Tires on 19" wheels in Europe?

[matbl]

Hi

I'm researching while waiting for leasing approval to order a Model S.

Does the European delivered Model S also come with the Goodyear RS-A2 on the 19" wheels?
Same on both the 60 kWh and 85 kWh? I saw something about the 85 kWh getting Michelin tires in the US?

If it's true it's a really bad tire choice. For summer tires they are just bad and for winter they are useless.
Also, I don't really get the Michelin Primacy as an upgrade (only in the US?).

Why is Tesla using substandard tires? Because in European eyes, these are substandard for a car of this type.
I don't remember exactly but I think my current BMW 5-series (low end 520d) came with Michelin Pilot Sport (it might be Conti Sport contact) and the last one had definitely had Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric.
10 years ago my SAAB came with better tires (Pirelli P Zero) than the Tesla MS comes with.
Why?

 

[T B]

In northern Europe (Sweden & Norway) your Tesla comes with Pirelli Zottozero on the 19" wheels.
And you can buy an extra set of 19" wheels with Nokian Hakkapelitta winter tires on.

 

[matbl]

What?
Pirelli Zottozero are european winter tires (as opposed to nordic ones). Why would they be on from delivery? I know they can be bought separately. But at delivery makes even less sense...

 

[Eikrokei]

My Tesla was delivered with the Goodyear RS-A2 tires. As far as I know all Tesla's delivered with 19" wheels have these tires.

 

[matbl]

60 or 85?
If it's true for the 85 as well that means stay with substandard tires or spend another ~1600 USD to get decent ones...

 

[Hybris]

100% agree. Why the garbage tires on the 19"??

 

[mnx]

The goodyear rs-a2's aren't that bad of a tire. In everyday driving they are totally fine. Although, I am eagerly waiting for them to wear out so I can try a stickier summer tire. The huge plus is that they are very inexpensive to replace, in the US they cost half of what a lot of other tires do (4 of them are 544$ on tirerack.com!)

 

[Eikrokei]

60 or 85?
If it's true for the 85 as well that means stay with substandard tires or spend another ~1600 USD to get decent ones...

85.

 

[matbl]

The goodyear rs-a2's aren't that bad of a tire. In everyday driving they are totally fine. Although, I am eagerly waiting for them to wear out so I can try a stickier summer tire. The huge plus is that they are very inexpensive to replace, in the US they cost half of what a lot of other tires do (4 of them are 544$ on tirerack.com!)

Ehh?
Is this kind of tires on premium cars standard in the US? Because in Europe they aren't.
I'm not talking about a stickier tire. I'm talking about one that is on par with every other standard tire on bmw, mercedes, audio, volvo, saab (when they were still around), vw, etc. These aren't...
They are cheap for a reason...

 

[Hybris]

For a 100K USD car this is just crazy... ;-)

 

[montgom626]

In northern Europe (Sweden & Norway) your Tesla comes with Pirelli Zottozero on the 19" wheels.
And you can buy an extra set of 19" wheels with Nokian Hakkapelitta winter tires on.

I think you meant Sottozero.

 

[ebwb]

I'm curious to know how you determined the Michelin Primacy or Goodyear RS-A2 tires are "sub-standard." Those Michelins test well among Grand Touring All-Season tires (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=138), and CR's Model S scored very high in handling and grip with the standard Goodyears.

 

[Volker.Berlin]

My Tesla was delivered with the Goodyear RS-A2 tires. As far as I know all Tesla's delivered with 19" wheels have these tires.

That's what I heard from some German Tesla owners, too, and my own Model S (due next week, yay!) has been confirmed to come with those as well.

 

[mnx]

So if it's not grip in a tire you want, then what are you looking for? I find the RS-A2 to be fairly quiet as well.

Ehh?
Is this kind of tires on premium cars standard in the US? Because in Europe they aren't.
I'm not talking about a stickier tire. I'm talking about one that is on par with every other standard tire on bmw, mercedes, audio, volvo, saab (when they were still around), vw, etc. These aren't...
They are cheap for a reason...

 

[Eikrokei]

I'm curious to know how you determined the Michelin Primacy or Goodyear RS-A2 tires are "sub-standard." Those Michelins test well among Grand Touring All-Season tires (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=138), and CR's Model S scored very high in handling and grip with the standard Goodyears.

Think about what you just wrote, yes, they are good ALL-SEASON tires, but the compromises inherent to all-season tires make for subpar summer tires and useless winter tires. What we want is proper summer tires, for the winter we have a seperate set of dedicated winter tires. In this context all-season tires make no sense at all.

 

[matbl]

Exactly. Well explained Eikrokei.
For me it's a safety thing, proper summer tires have better performance in the summer and in the winter we in the nordic countries need winter tires anyway.
Good summer tires also have lower rolling resistance which gets you more range.
The Michelin primacy upgrade on 19" is currently not available at all for Europe.

 

[ebwb]

Think about what you just wrote, yes, they are good ALL-SEASON tires, but the compromises inherent to all-season tires make for subpar summer tires and useless winter tires. What we want is proper summer tires, for the winter we have a seperate set of dedicated winter tires. In this context all-season tires make no sense at all.

Ah. When I read "sub-standard" tire, I thought you meant there was something wrong with the quality of the particular tires fitted on Model S. Now I see you were talking about the type of tire.

Typically in the US, all cars are fitted as standard with all-season tires, from BMWs to Audis to Mercs. The exception would be cars from their respective high-performance divisions (i.e., M, S, and AMG).

If it's common for cars in Nordic countries to come with summer tires instead of all-seasons, I'd definitely write to Tesla and let them know your preference. For where I live, all-seasons are great because summer tires don't grip when it's cold in the morning, yet it never snows here to warrant winter tires.

 

[Hybris]

Yes we dont want all-season. Heard from a friend that works with tires that they might even not be approved to use in the winter over here. Meaning insurance issues... Guys anyone contacted Tesla regarding this? They should change to he primacy as standard or let us upgrade! Throwing away rubber dont seem like good PR or customer satisfaction...

 

[matbl]

Typically in the US, all cars are fitted as standard with all-season tires, from BMWs to Audis to Mercs. The exception would be cars from their respective high-performance divisions (i.e., M, S, and AMG).

Ahh. That answers my original question if that is common practice in the US and apparently it is.
Even low-end versions of the brands you refer to and even cheaper brands like volvo or the french brands comes with summer tires in Europe. Usually ones that as far as tires goes outperforms all-season ones.

I'd love to let Tesla know my preference. But how?

- - - Updated - - -

Yes we dont want all-season. Heard from a friend that works with tires that they might even not be approved to use in the winter over here. Meaning insurance issues... Guys anyone contacted Tesla regarding this? They should change to he primacy as standard or let us upgrade! Throwing away rubber dont seem like good PR or customer satisfaction...

No they are not legal as winter tires in Sweden. Probably not in Norway either. Can't say for other nordic countries. M+S marking is not enough, it must in addition also be specifically made for winter conditions. The following is a list of legal tires (last years list): http://www.stro.se/winter/vinter121001_new.pdf

Offering the Primacy as standard or upgrade wouldn't help. It is also an all-season tire...



Just to be clear. I don't demand that Tesla should ship both winter and summer tires. A decent pair of summer tires instead of all-season ones is what is expected in Europe.
This is another one of those things that Tesla apparently didn't grasp the differences between the markets...