommend them on a performance car, especially a heavy one if you really like driving and pressing on, as a one tyre does all compromise they work well.