Wider Pilot Sport 4S tires on stock 18-inch wheels installed and tested

[shrspeedblade]

I'm not sure how to measure range loss because I wasn't monitoring range or kw/mi before. I got the V9 update a couple of weeks ago, and it varies between 150 and 300 depending how I drive, maybe average at 200? I don't notice any difference between this and my old tire. My motivation to change the tire was that the stock tires are not grippy enough when I accelerate out of turns, and I was nervous doing high speed turns on mountain roads with the stock tires. Since I don't drive anywhere cold I knew I could get summer performance tires. Also I wanted to improve the stopping distance for hard braking for emergency. Price at Costco for all 4 installed was $940 which includes 9.5% sales tax and I got my old tires back in bags. Regarding MPH vs GPS take a look at my original post above and you'll see that it's only 1MPH difference, so that's negligible.


No I don't notice any visual difference but my friends at work said the new tires look better and bigger and more aggressive. To me they just look like my old tires, but I feel safer driving around with the better grip and I can drive more confidently. So getting the Pilot 4S definitely delivered on grip but I'm not sure how the 235 and 245 size would have been different.


I too was hoping the larger sidewall would mean some increased ride comfort over bumps, but I don't think it made a difference. I use around 40PSI . I don't notice any difference in noise either.

These tires were an expensive upgrade, but I wanted the extra grip and driving confidence since the car is so powerful. The tires will probably wear out after driving 20K miles on them so I only recommend doing this if you're willing to spend extra money on tires every 2 years instead of every 4 years. Maybe if I keep up with rotations due to RWD I can drive them 30K miles.

I assume the aero covers will still fit?

Really interested to know your wh/mile after several thousand miles.

Also, if anything I've found the stock speedo to be a little under compared to the radar stations in my area, which have been quite accurate with other cars, so the slight increase in diameter could make it more accurate!

 

[spesler]

This is a great tool to assess tire size changes.

Wheel Offset Calculator

For 235/45/18 to 245/45/18, the circumference will increase by 1.5% and the speed displayed will be low by the same amount. (i.e. if the factory speedo was initially accurate, 100mph displayed would be equivalent to 101.5 mph actual after the change)

 

[TEG]

I assume the aero covers will still fit?

I can't think of any reason they would not fit.

 

[TT97]

These tires were an expensive upgrade, but I wanted the extra grip and driving confidence since the car is so powerful. The tires will probably wear out after driving 20K miles on them so I only recommend doing this if you're willing to spend extra money on tires every 2 years instead of every 4 years. Maybe if I keep up with rotations due to RWD I can drive them 30K miles.

I hate to be a bummer, but 20k miles may be tough on performance tires. If you look around this forum, the OEM tires are having a hard time reaching 20k miles.

I had Pirelli P Zeros on my old MB (similar UTQC); the rear tires lasted 7500 miles and 15,000 for the front (staggered wheels). The MB didn't have the torque the Tesla does.

[Having said that, I also plan to put on the PS4S when it is time for new tires.]

 

[gilscales]

Will definitely be doing this one I eat through my stock tires. I wonder if 255's would be overkill. Will probably do 245's to get a good balance of range and performance.

Only problem with 255's I can see besides a bigger hit on range is that with 40's you are 2.3% larger in diameter and with 35's they are 1.5% smaller, with 245/40 then its only a 1.1% difference (on 19's at least)

 

[iwannam3]

Thanks for answering our questions! I am still interested in this one....

Please take a photo with a straight edge across the sidewalls showing how far off the rim edge is from the side wall.

Thanks

 

[Agon]

I dont know much about tires, but I definitely find the wheelarch gap on the model 3 a bit too large visually. Could you use a tire even larger like 245/50R18? It would make the diameter 4,9% larger than original (1,3") according to the calculator in the link above. The speedometer would be off by about 5% of course, but apart from that would it work?

 

[android04]

I dont know much about tires, but I definitely find the wheelarch gap on the model 3 a bit too large visually. Could you use a tire even larger like 245/50R18? It would make the diameter 4,9% larger than original (1,3") according to the calculator in the link above. The speedometer would be off by about 5% of course, but apart from that would it work?

245/50R18 would not work. The upper control arm sticks out above the tire and is about 0.5 inches above the tread. Too tall of a tire would rub. Only solution for you is to lower the car with one of the many lowering spring kits available.

 

[rlb4]

245/50R18 would not work. The upper control arm sticks out above the tire and is about 0.5 inches above the tread. Too tall of a tire would rub. Only solution for you is to lower the car with one of the many lowering spring kits available.

So would 245/45 18 be ok? It is slightly taller.

 

[android04]

So would 245/45 18 be ok? It is slightly taller.

According to the tire size calculator here Tire Size Comparison and comparing to my stock 235/45R18 tires, the 245/45R18 tires are 0.4 inches in diameter (or 0.2 inches taller). So 245/45R18 will be fine and a lot of people in forums have installed that size without issue.

Here is a picture I took of the gap between front control arm and my winter tires (there is nothing in the way for the rear tires). Gap looks to be about 1/2 inch so you can play around with tire sizes as long as the diameter difference doesn't go above 1 inch.

 

[DougF]

If you want to go to 255 you might need to drop profile to a 40 from a 45. This would be a lower profile than the original (4.0" vs. 4.2") but pretty close overall and you get the extra width which should help traction and rim protection. You would sacrifice range a bit as this is tire is slightly smaller diameter and thus at 80mph on the speedo you'd actually be doing 79.1mph. The extra 0.7" width is ~7% more, so perhaps some additional drag but would expect minimal impact. The 2 concerns with the 255 would be 1. Rub in front wheels and 2. wider tires put more strain on front end steering components, potentially causing faster wear over joints, linkage arms, etc. over time.

 

[Agon]

For me it is the appearance that matters. I dont like the wheelarch gap, and if you lower it you just make it smaller in the top of the wheel and leave gaps on both sides of the wheel which is even worse.
Maybe 245/45R18 helps just a little bit.

 

[Reid]

I have not been impressed with the amount of road noise on the Primacy tires on the Model 3 - much louder than my model S was with the same tires on 19 inch wheels

I'm really surprised every time I hear this. I find the 3 to be an EXTREMELY quiet car, it certainly doesn't seem any louder than my father's S (or the other S's I've driven/ridden in over the years). It can be a bit loud on loud pavement, like any car, but on quiet asphalt it's virtually silent. Certainly quieter than most cars.

 

[miimura]

If you want to go to 255 you might need to drop profile to a 40 from a 45. This would be a lower profile than the original (4.0" vs. 4.2") but pretty close overall and you get the extra width which should help traction and rim protection. You would sacrifice range a bit as this is tire is slightly smaller diameter and thus at 80mph on the speedo you'd actually be doing 79.1mph. The extra 0.7" width is ~7% more, so perhaps some additional drag but would expect minimal impact. The 2 concerns with the 255 would be 1. Rub in front wheels and 2. wider tires put more strain on front end steering components, potentially causing faster wear over joints, linkage arms, etc. over time.

Stock: 235/45-18 .. 790 rev/mile .. 7.9" tread width
Opt1: 245/45-18 ... 780 rev/mile .. 8.1" tread width
Opt2: 255/40-18 ... 799 rev/mile .. 8.7" tread width

So, just increasing the width by 10mm gives you a slightly wider and taller tire that is 1.3% more distance per revolution.
Increasing the width by 20mm and dropping the aspect by 5% gives you a significantly wider tire that is smaller rolling diameter giving 1.1% less distance per revolution.

Now that I look at it, 265/40-18 is 790 rev/mile but it requires a minimum 9" rim width. I think the Tesla 18" wheels are 8.5" wide.

 

[PIEric]

So, I'm looking at 265/40/18 and according to the wheel offset visualizer the dimensions are the same as 235/45/18 except the width...and America's tire list it under a plus zero ..might be good for a staggered setup and not worry about tire rotation ?

 

[TT97]

So, I'm looking at 265/40/18 and according to the wheel offset visualizer the dimensions are the same as 235/45/18 except the width...and America's tire list it under a plus zero ..might be good for a staggered setup and not worry about tire rotation ?

plus zero (and +1, +2) have to do with diameter size in over OEM. All 18" sizes will be +0 (technically, as the 19" is an OEM size as well, it is typically not listed as +1).

235/45 front and 265/40 back is common for staggered set-up (and as close as even diameter as you can get). Your rear wheel should be 1" wider than the front - 18×8.5 - 18×9.5 or 18×8 - 18×9 both work. Also, make sure the offsets are 15 mm different so that the outside of the tires are in line.

 

[StellarRat]

Do you know how your efficiency has been affected by the new tires? Thanks.

Yes, this! Also, can you put the covers back on if you want to?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

You would sacrifice range a bit as this tire is slightly smaller diameter and thus at 80mph on the speedo you'd actually be doing 79.1mph.

I think you mean to say this won't impact range significantly; it's just the indicated Wh/mi & odometer that will be off, to first order. And yes, when quoting Wh/mi with modified tire diameters, people should be careful to distinguish between the indicated Wh/mi & the corrected Wh/mi. It's likely only 1-2% of course.

The extra 0.7" width is ~7% more, so perhaps some additional drag but would expect minimal impact.

More than the extra width (though that matters too), the stickier compound of these tires will significantly impact the range vs. the stock tires (compare range of P3D to the P3D+). It should be quite noticeable - 10-20% hit on Wh/mi is typical but it can be worse. Depends on exactly what tires you're switching to of course.

 

[Brando]

Larger tire = slight increase in gearing => slightly better distance and some drop in performance.
So much for logic (wider tire add any significant friction loss?)

Only observation/comparison can answer.

PS - Would seem a great Tesla Club get together to run some standard course and compare the different tire combinations.

 

[TT97]

More than the extra width (though that matters too), the stickier compound of these tires will significantly impact the range vs. the stock tires (compare range of P3D to the P3D+). It should be quite noticeable - 10-20% hit on Wh/mi is typical but it can be worse. Depends on exactly what tires you're switching to of course.

The difference in efficiency between P3D & P3D+ has to do with the different wheel more than the different tire compound.

If you look at Troy's calculations, there is a 7% different between the areo wheels (without the covers) and the sports wheels even though both are on all-season tires. This is mostly due to the weight of the wheels.

Tesla Model S/X/3 range at 55/60/65/70/75/80 mph