Total Crap OEM Goodyear F1 Asymmetric Tires - Beware in snow!

[blgN8]

We purchased the 20" Induction wheels. The OEM Tires are Goodyear F1 Asymmetric tires. They have a treadwear rating of 500. The treadwear indicator is a measure of how long (miles) the tire is expected to last. It also is an indicator of how hard/soft tire is. Sport tires usually have treadwear ratings between 200-360. Standard all-season tires typically 400-1200.

I suspect Tesla chose the F1 tires for their harder rubber, lower rolling resistance. They are listed as an all-season tire.

Anyway. We live in lovely Minnesota. I have long held that with AWD vehicles, all-season tires are perfectly fine. Until now. My wife complained about how badly the car performed in our first snow. I was a little concerned, but she is not really much of a driver - started driving at age 30. Her previous car was Infinity G37 AWD Sport - with good Continental all-season tires. Recently, we had another snow fall. I took her Tesla out in the morning for bakery run.. it was horrible. I slid through a couple stop signs.. and I was going slow.

That evening, I took the Tesla out again. I drove about 1/2 block before before realizing some fool parked on the corner of the street. I was only going about 15mph, but remembering the horrible drive in the morning, decided that trying to take the corner would likely result in a collision with the parked truck. So I applied the brakes and kept going straight. It took about 70 feet to stop. I ended up over the curb and nearly the full car length into neighbors yard. I returned the 1/2 block to home and grabbed the X3 - it has Nokkian winter tires. At the same corner, I decided to do a stop test and film it. X3 stopped so hard I nearly dropped the phone. See video:

The Goodyear F1s are by far the worst all-season tire I've ever driven on. Clearly selected for low rolling resistance and not for traction in cold or on ice & snow. I don't even know how they can be classified as "all-season" as in the snow, they drive very close to summer performance tires. Total crap.

I have since ordered $3,500 wheel / tire package from tsportline.com. Annoyed I have to do this. Winter tires are best here in MN winters, but good all-season tires with AWD should be a good solution by itself.

Would be nice if Tesla equipped with Continental DWS06 tires or gave us a choice.

 

[MP3Mike]

That road looks more like it is covered in ice than snow...

 

[x2ms]

No oem ships with good tires so I wouldn't have high expectations. If you are so "annoyed" by this, why did you purchase a full wheel and tire set when you can get a set of good all season tires for ~$1k installed? Vredestein Quatrac Pro and Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ are both great all seasons.

 

[Daks]

Love my Nokians... And yes, you need different than OEM tires for winter. especially in a EV. All EV makers are going to ship with LRR (low rolling resistant tires) as range is a thing. Our Volt had summer tires on it too... Ohh and get this, our new Jeep Cherokee with a 5.7 V8 - came with LRR tires on it... It has Nokian studded R9s on it now. Stops like your BMW...

I have Nokian Studded snows on order for my Perf. Y too... Unfortunately, I have to get another set of rims too.

 

[GOVA]

Wait. Let me get this straight. You drive on snowy possibly dark ice road on all season tires and you are bitching about it? It takes extra time/distance to stop? Really?

 

[jcanoe]

Thank you for posting the video. The Nokian winter tires performed admirably. It appears that the road was untreated. If you have to drive on snow/ice covered roads wait until the road has been treated with sand or other traction aid. It makes a big difference in your ability to control the vehicle and to stop. Otherwise, stay off the road unless you have proper winter tires and are confident in your ability to drive in the snow.

 

[minus3db]

I also live in MN... and just received my M3 in December. I put winter tires on all my vehicles that do not have AWD... driving my M3-AWD over the recent snow convinced me to order the winter tires. I have a service appointment tomorrow to get them installed.

I didn't have quite the sliding experience you did, but I did notice less than ideal, or comfortable, control... and before anyone posts the obvious "you are driving on ice!" comment, I am being extra careful... ounce of prevention...

My previous cars, both Subaru's, did not need winter tires...

 

[blgN8]

No oem ships with good tires so I wouldn't have high expectations. If you are so "annoyed" by this, why did you purchase a full wheel and tire set when you can get a set of good all season tires for ~$1k installed? Vredestein Quatrac Pro and Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ are both great all seasons.

Agree to disagree. OEM all-season tires in the past have all been decent (though, admittedly this is first EV). To have to spend >$1k to replace OEM with decent all-season tires or order 2nd set of wheels & tires for $3.5k is very annoying.

I favored just replacing for $1k, but is wife's car. OEM tires have left a very bad impression on her. She is liking her Model Y much less. I want her to both be safe and have a good experience. Two benefits of having second winter set vs replacing: A) Much better winter performance. B) Two sets of tires gives me twice as many miles - not exact, but you get the idea.

 

[jcanoe]

The OE Continental ProContact RX and Goodyear Eagle F1 all-season tires that come on the Model Y 19" and 20" wheels are made with a harder rubber compound for longer tread wear and better efficiency but these tires offer less traction especially in colder temperatures.

 

[Daks]

Agree to disagree. OEM all-season tires in the past have all been decent (though, admittedly this is first EV). To have to spend >$1k to replace OEM with decent all-season tires or order 2nd set of wheels & tires for $3.5k is very annoying.

I favored just replacing for $1k, but is wife's car. OEM tires have left a very bad impression on her. She is liking her Model Y much less. I want her to both be safe and have a good experience. Two benefits of having second winter set vs replacing: A) Much better winter performance. B) Two sets of tires gives me twice as many miles - not exact, but you get the idea.

Like you said, the good news is that you get more years out of the tires. I generally replace tires every 4-6 years instead of a lot sooner by having two sets. With the Y I will get a set a tirerack rims, delivered is just under $1k, TPMS sensors from Tesla (ugh on this) for $300 and $1300 for Nokian Hakka R8 Studded. So $2600 give or take a little. Sucks big time - if I got a LR Y, I could get away with just winter tires, but then I'm paying $150 to $200 a year for tire changeovers.

Unhappy Wife = Unhappy Life... So I get it. It's why I also have a new Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 sitting in my driveway right now - that's her ride. Until I can convince her EV is the way to go.

Get the right tires on it and see if it makes it better. I actually got rid of and haven't replaced my pickup because I dislike the white knuckle winter driving experience in the pickup. Even with winter tires. I can drive the Jeep almost the same as I can in the summer. I hope I can make my Perf Y be the same way...

FWIW, I twittered to Elon we need a snow mode in a thread that Bjorn of Norway started... Maybe if we all pester him, he will do it.

 

[jerry33]

We purchased the 20" Induction wheels. The OEM Tires are Goodyear F1 Asymmetric tires. They have a treadwear rating of 500. The treadwear indicator is a measure of how long (miles) the tire is expected to last. It also is an indicator of how hard/soft tire is. Sport tires usually have treadwear ratings between 200-360. Standard all-season tires typically 400-1200.

I suspect Tesla chose the F1 tires for their harder rubber, lower rolling resistance. They are listed as an all-season tire.

All-season tires mean three seasons, not winter (regardless of brand). There are All-Weather tires which are suitable for snow, such as Nokian WR-g4. However, if you live where there is a real winter, the best practice is to get a second set of wheels and put on real snow tires such as Michelin X-Ice or Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3.

 

[Daks]

All-season tires mean three seasons, not winter (regardless of brand). There are All-Weather tires which are suitable for snow, such as Nokian WR-g4. However, if you live where there is a real winter, the best practice is to get a second set of wheels and put on real snow tires such as Michelin X-Ice or Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3.

Or studded tires if your state allows them. Nokian R8/R9

 

[seniorcitizen]

I have lived in MN for 28 years.
I have driven AWD SUV in winters. Snow tires are essential for long MN winters. I always purchased extra set of rims with snow tires. It is additional cost and wife did not like extra tires/wheels stored in garage. Having snow tires was money well spent for me. Drove in dangerous conditions with confidence.
So I did buy continental Vikings contact7 and installed them on Gemini wheels. Plan to purchase new rims for summer.

Even with snow tires MY LRAWD does not do as well in snow as any of my previous AWD cars. It has to do with RWD basis. I am hoping snow mode will be released and will help.

 

[jcanoe]

I have lived in MN for 28 years.
I have driven AWD SUV in winters. Snow tires are essential for long MN winters. I always purchased extra set of rims with snow tires. It is additional cost and wife did not like extra tires/wheels stored in garage. Having snow tires was money well spent for me. Drove in dangerous conditions with confidence.
So I did buy continental Vikings contact7 and installed them on Gemini wheels. Plan to purchase new rims for summer.

Even with snow tires MY LRAWD does not do as well in snow as any of my previous AWD cars. It has to do with RWD basis. I am hoping snow mode will be released and will help.

Does Chill mode help reduce sliding of the rear wheels?

 

[seniorcitizen]

Does Chill mode help reduce sliding of the rear wheels?

Yes chill mode helps. Since I put on the snow tires and switched to chill mode the car handles snow much better. I have been extra cautious while driving lately.

I have been trying out off road mode as well. Loss of traction control with off road mode in not good.

fortunately for us we own a car that improves over time. I am hoping that our feedback will eventually result in snow mode.

 

[patnshan]

I agree. Horrible indeed. I drive and have driven all my cars in Wisconsin winters on good all season tires my whole life. One storm on these garbage Good Year summer tires masquerading as all season tires caused me to order 18” rims and Blizzaks from Tire Rack. Worst tires I’ve ever had in 31 years of driving.

 

[patnshan]

No oem ships with good tires so I wouldn't have high expectations. If you are so "annoyed" by this, why did you purchase a full wheel and tire set when you can get a set of good all season tires for ~$1k installed? Vredestein Quatrac Pro and Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+ are both great all seasons.

This is wrong. I’ve gotten Continental DWS on cars from the factory. These are spectacular all season tires. I would agree some makers, like Tesla, put crap tires on as OEM but your blanket statement is simply not true.

 

[Zcd1]

...The Goodyear F1s are by far the worst all-season tire I've ever driven on. Clearly selected for low rolling resistance and not for traction in cold or on ice & snow. I don't even know how they can be classified as "all-season" as in the snow, they drive very close to summer performance tires. Total crap.

I have since ordered $3,500 wheel / tire package from tsportline.com. Annoyed I have to do this. Winter tires are best here in MN winters, but good all-season tires with AWD should be a good solution by itself.

Would be nice if Tesla equipped with Continental DWS06 tires or gave us a choice.

You're correct that the Goodyears were chosen for long life and low rolling resistance. You're not correct that they're "crap" tires. They prioritize different performance metrics than you do. That doesn't make them crap - it just means you'd prefer something else.

If those Continentals were on the car, how would you feel about a 10% range hit, because that's about what you'd see.

Sorry that you felt you had to pony up $3500 for a winter setup. Could have easily gotten a good and good-looking set for 1/2 that.

 

[laughMan]

i feel that we need more datapoint.
i did my research when ordered MY.

Many people complained the 19” continental are crap in snow, and many said 20” good year are okay/decent in snow.

I know these A/S tire are horrible on ice surface.
Can more owner chip in their opinion with the 20” Goodyear F1 on snow (not ice)?

thanks

 

[blgN8]

You're correct that the Goodyears were chosen for long life and low rolling resistance. You're not correct that they're "crap" tires. They prioritize different performance metrics than you do. That doesn't make them crap - it just means you'd prefer something else.

If those Continentals were on the car, how would you feel about a 10% range hit, because that's about what you'd see.

Sorry that you felt you had to pony up $3500 for a winter setup. Could have easily gotten a good and good-looking set for 1/2 that.

It's the "All-Season" tag that's crap. Yes. I thought I was clear in my post I understand why Tesla would want these on the car with the Low Rolling Resistance. Again, it's the "All-Season" label. Might as well equip with summer performance tires for all the good the traction the Goodyear F1's have in Snow and Ice.

Previously, like for my X3 I found tire / wheel combinations that OK attractive for $1,600 with TPS @ tire rack a year ago. Much more today for Model Y.

For the X3, $225/ea for wheels that are not hideous, but not great either. Pirelli Winter Sottozero3 @ 300/tire. Tirerack does not have compatible TPMS sensors.. @ $2,231 delivered. $300 for TPMS + labor to mount / balance at Tesla. Call it $2,900 for a tire wheel package I'm not real happy with, but works.