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Review: Hankook iON evo AS vs Pirelli AS+ Elect vs Michelin PS 4S vs Michelin PS AS 4

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I tested all these tires back to back on either a Tesla Model 3 or Y. I have both a Model 3 and a Model Y (wife’s).

My goal was to have a great handling tire (makes me happy) that can handle the occasional snow, is quiet, and has good range.

For context, I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires on both the 3 and Y. This is by far the best handling tire, really amazing, our benchmark for handling, and is just a joy to drive. I’m in Colorado though and for nov/dec/apr, we can see temps below 40, which is a no-no for driving the PS4S, so I wanted something more cold tolerant during the shoulder seasons. We have winter wheels (Pirelli Sottozero 3, which we love) for ski season.

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4:
I drove this on a Performance Model Y (Tesla test drive). Handling is very good, and I hear it’s also very good in the snow. Negatives is that it’s loud and it’s not great for range, the former being more important to me.

Pirelli All Season Plus Elect:
We bought these for our Model Y. Handling is good if not great. And it’s quiet and comfortable, and of course it’s tuned for EVs and has good range. We really really like these tires. I would give the edge to the PS AS 4 for handling, but it is slight and totally not enough to justify the range hit or how loud they are.

Hankook iON evo AS ih01:
I just bought these for my 3. It was a gamble because I couldn’t find any reviews on them. They are brand new to the market. Overall, I definitively do not like them. The handling is terrible for a car like the model 3 w/ AB. It feels super floaty and squirrelly when cornering. The noise level is not great either surprisingly. Strangely enough, it’s relatively louder at slower speeds, but does seem to be quiet on the highway. The Pirelli’s have way better handling and seem quieter all around. Aside from noise and handling, there is one thing the evos does really well. It feels like a bat out if hell when accelerating in a straight line. You can tell the engineering is optimized for that trait. I do like that a lot, and I’m sure it has great range, and I would accept the noise level too, but the handling is just too awful, I can’t accept it. That said, if you’re not a spirited driver, I think the evos are a great value. They’re just not for me.

Overall, I think the Pirelli AS PE hit all the cords I’m looking for. The Michelin PS AS 4’s are a close second and might also be better in snow, but we’re not optimizing for snow since we have winter tires. And the quiet ride and good range is also very much appreciated.

I hope this review helps others out there!

All these new EV tires are very exciting. I’m a huge Michelin fan, but they need to up their game on EV tires. For now, Pirelli is winning my business.

The_tire_wheel_of_TESLA_MODEL_3.jpg

"File:The tire wheel of TESLA MODEL 3.jpg" by Tokumeigakarinoaoshima is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Read through 7 pages of comments and I couldn't find any comments on the Pirelli P Zero Elect not available in the standard Model Y LR tire 245/55/r19. Am I missing something and/or is there an equivalent Pirelli tire in this size optimized for EVs (I assume not yet)?
 
Read through 7 pages of comments and I couldn't find any comments on the Pirelli P Zero Elect not available in the standard Model Y LR tire 245/55/r19. Am I missing something and/or is there an equivalent Pirelli tire in this size optimized for EVs (I assume not yet)?
The standard size for Y LR recently is 255/45R19, not 245. There appears to be a PZERO PZ4 104Y in 255/45R19. It appears to be a summer tire.

 
After a few days of usage I'm still noticing that the Hankook iON evo are quieter than the outgoing Pirelli PZERO ELECT T0. Also not finding them lacking grip or handling; if anything they feel more responsive.

View attachment 1037242


Recent testing by TÜV SÜD and Auto Bild rated them above the Michelins.
View attachment 1037244
Nice! You have the summer version of the tire. Not quite as efficient as the All Season tires I have but definitely better when pushing the performance aspect.
 
The standard size for Y LR recently is 255/45R19, not 245. There appears to be a PZERO PZ4 104Y in 255/45R19. It appears to be a summer tire.

Yep my mistake. But true that there isn’t an all weather tire in this size, only a summer tire.
 
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Update: ~11,500 miles (MYP)

Hankook iON EVO All Season (255/45/R19)

Just did another tire rotation and I'm pretty shocked at how good the wear rate is. It is surprisingly really even. I was expecting to see some wear on the inner sides of the tires due to the negative camber.

Shortly after delivery (last year) I took the Y in to check the alignment like I do with all my cars. Telsa is notorious for having bad alignment, so I usually like to address this right away.

The rear camber on the MYP was and is the worst that I've seen out of the Teslas that I've owned, locked in at a notch below -2.0 on the rears, which is on the border into the red zone. (I was planning on getting another set of adjustable camber arms for the Y like I have on my M3P, but I may just leave it stock after seeing how well the tires are holding up even with the -2.0 camber.

I'm sold.

Hankook iON EVO AS 600 Treadwear.PNG.jpg


Hankook iON EVO AS.jpeg
 
Update: ~11,500 miles (MYP)

Hankook iON EVO All Season (255/45/R19)

Just did another tire rotation and I'm pretty shocked at how good the wear rate is. It is surprisingly really even. I was expecting to see some wear on the inner sides of the tires due to the negative camber.
I think it's now clear that with the iON EVO, Hankook is joining the top league of tire makers---Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental & Pirelli.
 
I think it's now clear that with the iON EVO, Hankook is joining the top league of tire makers---Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental & Pirelli.

Without a doubt. I've driven on all the four brands you've mentioned and for an EV focused tire, it's becoming more and more evident that the iON series gives you the best of all worlds. We did a lot of driving into the mountains, road trips and back country in the last ~6,000 miles.

As a Michelin fan I'm for sure getting the Hankook's next on my M3P. I've gone to great lengths to dynomat+foam the 3, mainly for my upgraded sound system, but also to reduce the road noise so having much quieter tires would be a nice benefit to add on top of the sound deadening material, which the iONs can deliver on.
 
After a few days of usage I'm still noticing that the Hankook iON evo are quieter than the outgoing Pirelli PZERO ELECT T0. Also not finding them lacking grip or handling; if anything they feel more responsive.

View attachment 1037242


Recent testing by TÜV SÜD and Auto Bild rated them above the Michelins.
View attachment 1037244
@milesr3 It's worth noting those comparisons screenshots don't show the Michelin PS4S which is the popular one here. The PS4S is supposed to be higher performing than the non-S PS3/PS4/PS5.

That said I agree those are clearly very strong test results for the ION EVO summer tire version, especially with its low rolling resistance and noise level. If it's able to combine highly responsive and communicative road feel with all those attributes too, that would be pretty awesome.
 
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Ah yes, I did not realise this, thank you. TBH I based my decision more on the efficiency and noise ratings from the EU labels.

View attachment 1037704View attachment 1037705
Man, I really wish we had those labels here in the states... I seem to recall at least an efficiency rating being developed a long time ago, but was canned for some reason...
 
Update: ~11,500 miles (MYP)

Hankook iON EVO All Season (255/45/R19)

Just did another tire rotation and I'm pretty shocked at how good the wear rate is. It is surprisingly really even. I was expecting to see some wear on the inner sides of the tires due to the negative camber.

Shortly after delivery (last year) I took the Y in to check the alignment like I do with all my cars. Telsa is notorious for having bad alignment, so I usually like to address this right away.

The rear camber on the MYP was and is the worst that I've seen out of the Teslas that I've owned, locked in at a notch below -2.0 on the rears, which is on the border into the red zone. (I was planning on getting another set of adjustable camber arms for the Y like I have on my M3P, but I may just leave it stock after seeing how well the tires are holding up even with the -2.0 camber.

I'm sold.

View attachment 1037481

View attachment 1037480
Their website has informative primers about their design. Turns out it's more than just marketing drivel
 
Their website has informative primers about their design. Turns out it's more than just marketing drivel

In my post #42 I had mentioned the efficiency claim made by Hankook, which ended up being pretty spot on from my own test. It was nice to be able to actually validate a marketing claim as such claims are usually a puff of smoke.

So far in my journey there are three strong check marks. They're quieter, better efficiency, and with a good treadwear (rate).
 
In my post #42 I had mentioned the efficiency claim made by Hankook, which ended up being pretty spot on from my own test. It was nice to be able to actually validate a marketing claim as such claims are usually a puff of smoke.

So far in my journey there are three strong check marks. They're quieter, better efficiency, and with a good treadwear (rate).
Do you have the summer iON or All season?
 
Thought I'd share some data that I posted on another thread. There are so many related threads lol.. I may have to create one just comparing the Hankook iON EVO SUV All Seasons to the Michelin PS4 All Seasons.

For some context, I have had Michelin PS4 All Seasons and Summer sets for all my previous cars including the current M3P and MYP. Very familiar with them. Excellent tires, just loud.

We just got back from a road trip that my wife and I frequent. About 300 miles one way. Before leaving for any trip, during and after the trip I write down the nerdy details.

MYP w/ Michelin Pilot Sport 4 All Seasons (255/45R19 @ 42psi) with two passengers, two carry ons and some random bags = 345 Wh/mi (Avg. speed no less than 75MPH, but a good chuck of it at 80 MPH with a lot of 85 MPH stretches.)

MYP w/ Hankook iON EVO SUV All Seasons (255/45R19 @ 42psi) with two passengers, two carry ons and some random bags = 328 Wh/mi (Avg. speed no less than 75MPH, but a good chuck of it at 80 MPH with a lot of 85 MPH stretches.)

Both trips with very similar temps with a delta of only 4 degrees Fahrenheit. Dry conditions and ironically very similar wind direction and speed during those days.

Here's the thing. With the data riding on the Hankook's, in addition to the original cargo, the car was loaded with IKEA shelves, drawer set, pottery, bags of dirt for plants, a cooler full of ICE and drinks, and two boxes w/ 25ft 6 gauge extension cords.

The Hankook's performed about 5% better than the Michelin's in the scenario above and I believe they claim a 6.3% increase in efficiency. Given the handicap above I say that they're pretty spot on being in the claimed ball park.

What we find to be a huge sigh of relief is how much quieter the Hankook's are. NVH is hard to quantify, but the Hankook's are without a shadow of a doubt much quieter than the Michelin's. The tone is a lot lower with a mellow houl vs the high pitch roar of the Michelin's.

The recent experience with the Hankook's has be wanting to get them for my M3P as well, which are riding on the Michelin PS4 All Seasons. If I don't sell my Michelin's now while they are very young, I'll definitely be getting the iON's next.

In my opinion, I think the Michelin PS4 AS are among the best all around tires out there that does everything well. The only category it falls short is with the noise. However, having had the chance to drive a M3P with the Hankook's in wet condition and now owning them on our MYP, there's a new kid on the block that easily should be on anyone's short list of AS tires.

If their Summer tires are as good as their All Seasons, we could soon see a shift in the pecking order.

Great to options.
We’ve AS for both our 3P and X. They’re very comfortable and nimble