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Peter_M
Member
Excellent blog, Doug - summarizes a lot of useful advice all in one place. Two things you could add:
In the Window Fogging section: If your windshield is icing up in freezing rain and full defrost isn't enough to keep it clear, slow down. The cooling from airflow over the windshield above about 70km/h makes it very hard to keep the ice off. Usually you can't go that fast in freezing rain anyway, but sometimes with good road salting you can.
And because we get a lot of questions about driving performance in winter, it might be good to say a bit more about that - that the traction control works very fast so it's very effective in slippery conditions, but still drive carefully. I am continually amazed by how the car just sticks to the lane like it's on rails even if the road is snow-covered or a bit icy.
In the Window Fogging section: If your windshield is icing up in freezing rain and full defrost isn't enough to keep it clear, slow down. The cooling from airflow over the windshield above about 70km/h makes it very hard to keep the ice off. Usually you can't go that fast in freezing rain anyway, but sometimes with good road salting you can.
And because we get a lot of questions about driving performance in winter, it might be good to say a bit more about that - that the traction control works very fast so it's very effective in slippery conditions, but still drive carefully. I am continually amazed by how the car just sticks to the lane like it's on rails even if the road is snow-covered or a bit icy.
mrElbe
Active Member
Thanks for the comments, guys. And great points, Peter, I'll add them in.
(Keenan84 maybe you'd like to start a thread in the Off Topic section?)
(Keenan84 maybe you'd like to start a thread in the Off Topic section?)
I believe they wanted a performance tire, so you could still do aggressive acceleration and cornering despite it being a winter tire. This, of course, is a total fail anywhere with real weather.
Chalk it up to a California car company. They don't really understand cold.
Chalk it up to a California car company. They don't really understand cold.
Aussie Bob
Member
Excellent write up Doug. I had my first winter drive yesterday after spending over 2 months in Australia. I had no regen warning on my car and wondered what was happening. Even called Tesla service number to ask "what's up?" They asked what is your temp in your location. When replied, I Was told car is protecting battery by cutting out regen braking.
Your write came at a great time for a new driver in cold situations. Now I know how to combat the problem. I had no regen problem this AM despite heating car from App for 30 min. Will try your double reheat next time. Most of my travel so far has been cases 1&3.
Strongly support a Cold weather site. When you set one up suggest first article should be your 4 points plus Peter's 2 other suggestions. This would provide best advice I have had on driving car so far in one place.
Your write came at a great time for a new driver in cold situations. Now I know how to combat the problem. I had no regen problem this AM despite heating car from App for 30 min. Will try your double reheat next time. Most of my travel so far has been cases 1&3.
Strongly support a Cold weather site. When you set one up suggest first article should be your 4 points plus Peter's 2 other suggestions. This would provide best advice I have had on driving car so far in one place.
mnx
2018 M3P
I prefer having performance winter tires, although I don't have a long daily commute that I have to trudge through no matter what.
For >90% of my driving I'm on dry or wet roads on which my Pilot Aplin PA3's are better than X-Ice's / Hakka R2's etc.
That makes sense. In Southern Ontario you really don't drive on snow that much unless you live in a rural area and/or the plowing takes a while to reach you. I live right in T.O. and my daily drive is primarily on major thoroughfares. So I am really only driving on snow a handful of times in a regular winter - last year was an exception, of course.
Sure, on dry pavement the Pirellis are better. If you rarely get snow/ice on the road maybe they're okay.
We don't get a lot of that dry pavement stuff this time of year.
We don't get a lot of that dry pavement stuff this time of year.
Even a 'crappy' winter tire is a vast improvement from an all season/summer tire. My AWD BMW had Blizzak LM32 (runflats) (another performance winter tire), and while there are a lot of variables, I strongly believe the Pirelli tires from Tesla are a marked improvement from those specific winter tires (and/or the Tesla is just that much better in snow/slush/ice). I have given a few "insane mode" demonstrations in less than ideal road conditions. While the reaction might be different (compared to dry/bare roads), it is nearly as impressive, with people being surprised the car stayed straight and true while it got up to speed.
In town here, the Pirelli tires have so far met my needs. We have had snow, but have not had a dump of snow, perhaps that will change my tune a bit. Part of me does wish I had the more popular/better winter tires, but I wonder if there is a trade off that would be noticed. Driving the same Model S on the same roads back to back with Nokian/Blizzak's vs the Pirelli's would be very interesting. I'm hoping the Pirelli's might hold up noticeably better tread life wise (not that tread wear should be a deciding factor compared to safety).
3s-a-charm
Active Member
I have the Pirelli's on my X5 and they are HUGE tires - 315/35/R20 in the rear! We had some pretty significant snowfalls this winter and these tires have been excellent - never wished for more traction in any situation. I also feel they offer the best balance between winter traction and performance on dry pavement as the difference between these and the summer tires is minor.
Right. The Nokian WR-3g are severe service all seasons and a 240 km/h top speed. I put a set on my Model S. So far they've worked well, but there haven't been any ice days yet (probably because I put on those tires so I was prepared). In previous winters with other cars, the WR series tires worked exceptionally well on ice days.
I'm not convinced that the Pirelli Sotozeros are better than a good all season tire. Seriously.
Jaff
Active Member
While I certainly respect the opinions of the masses (in that the Sotozero's may not be a great winter tire), thus far, it really does seem not bad. Again, my opinion is based on apples to oranges comparison (the Blizzak LM32's of my AWD BMW vs MS/Sotozeros). I feel much more in control, and notice the car stop quicker on ice than the BMW. Further, when I first got the BMW and had not yet switched whatever all seasons it came to the LM32s, I had a scary moment where I had difficulty coming to a stop on a slippery road, and nearly rear ended someone, such has not been the case on the Sotozero's thus far.
If anyone local with the P85D and Nokian or x-ice tires is interested, I'd be very interested doing back to back stopping tests. Not that I want to be seen as defending the Sotozeros... when the time comes, I will almost certainly go with the Nokian R2's myself (as I have on my wife's car). The thing is, from this forum I was super worried about getting them (but really wanted the car delivered with winter tires so as to be one less concern off the bat), and have been pleasantly surprised <based on a very low expectation>.
So far my WR G3 tires are doing well, although we haven't had a real load of snow yet to "dig" out of. The only thing I've noticed so far is a slight fishtailing when I accelerate rapidly on snow. Stopping on snow is excellent, and I'm more concerned about that. More experiments are coming. (Tests of any tire on another car aren't likely relevant enough to the Model S, because it's different enough.)