Which Snows and Why Poll?

[mswlogo]

My understanding of the reviews are that the Sottozero 2's aren't as good as the 3's.
Also, the Bridgestone Blizzak LM001 is a good option in the correct size and load rating. They were my other item on my short list.
Discount tire had more good winter tire options, but they didn't have a wheel combo that would work at the time. Getting the tires mounted, balanced and shipped directly to me was valuable to me.

LM001 was on my short list as well.

Every tire in this list was on top at one point but ultimately this would be my preference.

X-Ice
R3
LM001 (This is V speed rated)
Continental Sport
Sottozero 3 (This is V Speed rated)

I was initially leaning towards Speed Rated thinking they would be quieter. But that didn't seam to be the case.

Note: There is another thread going about an issue with losing Regen at high speeds after mounting snows.

I have no evidence of that yet, but I have not been at full regen due to temps since I put the X-Ice on.

This could change preferences if it's tire dependent. That is, the weight of higher speed rated tires (e.g. Sotto 3 V) could be more critical than we thought.

 

[coleAK]

I’ve had studless Nokians on 2 cars for over 20 years.

I went with X-Ice because they are rated 1 notch better on noise and one notch better on efficiency by some tests/reviews. Two characteristics I typically wouldn’t be so anal about. But I am on this vehicle. And it’s the only snow tire with a tread life warranty. I don’t know if they will last as long as Nokians but I suspect they will last longer than most snow tires. Buying snows every 2-3 seasons is nuts (that’s what I suspect will happen with SottoZeros). And so many people do. Because they were to cheap to buy something like a Nokian.

Any decent snow tire will do fine when new on an AWD.

Wow, I didn’t know Alaska doesn’t use salt.

Nokian R2 even beat X-Ice Xi3 on TireRacks testing. But they didn’t measure noise or efficiency. I would trade better noise and efficiency for slighter worse longevity and snow traction.

In Alaska the roads have never really been salted that I can remember, I guesss it was a losing battle. Over 10 years ago it was banned due to the major negative environmental impact. We are one of the most unpolluted, pristine places in the planet and want to keep it that way as long as possible. And the watershed and watersystem is extra scrutinized due to efforts to sustain our salmon.

 

[mswlogo]

FYI I confirmed tonight that I’m getting full regen at all speeds with the Xi3’s on an All Wheel drive.

I had to drive about 15 miles hard to get it to warm up to full regen first.

Seems completely normal. Definitely doesn’t handle like the Primacy’s.

 

[usofrob]

The battery has to be fully warm to get full regen. That is correlated with when you'd put your snow tires on. But the tires themselves have no effect on regen. I've found that even at 50F it takes like an hour of driving to get fully regen back.

 

[Guest]

I can't find sottozero 3 anywhere in either 94 or 98 rating. Discount called perelli and they didn't thubt any would be back in the US for a couple months. I think Blizzak LM001 is the best available for rolling resistance and wet traction. R3 for those dealing with mostly snow, but even here in MI the snow is off 95% of the roads very shortly after a storm.

 

[jsmay311]

The battery has to be fully warm to get full regen. That is correlated with when you'd put your snow tires on. But the tires themselves have no effect on regen. I've found that even at 50F it takes like an hour of driving to get fully regen back.

That was my thought at first too. But there are a lot of Model 3 owners in various threads claiming that they’re observing reduced regen after installing winter tires even when their battery is not cold, and in ways that are clearly different than the typical reduced regen that is seen when the battery is cold.

It’s a real head-scratcher.

Who has lost regen with winter tires?

 

[Latorre]

Let us know how they are. Sotto 3 are definitely better than Sotto 2.

Personal preference of performance on dry vs wet vs snow.

In snow, an X-Ice or Nokian R3 will run circles around any Sotto. But on wet handling the Sotto will win. So Tesla didn’t choose the “best” snow, they just chose the trade offs for you.

There is no one perfect snow tire.

Here is the Euro Label on Sottozero 3
I’d personally be most concerned on how quiet they are. That’s a big deal to me.

I like how Europe does the tire ratings.

I live in Westchester County, NY. We really don’t “Alaska” snow here. Just the occasional Snow Storms and what not. I picked the Pirelli’s cause I’m a road warrior and these roads spend more time wet (cause of the salt) and the temperature sits pretty low in the Jan/Feb months.

Wish me luck...I slapping those Bad Boys on this saturday.

I should Take Pics of the T Sportline 20’s and 19’s (before and after) then post them on a different thread.

-Brian

 

[Snow Drift]

I like how Europe does the tire ratings.

I live in Westchester County, NY. We really don’t “Alaska” snow here. Just the occasional Snow Storms and what not. I picked the Pirelli’s cause I’m a road warrior and these roads spend more time wet (cause of the salt) and the temperature sits pretty low in the Jan/Feb months.

Wish me luck...I slapping those Bad Boys on this saturday.

I should Take Pics of the T Sportline 20’s and 19’s (before and after) then post them on a different thread.

-Brian

I grew up in Somers and have usually had Performance snows on my WRXs. Plenty of grip for inches of snow, even up our steep driveway.

 

[Superspectral]

I have been running 235/35R-20 MICHELIN PILOT ALPIN PA4 N-SPEC N0 I bought from Tire Rack for a few days on my P3D+ because they fit the stock 20 in. rims and were a lot less expensive than the Pirreli. I've not noticed any significant increase in noise or decrease in effiiciency. We've already had sub 32 mornings here in Michigan - and a sleet storm where the stock summer tires were slick with zero grip. No chance to test the new winter tires on snow.

 

[Skione65]

I have been running 235/35R-20 MICHELIN PILOT ALPIN PA4 N-SPEC N0 I bought from Tire Rack for a few days on my P3D+ because they fit the stock 20 in. rims and were a lot less expensive than the Pirreli. I've not noticed any significant increase in noise or decrease in effiiciency. We've already had sub 32 mornings here in Michigan - and a sleet storm where the stock summer tires were slick with zero grip. No chance to test the new winter tires on snow.

@Superspectral,

So same efficiency? What were you getting with the PS4s vs. now with the Alpins? I have the Alpins waiting for me at Tire Rack for install. Good to hear your at least getting the same efficiency!

Ski

 

[Superspectral]

Today I drove the Alpins about 150 miles and got 285 wh/mi on average, with periods of 245 wh/mi and 330 wh/mi. My lifetime average, with about 1500 miles on the PS4s and 300 on the Alpins is 296 wh/mi. The Alpins may be a shade more efficient, especially considering a month ago it was 30 deg warmer (still had 80 deg days, to day was 40-50 deg). They aren't noisy. They were up for spirited cornering in the cold rain. Really, they feel pretty equivalent to the PS4s. The tire tread is very different. The PS4s are all flat with just a few channels. The Alpins have lots of zig zaggy slots and slits.

 

[Skione65]

Today I drove the Alpins about 150 miles and got 285 wh/mi on average, with periods of 245 wh/mi and 330 wh/mi. My lifetime average, with about 1500 miles on the PS4s and 300 on the Alpins is 296 wh/mi. The Alpins may be a shade more efficient, especially considering a month ago it was 30 deg warmer (still had 80 deg days, to day was 40-50 deg). They aren't noisy. They were up for spirited cornering in the cold rain. Really, they feel pretty equivalent to the PS4s. The tire tread is very different. The PS4s are all flat with just a few channels. The Alpins have lots of zig zaggy slots and slits.

@Superspectral,

Sounds almost identical to the PS4s. Glad to hear I won’t be taking an effficiency or penalty hit that’s too detrimental. Appreciate the data points.

Ski

 

[William13]

Black ice is the biggest risk in my area with lots of snow otherwise. I don’t push it too much in the rain as I understand the limitations of the Hakka R2. I observe the huge number of accidents when it snows and want to avoid a lengthy repair. I think that the risk is with ice, snow, and stupid driving in descending order. Now getting Hakka 3 for my Sig S

 

[coleAK]

As for the road noise and winter tire debate. Some tires may be quieter while driving. However they are much louder when you hit a guardrail or end up nose first in a ditch.

first real snow of the season this morning. The meeting of the non winter tire club is in front of my house. 3 cars in the ditch (no joke one is a model X) my trash can is toast (trash day), and mailbox is gone. In just in the 20 min I was using the man plow I saw 7 cars spinning down the road including the f250 that took out my mailbox and trash can.

 

[matto]

Does anyone know how snows hold up on a Model 3? Snow tires are softer and often wear faster than all-seasons. I'm a little concerned that with a 4000 pound car with gobs of torque will eat through the tires in a single season. Once the tread gets low (4-6/32nds) traction in snow is significantly reduced.

I will be doing the majority of my snow driving in a different vehicle, so I'm thinking of sticking with all-seasons (DSW 06?) for the Tesla.

 

[coleAK]

Torque is the enemy on winter roads so I would say you need winter tires even more. When I had my Porsche 996 turbo (before kids) for 3 winters, I ran snow tires and from what I can remember they were >50% remaining when I got rid of it. I’m on my 5th winter on my Nokia Hakka 7 on my LX 570 (the Tesla is my wife’s) it is >6000 lbs with and my tires show 60-70% remaining on the wear indicators. We have Hakka 4s on our e500 4matic on their 7th winter at 40-50% remaining, it is ~3800 lbs with ~350 ft-lbs torque.

 

[coleAK]

We have Hakka 9s on the 3. I expect to get at least 5 winters out of them. I get new winter tires when they get to ~50%. And this will be the last winter for the tires on my LX.

 

[mswlogo]

Does anyone know how snows hold up on a Model 3? Snow tires are softer and often wear faster than all-seasons. I'm a little concerned that with a 4000 pound car with gobs of torque will eat through the tires in a single season. Once the tread gets low (4-6/32nds) traction in snow is significantly reduced.

I will be doing the majority of my snow driving in a different vehicle, so I'm thinking of sticking with all-seasons (DSW 06?) for the Tesla.

The X-Ice have 40,000 mile tread warranty. And Nokian's have a reputation of lasting a very long time.
A lot of Tesla S owners have been running both. As well as others.

It's really more about how you drive than anything.

 

[jsmay311]

Does anyone know how snows hold up on a Model 3? Snow tires are softer and often wear faster than all-seasons. I'm a little concerned that with a 4000 pound car with gobs of torque will eat through the tires in a single season.

I had Xi3’s on my 3,781 lb Gen 1 Chevy Volt and they lasted fine over 4 winters. They had ~60% usable tread height remaining after 16k miles. But I was careful not to install them until it was consistently cold.

It's really more about how you drive than anything.

And the temperatures in which you drive them. I’ve been shocked to read posts from people driving around in 70F temps on winter tires. (Granted, I’ve always used all-season tires in the warm months and never summer tires, so it’s easier for me to wait until it’s consistently cold before installing the winter tires. I get why someone with summer tires would want to swap in the winter tires sooner. But within reason.)

 

[Snow Drift]

And the temperatures in which you drive them. I’ve been shocked to read posts from people driving around in 70F temps on winter tires. (Granted, I’ve always used all-season tires and never used summer tires, so it’s easier for me to wait until it’s consistently cold before installing the winter tires. I get why someone with summer tires would want to swap in the winter tires sooner.)

Winters in summer is dangerous too. The compound is very soft so in high temps it melts a little and makes the tires greasy, reducing grip.

It's important to use the right tool at the right time.