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Why does Plaid come with skinnier front tires than long range?
- Thread starter sorka
- Start date
So first, a, point of order, the Michelin is smaller, but not meaningfully for performance anyway. The 255 Michelin actually has slightly wider tread at the pavement than the 265/45-20 OEM Tesla T1 conti. Despite being smaller overall, tread width of the 255 Michelin is 8.7" vs. 8.3" for the 265, according to Tire Rack, which pulls these specs from the manufacturer spec sheet usually.
The tire doesn't get chosen in a vacuum and these OEM decisions are made in close concert with the supplier. Michelin probably recommended they use a 255 for their summer tire option for a lighter tire with better rim support for improved steering response and efficiency on the same wheel width. 255's on a 9" wheel are pretty standard, as are 275 on a 9.5 or even a 10, on performance summer-equipped high horsepower cars. Michelin also makes the LS3 in like a dozen OEM fitments in that size, so Tesla was probably able to save some tooling cost going with a tire that comes from a common mold with changes under the skin, so to speak.
Or, perhaps Conti was asked to match it ut couldn't make the all-season tire work up front in that 255 size, because it needed to be v-rated and also be all-weather and also quiet and also low-rolling resistance, so they might have decided to bump it up in size a bit to add some margin. Contis also tend to run somewhat narrow with little in the way of rim protection in their OEM fitments. The all-seasons are asked to do a lot more obviously, from a flight envelope perspective, than the summers, which are designed for a narrower temp range (meaning, fewer compromises to make the compounding work in very cold temperatures, which make no mistake requires a LOT of compromise) and also doesn't need the tread design compromises (better support for the tread blocks because they're not as small and don't need all the siping, etc.). DO EVERYTHING REASONABLY WELL ON ONE OF THE HEAVIEST, HIGHEST-PERFORMANCE 7-PASSENGER VEHICLES EVER MADE OH AND ALSO IT CAN TOW 5000LB is a hell of an engineering challenge. I'm amazed the OE contis aren't $5000 a set
So, no, a "smaller" summer tire isn't necessarily counterintuitive, if you think about it in tire-minutiae terms.
Plaid should have gotten big fender flares and 285's up front and 315's in back though. How rad would that have been
The tire doesn't get chosen in a vacuum and these OEM decisions are made in close concert with the supplier. Michelin probably recommended they use a 255 for their summer tire option for a lighter tire with better rim support for improved steering response and efficiency on the same wheel width. 255's on a 9" wheel are pretty standard, as are 275 on a 9.5 or even a 10, on performance summer-equipped high horsepower cars. Michelin also makes the LS3 in like a dozen OEM fitments in that size, so Tesla was probably able to save some tooling cost going with a tire that comes from a common mold with changes under the skin, so to speak.
Or, perhaps Conti was asked to match it ut couldn't make the all-season tire work up front in that 255 size, because it needed to be v-rated and also be all-weather and also quiet and also low-rolling resistance, so they might have decided to bump it up in size a bit to add some margin. Contis also tend to run somewhat narrow with little in the way of rim protection in their OEM fitments. The all-seasons are asked to do a lot more obviously, from a flight envelope perspective, than the summers, which are designed for a narrower temp range (meaning, fewer compromises to make the compounding work in very cold temperatures, which make no mistake requires a LOT of compromise) and also doesn't need the tread design compromises (better support for the tread blocks because they're not as small and don't need all the siping, etc.). DO EVERYTHING REASONABLY WELL ON ONE OF THE HEAVIEST, HIGHEST-PERFORMANCE 7-PASSENGER VEHICLES EVER MADE OH AND ALSO IT CAN TOW 5000LB is a hell of an engineering challenge. I'm amazed the OE contis aren't $5000 a set
So, no, a "smaller" summer tire isn't necessarily counterintuitive, if you think about it in tire-minutiae terms.
Plaid should have gotten big fender flares and 285's up front and 315's in back though. How rad would that have been
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The 22" summers you mean? Cracks due to cold-soaking a summer tire (like in that cold snap we just had, a November one got a set of our household's Michelin PS4S's that were pretty old and worn and ready to go anyway, luckily) are a pretty common problem that isn't really all that well-communicated. Winter tires exist for good reason but in the US most manufacturers don't bother with them in the states even when high-performance summer-tire equipped cars are delivered in vermont in february, it's weird. Meanwhile if you take delivery of your german car that normally comes on sumemr tires at the german factory in winter, they won't let you take the car without winter tires on it. I saw a brand new M5 running around on its Pilot Sports here in STL in 10 degree temps the other day, still had temp tags on it. Forget e pluribus unum or in god we trust, "send it, Jerry" is our national motto when it comes to tires
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I am experimenting with those sizes on my X plaid. 22x10.5 (+30) F and 22x11.5 (+30) R -- w/ 285/35/22 & 315/30/22 tires. According to my calculations, they should "fit". I will know in a month or two
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