Performance Model 3 Snow Tires/Rims

[DrBranca]

If the weather is anything like where I live you have to prepare for the unexpected as we can experience 4 seasons in a day starting in Oct and Nov. We went down to the 20s for a week and the PS4S no worky so I also put on snows.

Of course it went back up to the 60s so there’s no winning. I just didn’t want to risk damage to the new PS4Ss so I’m accepting a higher wear rate on my PA4 Alpins while the temps are high.

 

[jackbowers]

Winter is basically here in Reno-Tahoe at the 6000' level and I usually have winter tires on my Teslas six months of the year because it snows a lot between October-March. During that time I frequently drive at high elevations on the Mt Rose Highway (mostly for skiing but sometimes for paddleboarding on Lake Tahoe).

During those six months I also typically rack up 10-15k miles on dry pavement, and on my Model X I've noticed that the tire wear and handling is almost as good as with the summer tires. Two years ago I left the winter tires on the X through the summer while doing most of my summer driving in the Model 3. I'm just curious to know if anyone has done anything like that with the Model 3 20" winter tires, and what they thought of it. I know most people assume it's a bad idea but I'm not so sure that conventional wisdom applies to modern winter tires that have high speed ratings.

 

[DrDabbles]

Just curious, has anyone been driving year-round on Tesla's 20" winter tires (Pirelli Sotozeros)? Just put these on my Model 3 and they seem to grip surprisingly well on dry pavement. With a W speed rating I don't imagine they can be damaged by heat, but I am wondering about treadwear.

I've got experience abusing winter tires. Don't do it. By beating them senseless in the off season, they'll be total garbage when the weather turns bad and you need to rely on them.

 

[dfwatt]

I've got experience abusing winter tires. Don't do it. By beating them senseless in the off season, they'll be total garbage when the weather turns bad and you need to rely on them.

Good points. And they're especially pertinent if you're talking about about the closed cell foam blizzaks. They're shot after just a few thousand miles on warm pavement. They still have tread but the ice gripping portion of it is gone.

 

[DrDabbles]

Good points. And they're especially pertinent if you're talking about about the closed cell foam blizzaks. They're shot after just a few thousand miles on warm pavement. They still have tread but the ice gripping portion of it is gone.

This was exactly how I found out. I had Blizzak WS's on my Subaru, drove way too long into warm weather, and when I put them back on the next year it was unbelievable how bad they were. I ended up replacing them during that winter season with another set and it cost me a damn fortune.

 

[TSportline]

TST 18x8.5" Flow Forged Brilliant Silver Wheel Set wrapped in Michelin X-Ice 235/45-18

 

[sootless]

TST 18x8.5" Flow Forged Brilliant Silver Wheel Set wrapped in Michelin X-Ice 235/45-18

View attachment 467619

Sweet looking car. I have a soft spot for black. The silver looks great.

I have exactly the same setup with black rims. They performed perfect last year. There is no noticeable noise difference and I found the energy usage drastically improved compared to the 20s. I recommend this configuration for any performance Model 3. The shipping fees for the rims to Canada was reasonable and very fast. I locally bought the tires.