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Seeking forum help on choosing new tires

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I'm prolly down to 3/32's all around on my Primacies, and have noticed if, during those exceedingly rare moments when for some reason it feels appropriate to stomp on the accelerator from a standstill and take off like a rocket, the rear tires shimmy and shudder for a moment and take a second or two to get traction; maybe it's the traction control kicking in? All I know is, it didn't used to happen when the tires were newer.
 
As far as summer tires are concerned, I am having an excellent experience with the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position S-04. I had these tires on a stage 3 Toyota Supra Twin Turbo a few years ago and they ran great. These tires are very grippy, have large contact surfaces and sufficient grooves for water channeling and have no siping so they tend to throw pebbles much less than tires with siping. The outer tread area is very solid. I am using these as summer tires on the P90D and they hook up well. Got them from Tire Rack after some discussion with Doc. If you look at the reviews of this tire on Tire Rack it ranks very high or highest in many categories. Am very happy with them. The side walls are not loaded with all sorts of embossed graphics so they present clean. I use Zaino Ultimate Tire Gloss on them which dries non oily and gives them a deep dark sheen.

Other attributes which you may appreciate is that there are there are proud rubber wheel ribs on the tire that may protect the rim edge. They also run very quiet. They did not take much weight to balance and my tire shop said they were a fine tire in that regard.

As a summer high performance tire this is one you should look at.
 
They appear very very efficient, on my P90DL my lifetime wH/m is 336 which is pretty much on the low end (efficient) of the bell curve for all of the P90D's. They are NOT a GreenX tire however. Sticky treads and GreenX or Low Rolling Resistance are on different ends of the bell curve (so I was told by Tire Rack). They told me that Performance tires have two attributes one must be aware of.... first, they tend to have great adhesion due to the compound, second, because the tread compound has good adhesion it is softer and can wear quicker.

Ok, so you cannot freak out about this too much.... I had the same set of S-04's on my Supra for 3 summers and aprox. 30K miles. They were still going strong. My son runs them on his Lexus SC300 (in a staggered setup) and has also had good tire life with them as well (btw the SC300 is the Lexus version of the Supra Twin Turbo but from factory naturally aspirated).
 
consumer reports tests different sizes which might not always transfer, but still, interesting data points and suggesting that Conti Extreme contact DW would be a good choice b/c similar performance but quieter and better LRR.

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Also not tested by CR, but available at tire Rack,
Michelin Pilot Sport 3 and
Michelin Primacy 3 ZP

are both GreenX LRR summer tires
 

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I was surprised to see that the recommended pressure for most cars seems to be 45 psi since my car says 42 psi. Perhaps that's because a 60 is lighter? Even at 42 my ride is pretty hard but my mileage is quite a bit less than EVtripplanner projections, although I need more data.

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I never know what pressure to use since all of my trips involve going to lower altitude but often higher temperatures. Next month I plan to go from home (7670 feet) to sea level. I'll just have to keep an eye on the pressure and adjust as needed each morning.

Is there any consensus yet about the best LRR tire for 19 inch wheels? I have stock Goodyears at present.
 
bhxmark:
Here is the Tire Rack compare of those two tires.... depending upon who you listen to the tale is different. Note the cornering stability, the most important dry traction (for the P90DL), and the Steering Response marks.... Here the noise is the same.
The S-04 is a fine tire at a fine price and works well with the P90DL

The S04 is ranked 3 out of 29 performance tires and the Conti is ranked 4 so they are both at the top.
You probably could do a lot worse for summer performance tires.
No
tires.jpg
 
I was surprised to see that the recommended pressure for most cars seems to be 45 psi since my car says 42 psi. Perhaps that's because a 60 is lighter? Even at 42 my ride is pretty hard but my mileage is quite a bit less than EVtripplanner projections, although I need more data.

26462913561_b5275ecb23_n.jpg


I never know what pressure to use since all of my trips involve going to lower altitude but often higher temperatures. Next month I plan to go from home (7670 feet) to sea level. I'll just have to keep an eye on the pressure and adjust as needed each morning.

Is there any consensus yet about the best LRR tire for 19 inch wheels? I have stock Goodyears at present.

How are those stock Goodyears holding up?

Will end up with a next set of tires in the next month or two and the short list of the usual 6 suspects does include those Goodyears ($518/full set out the door with certs from Sam's Club, if you can find a location with newer lifts that can accommodate a Tesla). Rather frustrating that at a Tesla SvC, that same full set of Goodyears will cost $925 with tax, no certs, and that's *if* they'll mount and balance for $125. For a tire that has zero mileage warranty and is reported to last between 20,000 and 35,000 miles. There's one review at Tire Rack that reports 38,000.

Oddly, the out the door price for OEM Michelins (19" MXM4s) is within $100 of each other whether at an SvC or at Sam's Club or America's/Discount Tire, with the median about $1400. Then again, it's been a headache-free 40,000+ miles with the existing set, with headache-free rotations at any Tesla SvC. So not a bad choice there either, not to mention Tesla seems to like them (see Straubel blog post from last year).

I remain mildly excited about the reported Michelin Tesla-centric tire that's due "soon", but their definition of soon and my remaining tread life (over 40,000 miles so far and heading for 3/32") aren't going to match up.
 
I was surprised to see that the recommended pressure for most cars seems to be 45 psi since my car says 42 psi. Perhaps that's because a 60 is lighter?
Tire pressure recommendations are based on a set of assumptions. One of the assumptions is how it's going to be driven. I'd guess the Tesla engineers figure that the P85 is going to be driven harder than the S60 and that the S60 may carry multiple passengers more often.

Basically, whatever the vehicle placard pressure is, it's just a starting point and needs to be adjusted to match your driving conditions.
 
How are those stock Goodyears holding up? ...
I have too few miles on them to know how they will last. Regardless, because I drive steep, sharply curved mountain roads — plus some dirt/gravel roads — much of the time, I always get vastly fewer miles out of my tires than people who drive in cities and on interstate highways. So my experience wouldn't be helpful. I will say that the tires seem to handle well around hairpin curves.
 
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I am replacing my OEM Michelin Primacies this weekend. I have decided to go with the Pilot Sport A/S 3s after reading all the helpful comments in this forum. I got something like 32K on the Primacies (I don't know exactly because I have winter tires on for some months of the year.

When I ordered the tires there was a choice between the original A/S 3s and the new A/S 3+. The cost was the same (actually $1 a tire less for the plus). I was told the rubber compound is slightly different for improved grip. I am just hoping the rolling resistance has not gone up.

Does anyone have any experience or insight on the plus?
 
I just ordered a set of A/S 3s for the P85. I am eager to try them out and see how they differ from the current tires.

So is there a consensus on what to put on for 21s? I am going to need some new 21s for the P90DL, but recommendations seem to be all over the place. Right now I'm leaning towards a set of Hankook, but certainly still open to suggestions.
 
I am replacing my OEM Michelin Primacies this weekend. I have decided to go with the Pilot Sport A/S 3s after reading all the helpful comments in this forum. I got something like 32K on the Primacies (I don't know exactly because I have winter tires on for some months of the year.

When I ordered the tires there was a choice between the original A/S 3s and the new A/S 3+. The cost was the same (actually $1 a tire less for the plus). I was told the rubber compound is slightly different for improved grip. I am just hoping the rolling resistance has not gone up.

Does anyone have any experience or insight on the plus?

Curious to see how those A/S 3+ have been treating you as I'm looking at them as well.