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[doc@tirerack]

I'll try this thread one last time, see if doc cares to respond to this one though my last two went unanswered.

1) I have X-ice3 installed as of 2 days ago, and see substantially reduced efficiency. weather surely has a huge role here, but I am wondering as a general rule, do brand new tires with full tread have lower efficiency than the same tires with a couple thousand miles under them?

2) Never having driven winter tires before, I am unsure how dramatically a single warm day can effect tread life. It's in the 30s all season, but up to 60 tomorrow and mid 50's the next few days. Should I worry about driving 100-200 miles in such warm weather, or will one-three days not matter much if the rest of the season is appropriate for the winter tire compound?

1) new tires at full tread depth will weigh more and have a noticeable effect on efficiency to be sure, and since dedicated snow tires have more tread depth than "average" the effects would be much more noticeable.

2) While durability of the tire will be affected by prolonged use in weather averaging above 50 degrees (F), the primary concern that handling will be noticeably affected (as the rubber will be softer than intended). The tire will squirm and even slide in wet conditions, so extra care will need to be taken at highway speeds to make sure you can anticipate how the soft rubber will react to steering input as well as acceleration and braking.

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Hi Doc,
I'm in Calgary, Canada but I hear you guys ship to us (Canadians). I'm likely to order gunmetal 19" Rial Luganos with Michelin XI3 winter tires (and of course TPMS). Can you ball park what type of delivery time frame and cost I would be expecting if I ordered now?

Feel free to give me your Postal Code for an accurate freight quote.

 

[AudubonB]

Hello Doc:

I've pored through Tire Rack's offerings, and my impression is that choices available for the Model S fall into two categories:

1. Performance tires
2. Snow tires

My situation is that home base for our Model S is in a corner of Alaska notorious for roads rough even by Alaska's standards. We are not interested in a snow tire, per se, in that it remains our intention to have the Model S "home" only during the summer months (and that's does not mean just July 17th-21st..... ); I understand that a so-called snow tire might still have the best tread and durability, though...

So: the specific question is what tire + rim combo might you recommend for rough-road driving - surfaces that not only may be corrugated and potholed (for which driving slowly really is the best palliative) but with a top dressing that may more closely resemble Mr Musk's Surface of Mars than it does lower-48 roads?

 

[gpetti]

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Feel free to give me your Postal Code for an accurate freight quote.

Thanks for the quote.
I see the link to order in your signature. When I look at this online it gives me a warning about the tire sizes. I'm assuming this is if I wasn't buying a new 19" wheel and there are no issues with replacing my 21" wheels with the 19" Rials. I also notice there are "replacement center caps" that suggest that they are specifically for Tesla Model S Performance Plus. Does this mean these are Tesla center caps?

 

[100thMonkey]

DOC, we'd buy center caps from you with Tesla logo if you can figure out how to offer them for the Rials!!!

oh, and I forget if you've already answered this but, have you considered installing the aloygators for folks pre-delivery. They've been awesome for us and they are just hard enough to instal that a bet a bunch of folks would gladly pay TireRack to install them!

 

[smorgasbord]

Any chance you can find replacement wheel options for Roadster?

 

[doc@tirerack]

DOC, we'd buy center caps from you with Tesla logo if you can figure out how to offer them for the Rials!!!

oh, and I forget if you've already answered this but, have you considered installing the aloygators for folks pre-delivery. They've been awesome for us and they are just hard enough to instal that a bet a bunch of folks would gladly pay TireRack to install them!

Still no way to get Tesla caps for Rial centerbore, sadly..... I have seen a thread somewhere that someone went with a decal ?

 

[doc@tirerack]

Arguably the studless Ice and Snow tire would have the most aggressive tread pattern and tread depth to handle rough road conditions compared to everything else we would have available to use on the car but that would be splitting hairs to say the least. When driven in temperatures above 50 degrees (F), we would expect the durability to be less than stellar and the high speed handling to be less than "crisp" given the tread depth. If you can't wait for the Tesla SUV, I'd get you into the 19" wheel and go with an all season tire or something like the Michelin X Ice snow tire. Unfortunately, even after the expense of new wheels and tires I'm not sure I could guarantee a noticeable improvement over stock.

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Any chance you can find replacement wheel options for Roadster?

We are close to having a Roadster in for measurements and test fitting soon, so stay tuned !

 

[stevezzzz]

AudubonB, The 19" Michelin Xi3 snows are notably squirmy on dry pavement, especially at temperatures 50º and above. I haven't had mine long enough to learn anything about tread life. Sure are good in the snow, though!

 

[gpetti]

Thanks for the quote.
I see the link to order in your signature. When I look at this online it gives me a warning about the tire sizes. I'm assuming this is if I wasn't buying a new 19" wheel and there are no issues with replacing my 21" wheels with the 19" Rials. I also notice there are "replacement center caps" that suggest that they are specifically for Tesla Model S Performance Plus. Does this mean these are Tesla center caps?

Sorry if that question seemed stupid - the notice online seemed to imply that the caps might be Tesla specific.
Since yesterday when I started preparing my order, the Michelins have sold out. I think you said it will probably be September before they are in stock again :-( I'll probably go with some Blizzaks (I don't think you have the Nokians) and or just order the rims and get tires mounted here.

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Just realized that the Michelin tires are only available via Nevada and the Rial's are not available in Nevada (says special order). Not sure if the rims would be shipped to Nevada so still considering Blizzaks.

 

[gpetti]

Sorry if that question seemed stupid - the notice online seemed to imply that the caps might be Tesla specific.
Since yesterday when I started preparing my order, the Michelins have sold out. I think you said it will probably be September before they are in stock again :-( I'll probably go with some Blizzaks (I don't think you have the Nokians) and or just order the rims and get tires mounted here.

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Just realized that the Michelin tires are only available via Nevada and the Rial's are not available in Nevada (says special order). Not sure if the rims would be shipped to Nevada so still considering Blizzaks.

just to complete this thread, I decided just to order the wheels and associated hardware and I'll get tires here in town, and get them. mounted etc. maybe I will find some hakkas.

 

[Chris TX]

The spare may be a tough one, but we hope to have more 19" and 21" options in the Spring when our new wheel models are announced !

Here's the tire we need:
For 19" AND 21" Continental 0352901 (155/70 R19 LR113)
Diameter is only 4-6mm smaller so it wouldn't throw off ABS/ETC/Regen

Here's the wheel we could use for it:
BMW E53 (02-06 X5) 19" space saver spare P/N (36 11) 6756858

Wheel is correct with bolt pattern and will fit over the gigantic front steering knuckle.

Put that package together and you have yourself quite a few customers.
Now that I've posted that info, if you don't offer these, you're going to have a bunch of Tesla owners scouring the internet to find these without you.

The other option we might have is the BMW i3 wheels and/or tires. The i3 is essentially riding on four donuts to get its range.

 

[JST]

Here's the tire we need:
For 19" AND 21" Continental 0352901 (155/70 R19 LR113)
Diameter is only 4-6mm smaller so it wouldn't throw off ABS/ETC/Regen

Here's the wheel we could use for it:
BMW E53 (02-06 X5) 19" space saver spare P/N (36 11) 6750316

Wheel is correct with bolt pattern and will fit over the gigantic front steering knuckle.

Put that package together and you have yourself quite a few customers.
Now that I've posted that info, if you don't offer these, you're going to have a bunch of Tesla owners scouring the internet to find these without you.

The other option we might have is the BMW i3 wheels and/or tires. The i3 is essentially riding on four donuts to get its range.

Absolutely agree that's an ideal spare size, and the BMW bolt pattern works perfectly.

But according to realoem, that part number is an 18" wheel, not a 19". That 18" wheel should work, too, but it obliviously won't work with that tire.

Or is there a 19" wheel option I'm missing?

RealOEM.com BMW E53 X5 4.4i Emergency wheel, light alloy

 

[Chris TX]

I have no idea why I typed that part number. I had 6756858 jotted down here in my research. I've edited my post to correct it.
Thanks!

 

[JST]

I have no idea why I typed that part number. I had 6756858 jotted down here in my research. I've edited my post to correct it.
Thanks!

Ah, thanks--yes, that looks like it would be nearly perfect.

That wheel has a $400 list price, though getbmwparts shows it for $332.

Tirerack doesn't stock the 155/70 19 size, but based on the prices of similar Continental spares it should be around $150.

 

[JST]

Ah, thanks--yes, that looks like it would be nearly perfect.

That wheel has a $400 list price, though getbmwparts shows it for $332.

Tirerack doesn't stock the 155/70 19 size, but based on the prices of similar Continental spares it should be around $150.

Oh, and wrt to the i3 wheels-- yes, they are the perfect size, but I bet the load capacity on the tires is not sufficient for the Tesla. The wheels would probably work, though, with that Conti spare.

 

[gpetti]

Just received my Titanium Gunmetal Rial Luganos. They look amazing! One question I have (may need to call tire rack): I thought in reading this thread that there were lug nuts that would match the gunmetal color and which would automatically be selected based on my choice of the gunmetals rims. The lugs I received are silver (nickel plated). Am I mistaken? I.e. are there lug nuts that match the gunmetal color?

 

[jerry33]

Oh, and wrt to the i3 wheels-- yes, they are the perfect size, but I bet the load capacity on the tires is not sufficient for the Tesla. The wheels would probably work, though, with that Conti spare.

Typical load index for a 155/70-19 is 113 which is higher than the 98 that's on the OE Goodyear tires.

I see there are some that are only 84, which wouldn't be suitable.

 

[gpetti]

Just received my Titanium Gunmetal Rial Luganos. They look amazing! One question I have (may need to call tire rack): I thought in reading this thread that there were lug nuts that would match the gunmetal color and which would automatically be selected based on my choice of the gunmetals rims. The lugs I received are silver (nickel plated). Am I mistaken? I.e. are there lug nuts that match the gunmetal color?

Just to complete this, Tirerack followed up on the delivery, I mentioned the lug nuts and I'm getting the dark ones FOC now.

 

[doc@tirerack]

Just to complete this, Tirerack followed up on the delivery, I mentioned the lug nuts and I'm getting the dark ones FOC now.

I've had the IT guys fix the issue, so lugs will match color of wheel (as best we can). Thanks for your patience !

 

[JST]

Oh, and wrt to the i3 wheels-- yes, they are the perfect size, but I bet the load capacity on the tires is not sufficient for the Tesla. The wheels would probably work, though, with that Conti spare.

Just to follow up on this: The tires mounted on the i3 at NAIAS were 155/70 R 19 84Q and 175/60 R 19 86Q.