Taking performance all-seasons 20” tires on racetrack. Am I crazy?

[menithings]

With ski season extending through June this year in CA I installed a set of ‘Ultra High Performance’ all- seasons on my P3D+. Pretty decent, but not as sticky as the 20” summer tires that come with the car.

Thing is I just signed up for the ‘Tesla Corsa’ track event at the end of the month. And I kinda don’t want to swap back to my summer tires just for one weekend (I’ll be returning to the slopes the following week)

So am I crazy to just leave the all-seasons on for the track? They’re great tires: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 20”. Kind of like sister tires to the summer Michelin’s. But they do slip more.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SD_Engnr]

With ski season extending through June this year in CA I installed a set of ‘Ultra High Performance’ all- seasons on my P3D+. Pretty decent, but not as sticky as the 20” summer tires that come with the car.

Thing is I just signed up for the ‘Tesla Corsa’ track event at the end of the month. And I kinda don’t want to swap back to my summer tires just for one weekend (I’ll be returning to the slopes the following week)

So am I crazy to just leave the all-seasons on for the track? They’re great tires: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 20”. Kind of like sister tires to the summer Michelin’s. But they do slip more.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Depends on how hard you're going to push it at the track, and how long you want those tires to last. Some people really chewed up the shoulders of their 20" summer tires at the last event.

Are you saying you only have one set of wheels, and two sets of tires?

 

[menithings]

Yes I have 2 sets. Summer and all-season. Both 20” Michelin’s.

Plan to take it slow this time and drive with the novices. Last track event stressed my M3 to the point where I had to take it to the SC for repairs (suspension creaking, loosened window trim). Plus my summer tires lost a lot of tread. So I figured using my all-seasons this time would allow my summers to last a bit longer. Mostly want to go to see what an all-Tesla track meet is like.

 

[MentalNomad]

Plan to take it slow this time and drive with the novices.

Mostly want to go to see what an all-Tesla track meet is like.

Then you're absolutely fine and don't need better tires. You're not going to make your best time - you're going to have a good time!

 

[menithings]

Haha, yeah it’ll be interesting to see the wear and tear with mild/moderate tracking.

 

[Tony_YYZ]

I've done AutoX with those tires in the past on my old front wheel drive car. It was no problem at all.

 

[Glamisduner]

Im interested in these track events. Will I need to change brake fluid to track the car?

Do I need to be ready to buy a new set of tires and brakes after?

 

[18_Mdl_P3D]

With ski season extending through June this year in CA I installed a set of ‘Ultra High Performance’ all- seasons on my P3D+. Pretty decent, but not as sticky as the 20” summer tires that come with the car.

Thing is I just signed up for the ‘Tesla Corsa’ track event at the end of the month. And I kinda don’t want to swap back to my summer tires just for one weekend (I’ll be returning to the slopes the following week)

So am I crazy to just leave the all-seasons on for the track? They’re great tires: Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 20”. Kind of like sister tires to the summer Michelin’s. But they do slip more.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I've swapped out the 4S's for the AS3+ as well and autocross with those tires before I bought the Tesla. They are the best all season performance tire out there and stack up well to the 4S's. My only negative on the tire is the road noise; it seems much higher in the P3D+ than my previous car, but I attribute that to the fact the engine noise help drown out the tire noise. Aside from that these are great tires. If you do take your car to the track keep the tire pressure >40 psi. I used to autocross with them at 30 psi (recommend for that car was 35 psi) thinking i'd get better times. I was wrong, as they heated up and pressure rose to upper 30's psi my times got better and the backend stayed put when coming out of turns. Living here in STL our autocross hasn't yet begun and it still been too cold to switch back to the 4S's so my first autocross will probably be using the AS3+, and I don't think I'll loose a step with them. They're that good!

 

[18_Mdl_P3D]

In addition to my earlier post. They will wear out much faster. If the pressure isn't maintained, you can roll the tire cause severe shoulder wear. I got 2 season out of them and about 11K mi. When I replaced them the shoulders were gone. No tire will hold up when stressed like that; it's all about steering response and corning power and these tires sacrifice wear for performance. The car I was using was a 2015 Hyundai Genesis Coupe; it weighs in at 3500+ lbs and has 348 hp. I had a tire pressure matching to the weight distribution - 38 psi front 35 psi rear. With the P3D+ I'm planning to go 42 psi front and 44 psi rear since its weight distribution is flipped from what the Genesis has.

 

[menithings]

Really great info and advice. Thanks!

 

[brianman]

All seasons definitely last longer into the season, but definitely aren't as grippy. Depends what your priorities are.

 

[McMoo]

Heat will make them slippery and the soft sidewalls will make them rollover significantly more than a summer tire. Depending on how hot they get you’ll destroy the treadblocks of an all season tire. Read about tire shaving if you’re more interested. For Autocross, it’s not a big deal since the runs are so short and there’s no heat build up. An actual track is much different and I wouldn’t recommend all seasons at all. Just my opinion from having 20 or so HPDEs under my belt at Watkins Glen and other tracks (not in a Tesla).

Brake fluid is very important. A good DOT 4 fluid should be all you need.

 

[18_Mdl_P3D]

Heat will make them slippery and the soft sidewalls will make them rollover significantly more than a summer tire. Depending on how hot they get you’ll destroy the treadblocks of an all season tire. Read about tire shaving if you’re more interested. For Autocross, it’s not a big deal since the runs are so short and there’s no heat build up. An actual track is much different and I wouldn’t recommend all seasons at all. Just my opinion from having 20 or so HPDEs under my belt at Watkins Glen and other tracks (not in a Tesla).

Brake fluid is very important. A good DOT 4 fluid should be all you need.

McMoo, I agree. Autocross runs are usually <1 mi, but after 6 runs my tire pressure on a 80F day will rise 4-6psi. And yes heat is the culprit for slippery tires, but I have found letting the tire pressure rise (start at 32 psi) helps with tire rollover, steering response, overall control and predictability, but at some point the rubber simply gets too hot and loses its stickiness. Since I never spent a day at the track running the AS3+ hard all day...I'd swap them back out for the 4S's too.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I've done AutoX with those tires in the past on my old front wheel drive car. It was no problem at all.

Did your old FWD car weigh ~4,000 lbs, with most of its weight centered down low, though? I'm sure a Model 3 puts different stress levels on the tires

 

[Dangerous Fish]

If anything, using those tyres will teach you more car control as they'll break away earlier and possibly more progressively than an ultra performance summer tyre.

I used to run a performance driving school and we'd use gravel rally tyres on tarmac to allow drivers to feel the car slide at relatively low speeds. It's not going to be as dramatic as that with your A3+s, but you get the idea.

Then there's always the marketing hype: .

 

[Tony_YYZ]

Did your old FWD car weigh ~4,000 lbs, with most of its weight centered down low, though? I'm sure a Model 3 puts different stress levels on the tires

No but the PS AS/3 tires for a model 3 would be rated differently than the ones i used on my FWD car to accommodate.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

No but the PS AS/3 tires for a model 3 would be rated differently than the ones i used on my FWD car to accommodate.

Probably true. I'm just gonna use Track Mode to melt the Michelins off, giving me a reason to put actual winter tires on next season.

 

[menithings]

[QUOTE="Then there's always the marketing hype: .

[/QUOTE]

Yeah that ad shows the all-seasons do well over a couple autocross laps. But since this’ll be a track event with multiple 15 sessions on Buttonwillow’s rough pavement, starting to think I am crazy to leave the A/S3+ tires on!

 

[Dangerous Fish]

Yeah that ad shows the all-seasons do well over a couple autocross laps. But since this’ll be a track event with multiple 15 sessions on Buttonwillow’s rough pavement, starting to think I am crazy to leave the A/S3+ tires on!

What's the tread depth on them?

 

[ngogas]

you will be fine, so long you don't push the corners like you stole the car.