yankee_delta
Member
Thanks!I’m not a subject matter expert but I do know that pure “summer” tires will turn rock hard at cold temperatures.
IIRC, when the temperature is consistently below 7°C, one should no longer use summer tires.
YMMV
Thank you as well! That is pretty much what I expected the answer would be but I wanted to verify. I was thinking 19" wheels would probably make the most sense, probably something like one of these:Running the Model 3 Performance stock tires in temperatures below freezing, or on ice and snow, is a very bad idea. If you're lucky, you'll just have a lot of trouble getting around; if you're not lucky, you'll be looking for a new car after yours gets in a nasty accident. We won't even talk about really unlucky. If you want to stick with the stock wheels, and you're willing to trade off a bit of dry weather performance, I'd go up one size to 245/35R20 with something like a Vredstein Quatrac Pro or a Continental DWS-06 Plus. These tires will still be very susceptible to damage due to potholes due to the low profile, but at least they should have good traction in the dry and wet, and adequate traction in typical Chicago winter conditions.
If you want a more survivable tire in poor winter conditions where you may not be able to see hazards like bad potholes until too late, you should consider getting a set of 18" or 19" wheels and tires. For either one, I would also go up one size since there is a much greater selection of tires and the slightly taller sidewall will make the tire more durable, i.e. 245/45R18 or 245/40R19. Again, you'd want an all rounder like the Vredstein or Continental mentioned above. The advantage of doing this is that you could keep your Uberturbines and max performance summer tires on almost the entire year in Florida and enjoy the performance, and then just bolt on the all season tires and wheels for trips to the north.
Budget option, 19" Fast CS - Weirdly these look like one of the least expensive options and I actually like how they look.
19" MW03
19" EV01 - I hate how these look actually but I feel obligated to list them...
Titan7 T-S5
Tsportline 19" TSV
Tsportline 19" TS5
19" SV104 - I love these but not for the price!
With most likely some all season tires, like Michelin CrossClimate 2 All Season, Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, or Continental DWS06 Plus All Season. As to why All Season rather than real Winter tires - I expect to possibly have the car see snow for maybe 2-3 weeks per year, and I think it might be nice to have the option to keep them on as needed or as procrastination demands. Does this seem like a reasonable plan?