Welcome Jrobart. As a fellow Vermonter with a MX, I can say you made a great decision. You will be blown away this winter by how planted the MX is in slippery conditions.
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Winter tire advice
- Thread starter dani190
- Start date
Welcome Jrobart. As a fellow Vermonter with a MX, I can say you made a great decision. You will be blown away this winter by how planted the MX is in slippery conditions.
Yes, you leave them on until the weather warms up which is not good for the softer rubber of the tire.
I put my winter tires on early to mid October and usually take them off some time in May. In Alaska you can get ticketed between May 15 and Oct 1 if you have studs on. Some people “wait until the first snow” to put them on but that is a bad idea. As per the question of if you would switch them back if you were experiencing a mild winter. I wouldn’t up here as never know when it will switch.
Nokian has one major advantage over opponents: Consumption. I have had the Nokian R2s on my Model S now for 5 years, and the consumption under same condutions is always 5-10% below Goodyear RS-A2 with same size/dimension. I csn drive 30 km longer with the R2s than the summertires. Every year we have a winter tyre test in Norway and Nokian studless ends up among top 3 and wins on rolling resistance.
InTheShadows
Active Member
I did when the tread was down enough on their last winter that I knew I wouldn’t use them in the snow again. I made it through the entire summer and got another set in October.
Just got Nokian R3 235/45R18s on our Model 3, purchased off Tires by Web; local shops and warehouses were out of stock. Swapped them out on the stock Aero rims. Had it done at the Tesla service center - cost of install $190 for all 4 - took them just over an hour. Tires fit in the car with seat down without trouble.
Haven't had an opportunity to drive them in precipitation yet, but temperature's been down in the 20s F. From grip and steering standpoint they seem fine. Road noise is definitely up from the stock tires but much better than the Yokohama IceGuards we have on the minivan.
Typical cost of tire swap is less than half what Tesla Service Center charged, but didn't want to chance it with my local guy, at least this go around. They didn't wash the car, which most luxury service centers would do in my humble experience. I was kind of counting on that
Haven't had an opportunity to drive them in precipitation yet, but temperature's been down in the 20s F. From grip and steering standpoint they seem fine. Road noise is definitely up from the stock tires but much better than the Yokohama IceGuards we have on the minivan.
Typical cost of tire swap is less than half what Tesla Service Center charged, but didn't want to chance it with my local guy, at least this go around. They didn't wash the car, which most luxury service centers would do in my humble experience. I was kind of counting on that
Goosby
Member
They’re noisier than the stock tires and feel a little floaty (especially when aggressively cornering), but I have come to terms with those cons and don’t regret my purchase of R3s since they’re still better, even on cold, dry pavement than most other snow tires on the market (my opinion, no evidence). Before I bought the R3s I looked around extensively for the Goldilocks winter tire; no luck! Performance oriented winter tires would surely result in a superior driving experience 95% of the time for me (city driving), but would be lacking when/if the roads were really bad. R3s, X-ice (which I had on a previous vehicle), etc. would result in a less than ideal driving experience most of the time, but would ensure I’d be safe when conditions get nasty. I chose the latter since I’m typically not driving as aggressively during the winter, and therefore am willing to compromise handling/noise for insurance against terrible conditions. I’ve read plenty of posts from folks who would choose otherwise, and that’s totally understandable. I think that with winter tires you have to pick your poison and live with it, more so than with summers.
I’m running the hakka 9’s and don’t find the noise all that bad. But I’ll say for me it wouldn’t matter how loud they are the winter performance is worth it.
voip-ninja
Give me some sugar baby
I ditched the Hakka R3s because they killed the car's handling and were very noisy. Felt like I was driving on marshmallows. For those of you dealing with serious winter weather they make sense, but for those of us in the mid-west that just get the periodic storms they are probably overkill.
I switched out to Blizzak LM001 and they are much better for the conditions I find myself driving in.
Three months in with the Model X and all I can say is wow! Handles like a sports sedan with SUV space.
I put Nokian R3s on and the grip in the snow is unbelievably good. This past weekend's 18+ inches made for touch driving conditions, but I never felt unsafe or not in complete control of the vehicle. They are indeed a little loud as previous posters have noted (much louder than the Hakka 8s that I had on Range Rover, but I'll take it.
Now if we can just get better range in frigid temps...
I put Nokian R3s on and the grip in the snow is unbelievably good. This past weekend's 18+ inches made for touch driving conditions, but I never felt unsafe or not in complete control of the vehicle. They are indeed a little loud as previous posters have noted (much louder than the Hakka 8s that I had on Range Rover, but I'll take it.
Now if we can just get better range in frigid temps...
Another endorsement of X-Ice. I've been through some nasty weather in upstate NY in last weeks. I've always felt secure in handling - and when roads are clear, tires are very quiet. A factor for me was widespread availability of X-ice. Had considered Hakkas - but couldnt find in Buffalo.
I took delivery of my M3P+ at the end of December with the intention of buying a set of winter wheels/tires to replace the Tesla 20" summer performance tires the car came with. But then found out that the performance brakes limited my choice of winter wheel/tire combinations in Tesla's web store to another set of 20" silver wheels with Pirelli Winter Sottozero series ii tires. And the real limiting factor for me was that the delivery promise was 4-6 weeks. Most of our winter driving will be over in 3 months so waiting up to 6 weeks was not an appealing option.
So, wanting a slightly smaller 19" wheel for ride comfort on bumpy winter/spring roads, I went to third party website TSportLine.com and ordered a set of 19" wheels that are compatible with my M3's performance brakes and had them mounted with Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 series tires. My thinking was that since Tesla picked the last generation Pirelli for the winter tire in their store that I couldn't go too far wrong with the series 3. I also read the reviews on https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/TireTestServlet?perfType=PPW that gave this tire high ratings for cold weather performance, rating it just behind the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4. Both the Pirelli and the Michelin were ranked ahead of the other option, the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D. So when I stumbled across this thread I was surprised that no one mentioned the Pirelli tire series that Tesla picked. Perhaps since it started as an already narrowed choice between two pre-selected tires there was a focus on only s subset of available high performance winter tires. So if anyone is reading this thread for general advice on winter tires for their M3 I submit that there are other choices.
Now while I haven't had these tires on for more than 50 miles yet, and it hasn't snowed here since I mounted them, I can say that they have noticeably more comfortable ride than the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires did in cold weather. Traction seems better (as it should be) without giving up much of the instant steering response of the summer tires. Time will tell how well they do in deep snow, but even though I'm well into the snow belt the local municipalities and state DOT do a great job of keeping the heavy stuff plowed off the road. So what's most important to me is handling the slick/wet/packed snow surface as well as the cold/dry/salt dust covered roads that prevail between snow events. The reviews I've read say that the Sottozero 3 is designed for what I expect to encounter.
I'm curious if anyone else has tried this tire?
So, wanting a slightly smaller 19" wheel for ride comfort on bumpy winter/spring roads, I went to third party website TSportLine.com and ordered a set of 19" wheels that are compatible with my M3's performance brakes and had them mounted with Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 series tires. My thinking was that since Tesla picked the last generation Pirelli for the winter tire in their store that I couldn't go too far wrong with the series 3. I also read the reviews on https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/TireTestServlet?perfType=PPW that gave this tire high ratings for cold weather performance, rating it just behind the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4. Both the Pirelli and the Michelin were ranked ahead of the other option, the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D. So when I stumbled across this thread I was surprised that no one mentioned the Pirelli tire series that Tesla picked. Perhaps since it started as an already narrowed choice between two pre-selected tires there was a focus on only s subset of available high performance winter tires. So if anyone is reading this thread for general advice on winter tires for their M3 I submit that there are other choices.
Now while I haven't had these tires on for more than 50 miles yet, and it hasn't snowed here since I mounted them, I can say that they have noticeably more comfortable ride than the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires did in cold weather. Traction seems better (as it should be) without giving up much of the instant steering response of the summer tires. Time will tell how well they do in deep snow, but even though I'm well into the snow belt the local municipalities and state DOT do a great job of keeping the heavy stuff plowed off the road. So what's most important to me is handling the slick/wet/packed snow surface as well as the cold/dry/salt dust covered roads that prevail between snow events. The reviews I've read say that the Sottozero 3 is designed for what I expect to encounter.
I'm curious if anyone else has tried this tire?
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
That's a great choice for a P3D! I have the Sottozero 2's and love them. I might try the Sottozero 3 after I wear out the 2's. I drive through some pretty atrocious winter storms and the P3D has such great natural abilities in the snow/ice that it's not necessary to go with old fashioned studs or winter tires so focussed on snow traction that they take all the fun out of sporty driving. I like to feel what my car is doing! And the Sottozero's have amazing driver feedback.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
I'm liking the Pirelli Sottozero 2's more the more I drive them. Yesterday I put 48 PSI in them and the rolling resistance was really low, I could really notice they rolled better than when they had 46 PSI. They still drove nicely with good ride comfort too.
I have a set of the Michelin X-ice tires on my factory 18" wheels. I'm very happy with them. I don't feel like I need a performance tire in the winter, just something I can count on for the wide range of weather - snow, sleet, ice or just cold dry tarmac. We don't get enough snow to justify a set of Hakkas and the SozzoZeros are too expensive if I'm not willing to pay for a performance tire.
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