No Winter tires available for my soon to be delivered Model S.

[Grey on Grey]

I am appalled that I cannot find any suitable Winter tires for my Model S which I pick up Monday.
It comes with "No Season" Michelin Primacy tires and being Winter, it should have Winter tires already on it.
I am not really pleased with Tesla for not equipping it with Winter tires.

I can get the Tesla approved Pirellis but they are only good in North Carolina type weather. They are no good in deep snow.

Only in Quebec are dealers forced to sell Winter tires in winter. I think the rest of Canada should follow suit.
I'll have to make do with the "No season" tires for the rest of this Winter!

Yes, I can order them from the States in Nevada of all places but they also pre charge Customs and duty which I would rather pay myself here. Plus the devalued Canadian greenback makes it less tempting to order from a foreign country.

 

[techMology]

I have the Pirelli's on my BMW currently and I live in Toronto. They're fine here, and, they are "winter tires" (and qualify for the Quebec law too).

There are some benefits to the Pirelli's too. They are quieter than a pure winter tire, and they'll perform better on cleared roads (which, if you're driving in the city, 90% of the time).

 

[Doug_G]

Pirellis are not perfect, but they're a LOT better than running on summer tires. Personally I'd go ahead and get them. Fortunately you are in Toronto, so you'll have a few really bad days, but nothing like we do here in Ottawa... and right now I'm going through my second winter on the Pirellis.

"Real" snow tires aren't perfect either. The Pirellis are probably better when you're not slogging through deep snow. In my ideal world I'd have three sets of rims: Pirellis in Oct/Nov and Mar/Apr, and "real" snows for Dec/Jan/Feb.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

So did you order the car with 21" wheels and not order the 19" winter wheels with tires or did you expect to find 21" winter tires? I'm trying to figure out as there are various good tires and are you saying that none are available in Toronto? No Hakka R2, Hakka 7 etc? Sounds odd... I know Tesla has been somewhat limited in supply with winter wheels so if you ordered those I can understand the frustration, but if you didn't, then what seems to be the problem? Tesla does offer winter wheels, just not for free...

 

[Grey on Grey]

I ordered it with the standard 19 inch wheels. Comes with the No season Michelin tires.

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I travel quite often to snow belt cold regions such as Ottawa and Quebec so I really do need the good winter tires.

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The Hakkas and Michelins Ice X are not available anywhere in Canada.
I'll probably have to take it easy with the stock No Seasons until next year.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Really, no snow tires available? This seems like a really bizarre situation. I mean I knew my car was coming so I bought the Hakka 8's weeks in advance. You could have had them even shipped from EU if the worst happened and there really were no tires in the whole NA continent, but I somehow doubt that. Tesla ships the cars with the summer tires, they are willing to swap to winter wheels, but they don't do tire swapping as they consider it as damaging to the tire. So if you didn't order the winter wheels (why?) then you were the one who had to get the winter tires. Sorry if I sound negative, but that's basic forward thinking as you knew the car would arrive on summer tires months in advance and you knew there would be snow Now if you DID order from Tesla the winter set as well, then you can blame them for not delivering on those. But I wouldn't drive in wintery conditions on summer tires. Unless I was driving carefully to the tire shop to get them replaced because I got caught in an early snowfall (has happened once, most years I'm on winter tires before snow).

 

[Doug_G]

I travel quite often to snow belt cold regions such as Ottawa and Quebec so I really do need the good winter tires.

Dude, I live there, and am surviving okay with the Pirellis. Yes I expect I'll switch once they wear out, but they're doing the job.

 

[mnx]

You are the Canadian version of neroden on these forums.

Consumer reports gave the Pirelli Sottozero Winter 240 Serie II an excellent rating for snow traction FWIW.

 

[Kalud]

I would like to add that I have driven on snow and ice covered roads when I got my MS around Dec 1st, before I installed Hakka R2 and I would say that the 19 inch Michelin Primacy are not that bad, they are actually ok if you are careful... There is a HUGE difference with the Michelin PS2 (that are simply dangerous on anything frozen, the car I replaced had these). All season vs performance summer...

I like my Hakka R2, they are awesome on ice and snow. They are very soft on dry road, traction control kicks in very often

 

[Doug_G]

Oh yeah, the Michelin PS2's are downright dangerous on ice and snow. Fantastic tires in dry/wet conditions. Terrifying in winter.

 

[deonb]

I would like to add that I have driven on snow and ice covered roads when I got my MS around Dec 1st, before I installed Hakka R2 and I would say that the 19 inch Michelin Primacy are not that bad, they are actually ok if you are careful... There is a HUGE difference with the Michelin PS2 (that are simply dangerous on anything frozen, the car I replaced had these). All season vs performance summer...

Ditto. I live in Seattle so we don't enough snow to make specific snow tires worth it, but of course it's still cold so the 21" summer tires are still dangerous. So I got Michelin Primacy MXM4 19" tires as my "winter" tires.

They work like a charm - I've even gone up to the mountain passes and driven around the snow to see how they hold. Even in ice spots where it was literally impossible for people to stand without holding on, the tires held firm with only minor slippage.

 

[Alysashley79]

I am appalled that I cannot find any suitable Winter tires for my Model S which I pick up Monday.
It comes with "No Season" Michelin Primacy tires and being Winter, it should have Winter tires already on it.
I am not really pleased with Tesla for not equipping it with Winter tires.

I can get the Tesla approved Pirellis but they are only good in North Carolina type weather. They are no good in deep snow.

Only in Quebec are dealers forced to sell Winter tires in winter. I think the rest of Canada should follow suit.
I'll have to make do with the "No season" tires for the rest of this Winter!

Yes, I can order them from the States in Nevada of all places but they also pre charge Customs and duty which I would rather pay myself here. Plus the devalued Canadian greenback makes it less tempting to order from a foreign country.

im kind of apalled that just because we are now well into winter and you've know for how long this vehicle was coming and YOU chose not to prepare for it you blame tesla. Why would tesla equip your car with winter approved tires? That's your job! What was the last car dealership you purchased a brand new car from and it came from the factory with winter tires.

 

[Canuck]

Only in Quebec are dealers forced to sell Winter tires in winter. I think the rest of Canada should follow suit.

I don't. We rarely see snow here in rainy, south coastal BC. I have no plans to buy winter tires for my Tesla and I sure don't want them forced on me. It will stay snug in my garage on those very rare days when we get snow.

 

[dsm363]

im kind of apalled that just because we are now well into winter and you've know for how long this vehicle was coming and YOU chose not to prepare for it you blame tesla. Why would tesla equip your car with winter approved tires? That's your job! What was the last car dealership you purchased a brand new car from and it came from the factory with winter tires.

Exactly. There is always tirerack or something like that too.

 

[jerry33]

Winter tires are sold to tire dealers in April through early July, produced by the tire manufacturers from June to October, and delivered to the dealers September to November. After the end of November it's hard to find winter tires except in the most common sizes. Also the demand has to be known well before the winter season. I wouldn't expect to be able to get winter tires now except as a replacement for a damaged tire (Tire manufacturers always keep a handful of tires for replacement purposes.)

 

[matbl]

GAAAH! Every time I read this kind of thread I get kind of upset (not that much but a little) about Tesla's lack of respect for different markets. Northern markets need proper summer/winter tires. Not those crappy "no season". It's not only Canada, the nothern parts of Europe is the same.
In Europe, no serious car manufacturer delivers "no season" tires on any kind of car. All cars are delivered with proper summer tires and then those who need it can buy winter tires. I can't understand why cars are delivered with "no seasons" in North America, but Tesla should have adapted to Canadian and European markets for this.

 

[delanman]

Michelin Primacy MXM4 19" on order with Tirerack... Rial Lugano Silver backordered to 3/1 so I'll have a couple weeks on the 'no season' tires. Tesla Grin and 'no season' tires in Winter weather is a bad combination.

 

[Robert.Boston]

I am appalled that I cannot find any suitable Winter tires for my Model S which I pick up Monday.
It comes with "No Season" Michelin Primacy tires and being Winter, it should have Winter tires already on it.
I am not really pleased with Tesla for not equipping it with Winter tires.

I can get the Tesla approved Pirellis but they are only good in North Carolina type weather. They are no good in deep snow.

Only in Quebec are dealers forced to sell Winter tires in winter. I think the rest of Canada should follow suit.
I'll have to make do with the "No season" tires for the rest of this Winter!

Yes, I can order them from the States in Nevada of all places but they also pre charge Customs and duty which I would rather pay myself here. Plus the devalued Canadian greenback makes it less tempting to order from a foreign country.

Tesla was very clear from the moment you pressed the Order button what tires would be on the car. As you yourself note, Ontario does not require car manufacturers to ship with winter tires. Why did you expect Tesla to deliver something other than what you ordered?

Please step and take responsibility for your own (in)action. You could have ordered the snow tires you wanted at the same time you ordered your car; if you didn't want the ones Tesla has offered, you have many other choices (if you had taken advantage of the lead time you had when you ordered the car).

You apparently feel strongly about the need for legislative reform in Ontario on this issue. Have you written your MP? It's not Tesla's job to change provincial law.

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GAAAH! Every time I read this kind of thread I get kind of upset (not that much but a little) about Tesla's lack of respect for different markets. Northern markets need proper summer/winter tires. Not those crappy "no season". It's not only Canada, the nothern parts of Europe is the same.
In Europe, no serious car manufacturer delivers "no season" tires on any kind of car. All cars are delivered with proper summer tires and then those who need it can buy winter tires. I can't understand why cars are delivered with "no seasons" in North America, but Tesla should have adapted to Canadian and European markets for this.

I disagree on this point: when you order the Model S, you have a choice of tires. If you ordered the snow tire option, Tesla will deliver it with those on. If you didn't, Tesla is assuming you don't care about snow tires or have made other arrangements. Perhaps American companies believe more in consumer choice, but personally I'm glad that they are treating their buyers as intelligent individuals who can make rational choices.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

I disagree on this point: when you order the Model S, you have a choice of tires. If you ordered the snow tire option, Tesla will deliver it with those on. If you didn't, Tesla is assuming you don't care about snow tires or have made other arrangements. Perhaps American companies believe more in consumer choice, but personally I'm glad that they are treating their buyers as intelligent individuals who can make rational choices.

Well I agree that you can order winter tires from Tesla and then expect to get the car delivered on those. But what I for example found really ugly was that the 19" wheels came only with Goodyear all-season tires. Those are no good in summer or winter (something which is good for everything is good for nothing). I would have preferred that the car came with proper summer tires as an option at the very least and then people can order proper winter tires. Luckily enough I got a car with 21" wheels and proper summer tires so having a second set of wheels for winter tires with Hakka 8's proper winter tires was something I pre-arranged locally. But for 19" wheels people are getting a set of rubber that is pretty much crap (you don't want to know what faces the local tire shop owners made when they heard which goodyears the car comes with) so you end up blasting through them with limited performance and then buying two sets of rubber.

 

[gpetti]

My car arrives February 21. It is arriving with 21" grey wheels with the normal tires. I've already ordered the 19" Rial Lugano wheels from Tire rack but the various brands of tires I was interested in were not available so I'm just getting those wheels because they look great and similar to my summer wheels. I've started looking for tires locally but they are becoming a bit sparse. It was suggested by one tire store that I get a used set or something to last me what's left of the winter and that they would probably have Hakka R8s by September. Not sure yet but I'll probably buy blizzaks or Michelin XIces.