Sound deadening tires original equipment?

[brucet999]

I remember @artsci posting quite some time ago about his efforts to install sound-deadening materials in his Model S tires. Now an article in Elektrek about the new-and-improved Tesla Ranger service references sound deadening in tires:

“Joe the mobile service guy arrived within 20 minutes…. He informed me that since the hole was in the middle of the tread a repair was not recommended; due to the sound deadening foam he would need to remove a significant portion to correctly repair the tire (If a patch was applied the tire would make a helicopter type noise). The only other option was to buy a tire on the spot…”

Have the tires changed, or is there something fishy in "Joe the mobile service guy"s story?

 

[JPP]

Current 19" tires are Goodyear Eagle Touring with foam. FWIW Conti makes a ContiSilent and does provide instructions for tire patch & repair with removal of a small area of foam. Not sure if Goodyear has such instructions, but it seems reasonable that it too can be patched. Maybe Joe does not have the latest info, or it is not available from Goodyear.

 

[tedsk]

I have one repaired Goodyear Eagle Touring in my garage. They didn't remove the foam - they just tear it near the puncture and lifted it then laid back. It is hardly noticeable from inside that something was repaired. Foam is not glued to tire in any permanent way it could be lifted and re-glued back.

 

[f-stop]

My Dec 2015 70D came with 19" Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. I had those tires removed so I could mount snow tires on the stock wheels - no sound-deadening foam on the inside of the Michelins. I assume OEM tires/sound-deadening may vary by region?

 

[tedsk]

I think it is the Goodyear Eagle Touring only. Even those come in two modifications w/ and w/o foam. Difference is about $50 on Tirerack.

 

[brucet999]

My Dec 2015 70D came with 19" Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires. I had those tires removed so I could mount snow tires on the stock wheels - no sound-deadening foam on the inside of the Michelins. I assume OEM tires/sound-deadening may vary by region?

OEM means factory and there are only 4 wheel choices in two rim diameters, but no optional tire choices. There are no regional differences. If you need winter tires, you buy them after market.

 

[f-stop]

OEM means factory and there are only 4 wheel choices in two rim diameters, but no optional tire choices. There are no regional differences. If you need winter tires, you buy them after market.

Um, yeah I know that... I wasn't talking about aftermarket snows at all, or suggesting there was any buyer choice in OEM/factory-installed tires. Was merely pointing out my early Dec/2105 MS came with MXM4s w/o sound-deadening; others talk about Goodyears. so if there's no regional difference then they must have changed the 19" OEM tires at some point in time

 

[ucmndd]

I picked up a nail in one of my fancy foam filled goodyears a week or two ago and the tire shop wouldn't touch it - they were very apologetic, looked up the repair info and everything online, but said they had never done one and didn't want to experiment on my car.

So, I took it home and plugged it myself. So far so good.

 

[wildtigg3r]

There are sound deadening tires available. Michelin PSS (aka acoustic tech) and Continental ContisportContact 5P (aka ContiSilent). Both types of tires come with foam inside.

There are instructions on how to repair the tire. It is up to the repair shop/person if they know how to do it.

It is a rip off for Tesla to say those tires are not repairable.

 

[JHuberman]

I picked up a nail. The guy at the Firestone shop had never seen foam in a tire. He called Tesla and they advised removal of enough foam to apply the patch and replacement of the foam. All went well. They thanked me for bringing them something new.

On another point he said that it was not necessary to put the car in "jack mode" if you keep a door open as that disables the suspension.

 

[Villa-Lobos]

I had mine repaired after a flat at a Walmart on a Sunday in rural minnesota . Took them 2 times to get it to seal but it worked. However after removing the foam the tire was out of balance at any speeds above 65mph.

 

[jelloslug]

Side note: I replaced my foam lined Goodyears with Bridgestone Tourenza Serenity Plus tires and I cannot hear any difference between them.