Stock tires wearing faster than expected?

[Shygar]

I can't remember, what are the measurements of brand new 18's? 10/32?

 

[woodisgood]

I can't remember, what are the measurements of brand new 18's? 10/32?

The MXM4s new are 8.5/32".

 

[mswlogo]

The MXM4s new are 8.5/32".

And what would be considered worn out?

 

[woodisgood]

And what would be considered worn out?

When the wear bars start showing/wearing even with the tread. That might be different for different tires...probably around 3/32”, typically 2/32” is considered “replace immediately.”. If you have a lot of wet weather pushing beyond 3/32” will probably give you noticeably less traction and your tire guy might start gently prodding for replacement.

 

[Shygar]

It also depends on how it is wearing. Assuming you haven't hit any potholes and your alignment is still good then that's the case. But you should measure it in multiple places along the width of the tire to make sure one side isn't wearing out quicker than another.

 

[zhu-]

I'm really interested in seeing how my tires wear with the M3 because I have always had much more wear on my front tires than rear tires on both my previous cars that I drove spiritedly. One was a C63 w/ 450hp RWD, and the other a C300 w/ 250hp, AWD. In both cars, the fronts wore about 25% more than the rear.

 

[remlemasi]

I checked min last week. Car has 8,500 miles, rotated at 6,500 miles. Fronts are at 4.5mm, rears are at 5.5mm. Seems excessive to me - I'll be replacing tires at 15,000 miles!
I've since become more sensitive to acceleration and cornering to extend the tread. I also expect to file a treadwear warranty claim when I get new tires.

Apart from the first few weeks, no mashing the pedal from standstill. (229 lifetime wh/mi).

LR RWD, MXM4s currently at just under 7/32” all around. 15K miles, now rotated twice (rearward cross).

I guess having the car mostly in the hands of the conservative driver (wife) has its benefits. I play on weekends.

I drive pretty conservatively (~9K total miles at 220 wh/mi lifetime with several 500+ mile roadtrips) and am at 8/32 all around from my last service appointment a couple weeks ago when I was at 8900 miles. I've never rotated it since there's no point in doing it yet. How you drive must have a significant impact on tread wear.

Edit: This is for the LR RWD that I took delivery on in March 2018.

LR, RWD, 18” Aeros removed. I rotated mine at 5,000 miles. The OEM Michelin MXM4 have 8/32” new. My fronts were still 8/32” and rears were 7/32”.

My OEM tires on my 2010 Prius were Yokohama and I only got 26,000 miles out of them. I used Michelin Energy Savers after and got warranty miles every time.

I read on the Prius forum that OEM tires are not made to same specs as new replacement tires and typically do not have the same tread depth.

I just reached 14k miles on my 3LR RWD 18" Aeros on stock MXM4s. Only 4/32" left on all four tires, rotated at 4.5k miles and 10k miles.

I floor it at every opportunity and take turns very aggressively. Tires will probably be close to the legal limit by 20k.

No regrets. The sooner I wear these out the sooner I can have the wheels shod with Pilot Sport A/S 3+ with it's 45k miles warranty

 

[insaneoctane]

As much as I might have elected for Pilot Sports in the past, I doubt I'll be willing to take the mileage hit. I'm at 227 Wh/mi lifetime and suspect putting on the Pilots would knock that up to 250+ Wh/mi AND wear out faster! That's one great thing about ICE cars- they are so damn inefficient that you barely notice a hit in efficiency from tire compound!

 

[StealthP3D]

I read on the Prius forum that OEM tires are not made to same specs as new replacement tires and typically do not have the same tread depth.

That's probably true on a Prius but it looks like Tesla specified high quality (not inexpensive) tires on the Model 3. That said, high quality tires don't necessarily last a long time because all the tire design parameters are tradeoffs. But low rolling resistance tires do tend to build less heat due to their sidewall construction so that can add to their tread life.

The most important thing any owner can do for long tread life is to keep their tires properly inflated. Often times the PSI specification is more about creating a cushy ride than it is about performance, safety or treadwear.

 

[mswlogo]

When the wear bars start showing/wearing even with the tread. That might be different for different tires...probably around 3/32”, typically 2/32” is considered “replace immediately.”. If you have a lot of wet weather pushing beyond 3/32” will probably give you noticeably less traction and your tire guy might start gently prodding for replacement.

Thanks, I’ve generally used wear bars. But I wanted to get a feeling how much wear folks were at from the prior posts. I rotate frequently and watch my pressure. And have not had much uneven wear and generally hit near the rated range of the tire for as long as I can remember. 20 years? I hope that continues with Model 3. But these posts are making me a little concerned. These tires are not cheap and contribute to the cost of ownership. Most cars have got at least 40k miles out of tires.

 

[woodisgood]

Thanks, I’ve generally used wear bars. But I wanted to get a feeling how much wear folks were at from the prior posts. I rotate frequently and watch my pressure. And have not had much uneven wear and generally hit near the rated range of the tire for as long as I can remember. 20 years? I hope that continues with Model 3. But these posts are making me a little concerned. These tires are not cheap and contribute to the cost of ownership. Most cars have got at least 40k miles out of tires.

I shared your concern initially as well, but being one of the people who is looking at getting at least 35-40k out of these tires, I have to assume early wear is due to driving style. I definitely have my fun with the acceleration, but almost never flooring from a standstill. I imagine red light races are especially hard on the tires as the MXM4s lose their grip easier than the Sport4s and at that point you’re just burning rubber.

 

[remlemasi]

As much as I might have elected for Pilot Sports in the past, I doubt I'll be willing to take the mileage hit. I'm at 227 Wh/mi lifetime and suspect putting on the Pilots would knock that up to 250+ Wh/mi AND wear out faster! That's one great thing about ICE cars- they are so damn inefficient that you barely notice a hit in efficiency from tire compound!

Good point. I’m sitting at 256 Wh/mi lifetime and 261 Wh/mi in the last 8k miles on my LR RWD, mix of Aero covers on and off. Again, no regrets because race car

 

[TeeEmCee]

Rotated tires recently on my RWD, the fronts look practically new compared to the rears which are almost at the wear bars after 7,000 miles. Heavy foot and I try to make regen do most of the work stopping. Stock 18 Michelins.

Yay, the sooner these eco-garbage tires wear out, the better!

Drove them in the rain for a few days last week, they are comically bad in the wet. I noticed today they carry the M+S mark, I can only imagine how entertaining they’d be in wet snow, especially with RWD.

 

[chronopc]

Yay, the sooner these eco-garbage tires wear out, the better!

Drove them in the rain for a few days last week, they are comically bad in the wet. I noticed today they carry the M+S mark, I can only imagine how entertaining they’d be in wet snow, especially with RWD.

The tires might be terrible in the rain but they aren't cheap. The stock 18 tires are more expensive than the Pro Pilot.

 

[TeeEmCee]

The tires might be terrible in the rain but they aren't cheap. The stock 18 tires are more expensive than the Pro Pilot.

Yes, Tesla paid for being able to claim 310 miles and little else with these tires.

 

[chronopc]

Yes, Tesla paid for being able to claim 310 miles and little else with these tires.

Living in California, they aren't so bad. The added range is nice for the road trips I take.

 

[timk225]

My 18 inch Michelins were at 1/32 tread depth on the rear tires after 16,000 miles. I never accelerated harder than the car was capable of doing. Fronts had 5/32 at 16k, I never rotated them.

 

[hamtonp]

Here is an image of my front and back tires when I rotated them at the 6200 mile mark around 4 months of ownership. I do let the car loose from time to time. Also do 90 mph road trips. I guess it all adds up. I'm over 12k miles now. I don't think they will pass inspection when my 1 year comes around in May.

 

[RKBA]

Yesterday morning I was at 6901 miles on my P3D- with the stock 18" Primacy tires when I took it to Discount Tire to get a slow leak fixed (picked up a screw somewhere) and get my first rotation done. Unfortunately they found the rears were down to 2/32" and wouldn't/couldn't touch them. Very even wear across the rear treads, so not alignment. Fronts are at 8/32" so basically like new. I do drive fairly aggressively but I've never done donuts in this or any car. Average wh/mi is 302 (was 278 before winter). I chatted w/Michelin online and then the tire guy called them with an inspection report. They're covering 84% of the cost of replacement tires under the 45k treadwear warranty. Unfortunately my local shop didn't have them in stock so I'm going back Friday morning.

I'm hoping it was a fluke but hearing people say they only get 10k out of their tires makes me rethink sticking with the Michelins. And silly me thought the cost of tires would be similar to my previous (ICE) cars.

 

[TeeEmCee]

Here is an image of my front and back tires when I rotated them at the 6200 mile mark around 4 months of ownership. I do let the car loose from time to time. Also do 90 mph road trips. I guess it all adds up. I'm over 12k miles now. I don't think they will pass inspection when my 1 year comes around in May.

Attaboy!