Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
About 6 or 7 inches in Boulder. Same experiences in my P85D on the stock 19" all seasons. Will put on the Hakka R2's soon to see what they are like.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Winter Driving Experiences
- Thread starter kevincwelch
- Start date
-
- Tags
- Driving Dynamics Model S
About 6 or 7 inches in Boulder. Same experiences in my P85D on the stock 19" all seasons. Will put on the Hakka R2's soon to see what they are like.
I got stopped on a hill about a mile from your house in Boulder in my S85, stock tires, 19". It was difficult getting started again, but the Traction Control and I eventually figured it out. Later near home, more sliding and several warnings including ABS fail. I'll call the service center and have them read out the complete list, meanwhile that convinced me to order a set of the Hakkas.
Question: is there a good reason to take them to Tesla for mounting, or can a normal tire dealership do an acceptable job?
Question 2: does the pressure monitoring system need to be recalibrated after tires are swapped?
Question 2 is easy, the car allows you to recalibrate in one of the settings screens. Sorry, I can't say exactly where as I'm between cars right now. The first question is tougher because if you don't order tires or wheels from Tesla they may not agree to do the work for you. Some service centers have been ok about this in the past but recently most refused to work with any non-Tesla wheels or tires. Apparently, subsequent to this, some service centers agreed to do this kind of work if the customer signed some kind of waiver. I asked my service center about this and even mentioned the waiver system in other SCs but they still declined to do the work - apparently they didn't get the memo. I decided not to push it as I have a place where I can get it done, that I trust. When I first got wheels changed by a third party I printed out a copy of the sheet in the user manual that talks about jack positioning and jack mode etc. I also talked through it with the mechanics to make sure everything was clear.
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
Do you have access to a garage/carport? Even a covered parking garage? I've always gotten my tires mounted and balanced on the rim only, as pretty much any shop can do this. Then I actually install them myself, as this is the part requiring more intimate knowledge of the car. This reduces the risk of incorrect installation significantly.
You can get a decent jack and torque wrench for less than $200. Most shops would probably charge close to that each time you want it done anyway.
Last edited:
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
I have had good luck with Discount Tire in Boulder. They were able to order the Hakka for me last month at a good price. I recommend getting new rims for the snow tires. I bought mine via Tesla Parts for Sale from someone who went with third party rims. Discount Tire can get the old TPMS for you. Tesla service can tell you by your VIN if you have the old or new TPMS; I think that Tesla started using the new sensors around November or so, this year. As far as I know, Tesla is the only source of the new TPMS, but they will sell them to you for $50 each at the service center.
The TPMS can be reset on one of the setting screens, and if you forget, the latest software loads will ask you if you swap rims and don't do the reset. Tesla makes this really easy.
When I did my comparison of the Michelin Primacy to the Nokian Hakka R2 tires on the P85D, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 Snow Tire Report - Page 6, I should have compared the 2WD Sig P85 Hakka 7's. It's snowing again today. Maybe I will try to do a 2WD P85 Hakka 7 vs the AWD P85D on Hakka R2's; that would be interesting...
PS: I am planning to upgrade the used Hakka 7's (studded) on my Sig to Hakka R2's. I will probably sell the used Hakka 7's for a very low price plus shipping if anyone is interested. These have the advantage that they were sold by Tesla two years ago, and therefore, are Tesla supported.
Newscutter
Member
Holy schnikies, driving my S on ice is going to give me a heart attack! I drove through some really bad ice conditions right after New Year's around Abilene, TX on I-20, and that experience has me white-knuckling at any hint of possible ice.
My previous car was a Honda Pilot that had some form of push-button AWD at slow speeds. I lived in Idaho at the time so when the time came, I bought some winter-rated Nokians (WRG, I think). In 6 years, I never once fishtailed or had any other problems (hills, etc.). I knew driving a rear-wheel drive car would be different, but man...
In a relatively short drive, I fishtailed on a straight road going about 35 mph (took 5 turns of the wheel before I managed to regain control). Once I got to I-20, my backend just slipped out suddenly. Luckily I was able to quickly straighten out because about 3 seconds later an 18-wheeler passed me (can only imagine what he was thinking seeing me slide!). Then just today, I got a little loose coming off a very low-incline exit ramp that no one else seemed to be having trouble with.
Those experiences now have me paranoid that the typical smooth, quite ride we've all become accustomed to is actually due to lack of traction than driving an awesomely built car. Now that I've read around here on this, it sounds like a lot of it is the tires. We don't get enough winter weather here to justify a full separate set of tires, I don't think, but I think I'm definitely playing it really safe from here on out.
My previous car was a Honda Pilot that had some form of push-button AWD at slow speeds. I lived in Idaho at the time so when the time came, I bought some winter-rated Nokians (WRG, I think). In 6 years, I never once fishtailed or had any other problems (hills, etc.). I knew driving a rear-wheel drive car would be different, but man...
In a relatively short drive, I fishtailed on a straight road going about 35 mph (took 5 turns of the wheel before I managed to regain control). Once I got to I-20, my backend just slipped out suddenly. Luckily I was able to quickly straighten out because about 3 seconds later an 18-wheeler passed me (can only imagine what he was thinking seeing me slide!). Then just today, I got a little loose coming off a very low-incline exit ramp that no one else seemed to be having trouble with.
Those experiences now have me paranoid that the typical smooth, quite ride we've all become accustomed to is actually due to lack of traction than driving an awesomely built car. Now that I've read around here on this, it sounds like a lot of it is the tires. We don't get enough winter weather here to justify a full separate set of tires, I don't think, but I think I'm definitely playing it really safe from here on out.
Have a 9 month old Model S with all weather tires.
Just got 2-3 inches and did very poorly in the snow. First time I almost called AAA for being stuck. I had to go up a 20-30 degree incline to get out of where I was and had a real problem with traction control off and both trying to 'power through it' as well as light touches to the accelerator. Smelt a lot of burning rubber and the tires look visibly worse then they did a couple weeks ago (last time I looked). With traction control on I essentially couldn't move.
Going to have to schedule my 'yearly' soon. Will almost certainly get a new pair of rear tires then.
Just got 2-3 inches and did very poorly in the snow. First time I almost called AAA for being stuck. I had to go up a 20-30 degree incline to get out of where I was and had a real problem with traction control off and both trying to 'power through it' as well as light touches to the accelerator. Smelt a lot of burning rubber and the tires look visibly worse then they did a couple weeks ago (last time I looked). With traction control on I essentially couldn't move.
Going to have to schedule my 'yearly' soon. Will almost certainly get a new pair of rear tires then.
I put on a set of Nokian WR-g3 tires for winter here in DFW, however there hasn't been an ice day to really test them out. Based on WR series tires I've had on previous cars, they are better than all but the very best two or three winter tires and have the advantage that they don't melt during the summer (240 km/h max speed). Also the rolling resistance appears to be similar to the Michelin Primacies (and maybe better on colder days), so no loss of range.
paco3791
TMC OG
Classic YMMV I guess. I had my good year eagle RS2's on all last winter here in Chicago area and never had a problem. One of the worst winters in Chicago history too. My experience, once you get a decent amount of mileage on a set of all seasons. Say 10-15k they become essentially useless in winter, especially for tires with as wide a profile as the Model S has. You may not need special winter tires but just a fresh pair in the rear.
Cottonwood
Roadster#433, Model S#S37
See my post at Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 Snow Tire Report - Page 7 and a couple of other posts upthread on that link.
I cannot say enough good things about how well the Nokian Hakka R2's do on snow and ice!
I cannot say enough good things about how well the Nokian Hakka R2's do on snow and ice!
(LMB spouse)
We also got a set of Nokian WR G3s recently because LMB didn't care for the snow handling of the stock 19 inch Goodyear RSA2s.
Out this morning in an unplowed parking lot with three inches of very wet new snow, temp 33F, LMB tried several times but failed to get the rear end to break loose. Also, before the snow I noticed that the WR G3s corner *much* better than the stock Goodyears. None of the rear end vaguely wandering around in the bends that we used to get.
So far I'm very impressed with this tire. I'm sure the Hakka R2s are better as a pure snow/ice tire, but we get a limited amount of that near Boston; the roads are usually black within hours after a storm. We plan to leave these on all year; seems too good to be true, but...
We also got a set of Nokian WR G3s recently because LMB didn't care for the snow handling of the stock 19 inch Goodyear RSA2s.
Out this morning in an unplowed parking lot with three inches of very wet new snow, temp 33F, LMB tried several times but failed to get the rear end to break loose. Also, before the snow I noticed that the WR G3s corner *much* better than the stock Goodyears. None of the rear end vaguely wandering around in the bends that we used to get.
So far I'm very impressed with this tire. I'm sure the Hakka R2s are better as a pure snow/ice tire, but we get a limited amount of that near Boston; the roads are usually black within hours after a storm. We plan to leave these on all year; seems too good to be true, but...
mknox
Well-Known Member
Agreed. I'm on my second winter with them. Last winter was one of the most brutal in recent memory, and this year we've had our fair share of extreme cold, snow and black ice. The car is absolutely amazing with these tires. No need at all for AWD (although I would order AWD next time). Never got stuck. Never felt any kind of loss of traction at all.
I'm surprised by this statement. I live in Norway and winters are also tough here, with lots of ice (including black ice, that f***er) and snow on the roads, and although I am very pleased with the performance of the R2s on snow/ice, I cannot say that I haven't experienced traction loss. And I'm talking about sensible driving.
The Model S is very heavy and shakes its tail often! Traction Control does a very good job, and the grip from the R2s is excellent, but it is far from never experiencing loss of traction. I've even had lateral sliding at really low speed (about 15-20 kph) on icy streets.
I don't know where the difference is between what I do and what you guys experience, but I'm so surprised by these comments from several people here... It seems, from your comments, that the traction and grip with the R2s on snow/ice is just as good as with the summer tires on dry roads. And my experience tells me it is far from that. Still excellent for winter driving conditions, but far from "no loss at all".
mknox
Well-Known Member
To be fair, I can make the car do that by pounding on the accelerator or "playing around" in the snow, but I could do so with my former Cadillac CTS with AWD as well if I tried. In normal conservative winter driving, I have yet to experience the tail coming loose, serious understeer and so forth even in the worst conditions (he says, looking for some wood to knock on :wink: )
hughconn
Member
How about today...
- - - Updated - - -
Took delivery in December 2013 and with new tires, and sensible driving I was very impressed with the Model S during one of the worst winters on record in Philadelphia. One year later (and 30,000 miles) I am surprised at how often the traction control has to come on and how the car slides in today's storm with 3-4 inches of snow. I'm looking at either snow tires, or even studded tires (overkill, I know) and just swap out the rear wheels each winter. I drive my Model S everywhere as evidenced by 30,000 miles in a year. But, in normal conditions the current tires are fine. Sounds like Nokian WR G3 are preferred tires for winter.
- - - Updated - - -
Took delivery in December 2013 and with new tires, and sensible driving I was very impressed with the Model S during one of the worst winters on record in Philadelphia. One year later (and 30,000 miles) I am surprised at how often the traction control has to come on and how the car slides in today's storm with 3-4 inches of snow. I'm looking at either snow tires, or even studded tires (overkill, I know) and just swap out the rear wheels each winter. I drive my Model S everywhere as evidenced by 30,000 miles in a year. But, in normal conditions the current tires are fine. Sounds like Nokian WR G3 are preferred tires for winter.
hughconn
Member
Upon further review, he "picked up the flag". After reading many smart posts by a lot of thoughtful owners I think for me, living in NJ the Xi3 will be my choice as we get as much wet snow, as snow and ice and the WR G3's seem to be less good on wet surfaces. Thanks to all for the posts and sharing of pricing data. Very very helpful.
Similar threads
