Seeking forum help on choosing new tires

[jerry33]

But the main question is, why didn't I get 40K mi on these tires? Why'd they wear out so fast? I don't drive particularly hard, pretty gentle most of the time in fact. But I was hoping for longer range. If the tires are warranted for 40K+ do I have grounds for contacting Michelin about these tires?

The normal reasons are alignment and pressure. Hard to tell without an inspection of the the tires. New roads and the aggregate used in the roads also makes a difference.

My last set of Primacies lasted over 40K miles and would have done better if the alignment had been better. I've found that alignments at the Service Centre are hit and miss. Use an alignment place that specializes in race cars or a frame repair shop--check that they have a good reputation with the locals--because the alignment technicians there actually understand alignment rather than just reading the numbers off the machine. I had one alignment tech (not at an SC) that thought the only thing alignment did was prevent the car from pulling. You can't even have a conversation with that type of tech because after everything I said he kept asking which way the car pulled.

 

[tinm]

Yeah I had two Tesla service centers do alignments and I don't think either did a good job.

 

[Lex]

I find a noticeable difference between 42 PSI and 45 PSI on my 19" tires. At 42 PSI, my 19" tires feel more planted than they do at 45 PSI.

Yes I agree, I've held to 42 PSI over here as well on the Primacies for me I guess it just felt "right" (though I have to switch to MPH to see PSI instead of bars or something which is less accurate).

For long distance drives I may never think to add some air, probably due to the rush of air to start the journey Too bad there's no auto-filling tires, can't wait for smarter wheels. But having 4 near-live pressure sensors on screen is pretty darn smart, adding to both safety and comfort for the OCD set

 

[FlatSix911]

Military vehicles have had auto inflation for years ... How Self-inflating Tires Work

For long distance drives I may never think to add some air, probably due to the rush of air to start the journey
Too bad there's no auto-filling tires, can't wait for smarter wheels. But having 4 near-live pressure sensors on screen is pretty darn smart, adding to both safety and comfort for the OCD set

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Military vehicles have had auto inflation for years ... How Self-inflating Tires Work

View attachment 171316

I ran into a Tesla suspension engineer at the Tejon Ranch supercharger two years ago. I didn't get his name but he had a very distinct German accent. He told me that Tesla was experimenting internally with a self-inflating system for tires. Who knows, maybe it will show up in Model 3?

 

[NeedToDrive]

I have the Eagle RS/A2s on my car. 14k miles and I'm at 7/32.

I was just in for the battery switch replacement and was told I needed new tires. I've had the original Goodyear RS/A2's for a little over three years and 12,700 miles (40KWhr model with 245/45R19)! On prior visits, the SC did rotate my tires but it looks like the rear inner edge is wearing faster:
Outer Center Inner
LF 4/32 4/32 4/32
RF 5/32 4/32 3/32
LR 3/32 4/32 0/32
RR 2/32 4/32 0/32

The Tesla SC wanted ~$1400 to replace the tires with Goodyear RS/A2s. I checked online and found my local goodyear tire center sells the same installed for $650 including mounting, balancing, and the TPMS kit... so I declined on the Tesla offer. However, even with the low price I'm now worried about wear.

Glad I found this thread. The question is whether I should stick with Goodyear. Costco has the Michelin A/S 3s for $1,153 installed. Or, I could get the A/S 3 +'s for $1,166 installed. However, I worry about ~ 5% efficiency loss. The MXM4s are not available at Costco. The other Costco possibilities are Bridgestone Potenza or Bridgestone Turanza.

As the OP noted, there are some many options out there and many different price points... its hard to decide. Snow is not a realistic possibility in So. Ca. so what are the opinions of the A/S 3 vs. A/S 3+?

 

[shs1]

As to loss of efficiency of the A/S 3s, I haven't noticed it. My Trip B, that I set when I first got the A/S 3s and includes a winter with XIce Xi3s and a few miles on the A/S 3 plus, is slightly lower than the Trip A 78,000 mile average that reflect use of Goodyear, Primacies, XIce Xi3s as well as the A/S 3s. Too many factors to make a definitive statement as we don't have a regular commute for comparison, but I have not really noticed a difference in efficiency. EVtripplanner still seems to be right on on predicting mileage. I now have the A/S3 plus but so far can't comment on snow as we haven't had any since they were put on.

 

[Cyclone]

The Tesla SC wanted ~$1400 to replace the tires with Goodyear RS/A2s.

At that price, I would just order them online at Tesla's site and then show up to have your order installed.
Tesla — 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 @ $180 per tire

That said, I still would look at getting them at Discount Tire or Tire Rack so I could get the road hazard warranty on them.

 

[patrick40363]

I was just in for the battery switch replacement and was told I needed new tires. I've had the original Goodyear RS/A2's for a little over three years and 12,700 miles (40KWhr model with 245/45R19)! On prior visits, the SC did rotate my tires but it looks like the rear inner edge is wearing faster:
Outer Center Inner
LF 4/32 4/32 4/32
RF 5/32 4/32 3/32
LR 3/32 4/32 0/32
RR 2/32 4/32 0/32

The Tesla SC wanted ~$1400 to replace the tires with Goodyear RS/A2s. I checked online and found my local goodyear tire center sells the same installed for $650 including mounting, balancing, and the TPMS kit... so I declined on the Tesla offer. However, even with the low price I'm now worried about wear.

Glad I found this thread. The question is whether I should stick with Goodyear. Costco has the Michelin A/S 3s for $1,153 installed. Or, I could get the A/S 3 +'s for $1,166 installed. However, I worry about ~ 5% efficiency loss. The MXM4s are not available at Costco. The other Costco possibilities are Bridgestone Potenza or Bridgestone Turanza.

As the OP noted, there are some many options out there and many different price points... its hard to decide. Snow is not a realistic possibility in So. Ca. so what are the opinions of the A/S 3 vs. A/S 3+?

I just replaced my Michelin's at 12,500 miles. tread warranty covered most of the cost but very excessive wear for a year old car.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

I tried them and returned them. Wh/mi went up by a minimum of 30. Back on Primacy.

Did you give them at least 1000 miles to break in? Efficiency takes a big hit on tires when they are new.

 

[jerry33]

Did you give them at least 1000 miles to break in? Efficiency takes a big hit on tires when they are new.

Agreed, but this was far more than what could be expected for new tires. The Primacies that replaced them went back to the normal new tire amount.

 

[TaoJones]

Tesla's $180 per Goodyear RS A-2 seems a tad pricey as that's all of $800 with tax - and that's if there are no add-on fees *and* noting there is no road hazard coverage whatsoever within that.

Sam's Club's out the door price for FOUR tires is $518 including CA tax, road hazard certs, disposal fee, mounting, balancing, and lifetime rotations. America's/Discount Tire was maybe $140 more. Haven't checked Costco yet.

Meanwhile, my ongoing saga of tire replacement angst (entirely self-imposed, as my original plan was to just replace with MXM4s and call it a day (still a compelling option)) continues. Just measured tread depth this morning. Holding firm at just shy of 4/32 all the way around at over 40,000 miles now.

So it looks like it comes down to the previous OEM Goodyears for a third to half the money ($518-$800 or more) and half the expected tread life (25,000 seems reasonable, although people have reported as many as 38,000 miles per set), or the current OEM MXM4s for all the money (about $1500 as quoted by a Tesla SvC within the past 6 months) and all the tread life (45,000 or close to it).

And so it goes. Am looking forward to Michelin's new Tesla-centric tire as presumably it will eke out a couple percent more range and, ideally, still offer a solid 40,000 miles of relatively quiet driving. But even if it comes out later this year or early next, we won't have even interim real world results for another year after that at best. Aha! There's a reason for the Goodyears - since they won't last as long, there will be more opportunities more often to swap into the new Tesla-centric tire.

Overthinking? Analysis paralysis? Saving pennies while the pounds burn? Never... hohoho.

 

[jerry33]

Meanwhile, my ongoing saga of tire replacement angst (entirely self-imposed, as my original plan was to just replace with MXM4s and call it a day (still a compelling option)) continues. Just measured tread depth this morning. Holding firm at just shy of 4/32 all the way around at over 40,000 miles now.

Tires wear fastest when new because the tread can squirm more. The rate of wear as the tire nears the wear bars is dramatically different from when the tire is new.

 

[NeedToDrive]

I just replaced my Michelin's at 12,500 miles. tread warranty covered most of the cost but very excessive wear for a year old car.

Good to know. I was thinking the Michelin's would wear better. At least you recouped cost due to the tread warranty. I don't get that.

 

[jerry33]

Good to know. I was thinking the Michelin's would wear better. At least you recouped cost due to the tread warranty. I don't get that.

The rapid wear was due entirely to alignment. The OE GYs lasted 13K miles (two flats, after the second one wasn't repairable and the two rear tires were gone from poor alignment I got rid of them--Tesla never gave me a new set, came out of my pocket), after a couple of tries to get the alignment okay the Primacies lasted over 40K.

 

[jamieb]

Destroyed the right rear tire on a road hazard today, still have 5-6/32nds on the other three Michelin Primacy's (originals, my late 2013 P85 is at 28k miles). Do folks recommend replacing just the one tire and waiting for the others to run down to 3 or 4/32nds, or should I replace the set? Was thinking of the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 if I don't stay with the Primacy's.

BTW, Tesla Roadside was terrific. They dispatched a tow truck with a wheel and tire to my location within 25 minutes and we were on our way in under 90 (it came from >30 miles away). My wheel and tire will be delivered to the local Tesla Service location and I'll deal with them this week.

 

[geovision]

Always best to replace in pairs, front or rear. You could always just keep the extra tire for backups.

 

[russman]

I have the 19" Bridgestone Potenza and my energy usage has gone up from about 320 to over 340. I'll have to look at the latest trip meter as I reset my A meter when I changed the tire. So I would say the OEM 19" Michelins were more efficient for me.

 

[TaoJones]

I saw Michelin Pilot Sports on one of those partial assemblies at a showroom yesterday. Are these now OEM as well, or have they been all along and I've just been living under a rock?

 

[TaoJones]

The normal reasons are alignment and pressure. Hard to tell without an inspection of the the tires. New roads and the aggregate used in the roads also makes a difference.

My last set of Primacies lasted over 40K miles and would have done better if the alignment had been better. I've found that alignments at the Service Centre are hit and miss. Use an alignment place that specializes in race cars or a frame repair shop--check that they have a good reputation with the locals--because the alignment technicians there actually understand alignment rather than just reading the numbers off the machine. I had one alignment tech (not at an SC) that thought the only thing alignment did was prevent the car from pulling. You can't even have a conversation with that type of tech because after everything I said he kept asking which way the car pulled.

And that right there is great advice.