P3D+ 20” Winter Tires / Wheels

[Mayhem]

Call me crazy, but...

I have A/S 3+ on order (early Jan delivery Tirerack.com) but I'm considering canceling and using summer tires all year. This is because I have a 4Runner with Mud/snow tires that I could use that for any snowy/ice conditions (or less than 40 deg), and drive the M3P (with pilot sport 4s) on days where temps won't be below 40° and there is no calling for snow/ice. My M3P is garaged and it never gets below 40 in my garage, usually at 50-55°.

My thinking comes after reading carefully over the Michelin warranty/owners manual. It warns against winter tire in summer use and how this use could limit or invalidate the warranty, but never even mentions warranty and/or safety issue about summer tire in winter. Maybe with other tire brands, use in low 40's (or even upper 30's) could damage the tire integrity, I don't think that's the case with these Michelin tires otherwise certainly it would be documented somewhere in the warranty/owners manual.

I know braking, traction will be less than optimal summer use, but still with AWD and traction control in an EV that I'd still be fairly safe.

Here's the note from TireRack/Michelin on the Pilot Sport 4S

Note: Tires exposed to temperatures of 20 degrees F (-7 degrees C) or lower must be permitted to gradually return to temperatures of at least 40 degrees F (5 degrees C) for at least 24 hours before they are flexed in any manner, such as by adjusting inflation pressures, mounting them on wheels or using them to support, roll or drive a vehicle.

Flexing of the specialized rubber compounds used in Max Performance Summer tires during cold-weather use can result in irreversible compound cracking. Compound cracking is not a warrantable condition because it occurs as the result of improper use or storage, tires exhibiting compound cracking must be replaced.

From people who sell tires.... hmmmm. Despite the obvious performance drop and the headache of planning which car to drive on a day to day basis of the weather, Nothing I have read from Michelin website or owners manual says that they would be damaged by driving around all winter in 40ish degrees and storing in the garage at 50+degrees.

 

[hoang51]

@Mayhem , you're not crazy at all. I'm in a similar situation where I haven't had time to mount my 19" wheels with Michelin A/S 3+ tires onto my car. The weather in northern Virginia has been in the range of 30s-60s F, mostly 40s F. I've been driving on the Michelin Pilot 4S, making careful decisions not to drive on those tires if they have been exposed to below 40 F for about 24 hours. My car is garaged, thus allows my tires to not see 30s F unless I'm out driving and parked outside at my destinations, but doesn't last more than 24 hours.

 

[dfwatt]

Call me crazy, but...

I have A/S 3+ on order (early Jan delivery Tirerack.com) but I'm considering canceling and using summer tires all year. This is because I have a 4Runner with Mud/snow tires that I could use that for any snowy/ice conditions (or less than 40 deg), and drive the M3P (with pilot sport 4s) on days where temps won't be below 40° and there is no calling for snow/ice. My M3P is garaged and it never gets below 40 in my garage, usually at 50-55°.

My thinking comes after reading carefully over the Michelin warranty/owners manual. It warns against winter tire in summer use and how this use could limit or invalidate the warranty, but never even mentions warranty and/or safety issue about summer tire in winter. Maybe with other tire brands, use in low 40's (or even upper 30's) could damage the tire integrity, I don't think that's the case with these Michelin tires otherwise certainly it would be documented somewhere in the warranty/owners manual.

I know braking, traction will be less than optimal summer use, but still with AWD and traction control in an EV that I'd still be fairly safe.


From people who sell tires.... hmmmm. Despite the obvious performance drop and the headache of planning which car to drive on a day to day basis of the weather, Nothing I have read from Michelin website or owners manual says that they would be damaged by driving around all winter in 40ish degrees and storing in the garage at 50+degrees.

We are so impressed with the performance of A/S 3+ on wet and dry roads that you're not really giving up anything or next to nothing anyway compared to the summer Pilot Sport 4S. But they are way better in really cold weather and snow – obviously not as good as full snow tires but with all-wheel drive, the car has been fine in light to moderate snow and the generally crappy weather we have here in New Hampshire.

 

[Zcd1]

Michelin Pilot Alpins in the OEM 20” size were installed on my Model 3P+ earlier this week.

As expected, they’re ever so slightly squishier on turn-in than the PS4s, but still feel good.

Also as expected, they’re a bit noisier, but the improvement in snow traction easily offsets both of those small negatives.

 

[DUBM3]

Here are my 18” TSportline TSTs mounted for winter. No issues with fitment.

FYI I am running 235/50/18 (The Blizzak WS80s were swapped over from my Infiniti) and I never got a message about new wheel size.

Do you have any cornering issue on 235/50/18 so far?

 

[TheLocNar]

Do you have any cornering issue on 235/50/18 so far?

No. And their won't be. It's an acceptable size.

 

[DUBM3]

No. And their won't be. It's an acceptable size.

Cool, I’m considering to put 235/50/18 with Nokian or Blizzak on the M3D.

 

[TheLocNar]

Cool, I’m considering to put 235/50/18 with Nokian or Blizzak on the M3D.

Go for it.

 

[Kenz]

Tesla should offer all season tires as an option on the Performance Model 3.
For those that want to deal with the cold weather 20 F issues and tire cracking they can get the Summer tires or swap summer / winter.
For others that do not want to deal with swapping tires summer / winter they could pick all season tires.
I wonder how many people picking up their performance Model 3 in cold climates do not realize that they should not be driven in 20 F of less and that it voids the tire warranty. Many people pick the performance option in order to get the bigger brakes, spoiler and 20 inch rims.

 

[Oyinko]

I've been using the set of 18'' TST forged wheels mounted with Goodyear Weather Ready. Great combination for good performance on snow while being fine for a all season tire.

They are also much more efficient! I achieved 218 Wh/mile over 30 miles on the freeway while driving at 65mph. Imgur

 

[SomeJoe7777]

I've been using the set of 18'' TST forged wheels

Just a note for everyone, keep in mind that T-Sportline's 18" wheels for the Model 3 are marketed as "flow-forged", which is a misnomer. They are not forged wheels. Forged wheels are made using red-hot heated but solid metal that is pressed/hammered into the final shape(s).

"Flow-forged", which are properly named flow-formed, use liquid metal that is pumped into a mold that is spinning to cast the wheel's rough shape, then allowed to solidify. While still hot, the wheel is then pressed into the final shape. They are not as strong as forged wheels.

Two other processes commonly used for wheel production are gravity cast (liquid metal simply poured into a mold and allowed to set), and low-pressure cast (liquid metal pumped into a mold from the bottom so that no air bubbles get in, then allowed to set). Those processes are the cheapest and produce the lowest strength wheel.

This is not to say that the TST wheels are in any way "bad" -- they are very good wheels, and I have a set of them myself. But just know exactly what you're getting.