They do, they are the Canadian approved snow tires. They are green rated, so excellent rolling resistance. And they have a high tread life, one managed 3 seasons and 20k miles on a set.
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Winter tire recommendations
- Thread starter colinb
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
The warranty is more of a gauge as to what het tire company thinks of their product. Michelin seems to think 40k miles is what they can do, and I had used them for a 4th season, I could have easily done 30k on my set. Now that would have put them down to 2-3/32 of tread, so I didn't want to push it this year.
Pirellis are a Texas snow tire at best. 1-2" of snow maybe, but beyond that, crap. The Michelin were actually Tesla approved for Canada. i would only use those or the nokians. It all comes down to those two in reviewe.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
The person you are replying to is in California, not Alaska. A winter tire in California has more demands placed on it, demands that are likely foreign to many Alaskans.
A lot of winter tires that might work just fine in Alaska would be destroyed on a California highway on a mild day to the point that the rubber loses its winter grip necessary to ascend some of the steeper mountain roads that are iced up at altitude or that see spectacular winter storms that can leave a mountain road that was open in the morning closed by mid-day.
If you're caught up there above 10,000 feet you don't want to be on winter rubber that couldn't handle the heat of California's superhighways and are now worthless in the snow and ice or dealing with the kind of incredible winter storms that happen at those altitudes. Those needing a good winter solution in California need to pick carefully, not any ol' winter tire that Alaskans think is a good winter tire is going to cut the more severe demands put on it in California, particularly if you need it to travel through terrain like that found in Mono and Inyo Counties during storm season.
Nokians are green rated as well. I’m on my 7th winter on Hakka 5 on our sons 4matic E, 5th winter on Hakka 7 on my LX 570, got 4 winters on Hakka 8’s on our S (on wear indicators on 70% when we sold it), first winter on. Hakka 9 on the 3.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
The Pirelli Sottozero 2's have been performing well for me this winter in snow a lot deeper than 1-2", laughing out loud. The things you hear on the Internet!
I'm an experienced consumer of lots of different brands of winter tires and while I've had a number of tires that had a little more grip on ice and snow than the Sottozero 2's, the difference is pretty minimal. And on a car like the Model 3 that is naturally adept in snow and ice, you really don't need that extra little bit of snow and ice traction, even to climb the kind of grades found on secondary mountain roads. Where they really stand out is on mixed ice patches with cold bare pavement. They provide superior feedback from the road surface and allow a faster response to slips and slides and increase safety at higher speeds. None of that nebulous, squirmy feeling that never lets you know what your tires are doing.
They have been in a lot deeper and more extreme conditions than this but it was snowing and blowing too much to get a photo. This was a nice gentle storm, LOL! The conditions you see here are greasy snow that packs out to wet ice and doesn't allow the tread to get down to the road surface, even if you spin the tires. The Sottozero's performed like a champ as I passed an SUV that was stuck sideways in the middle of the road on a steep grade right after a 15 mph 180-degree hairpin. The Sottozeros allowed me to accelerate up the same grade that had the SUV helplessly marooned. In a more extreme storm a few days later, the Sottozero's had me blasting through drifting snow over a foot deep on a 4% grade (going uphill)!
So, no, the Sottozero's are not limited to 1-2" of snow in Texas! And anyone who tells you there are only two brands or models of winter tires that will work well for you doesn't know what they are talking about.
Bet TSLA
Active Member
Exactly. I don't want a great snow tire that can't spend 90% of its time on warm clear roads. If such use renders it useless as a snow tire then it doesn't work for me. So I need the best decent snow tire that will handle the kind of use I give it. The last set (Sottozero 3) I put on for a winter road trip from California through Utah and Colorado last year. There was little snow last year in those areas so the tires were hardly tested, but they did fine in the one storm I drove through going over Loveland Pass in Colorado. Meanwhile they wore out fast.
No obvious good solution. I appreciate hearing the various viewpoints.
I grew up in Tahoe, born and raised. I Lived there 23 years, year round - 19 in south lake 4 in truckee (commuting daily to UNR). All the tires I mentioned are studless and would do great there.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
That's a good deal and I think you're going to like those and I bet you'll get acceptable treadwear if you keep the pressures up. For a long fast trip on bare pavement, I wouldn't hesitate to pump them up to 47-48 PSI cold. Remember, it's ok if the TPMS reads over 50 psi while driving on the highway because that is the hot pressure. They are only limited to 50 PSI when cold, they can handle the pressure when they heat up. They are a true winter tire so don't expect super-long treadwear but it should be better than the Sottozero 3's. They should be a bit quieter also.
That sounds good but, if the worst happened, I would probably just fork over the money for as many new ones as it took to make it right again.
I just noticed this part. The highest pass that is open in the winter is on the east side of the Sierra, mount rose and it’s just over 8k feet. The ones on the east side from CA are closer to 7k feet. Sonora, Tioga, Monitor, ... the 9k ones are closed in winter.
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I would like to try the nokians next after I'm done with the ice3
When it comes to a true winter tire they truly are the best. I’ve run almost entirely Nokians winter tires on all our vehicles for The last 10-15 years.
Bet TSLA
Active Member
Yup, but a completely different experience from living four hours away and going to Tahoe regularly during the winter to ski. 95% or more of my driving is not Tahoe.
I toatally agree. Thats why I said
The discussion has been around that Tesla chose the best WINTER tire in the pirelli. They didn’t. They chose basically an all weather tire for their “winter wheels” And a blanket “winter tire/wheel set” should not be optimized for a CA Bay Area owner that drives to Tahoe from time to time. Honestly if lived in flatland CA and drove to Tahoe every weekend I would run the all weather Nokian WR G4 but other good options are Michelin alpine, or continental extreme contact. And carry chains that would almost never be used but if needed you’d be glad you had.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
ColeAK, you are spreading a lot of misinformation here. Living in AK doesn't mean you know what you are talking about when it comes to winter automotive tires. And you obviously don't. The tires Tesla choose to sell are NOT "basically an all-weather tire". That is false and dangerously misleading. An all weather tire has a rubber compound that can stand up to summer weather, you can leave them on year-round, they are not a specialized winter tire. The Sottozero's will be absolutely ruined in short order if driven on the freeway in summer heat because they have a true WINTER ruubber compound. They are a true specialized winter tire that must be removed for summer. You simply don't know anything about them and you've never even driven on the Sotttozero 2's in the snow and ice. I have. A lot.
You are assuming the Sottozero's are "optimized for a CA Bay Area owner that drives to Tahoe from time to time." While they would be suitable for that they were actually designed in Italy specifically for heavier, higher horsepower sport-touring sedans. It is more important to fit the winter tire to the vehicle than some mythical conditions you imagine Tahoe has that never vary. You can encounter anything in the Sierra Nevada and nearby ranges that you can encounter in the Alps.
Tesla didn't choose the Pirelli's because they were under the mistaken impression that everyone was going to be using them in the Bay area, they chose them because they are a perfect match for the kind of cars that Tesla makes. And never having driven the Sottozero 2's, it's unclear to me why you think you understand their characteristics so well. The Model 3 and Sottozero 2's are a perfect match.
dark cloud
Active Member
Speaking of all weather tires I think that tire category is a fabulous choice for a Californian who needs winter traction 10% of the time, and highway performance/durability 70% of the time.
I put on a set of Nokian WRG4's for this winter and I am very glad I did. With the mild winter we had this year if I got a set of winter tires they would probably be half shot by now whether Pirelli, Michelin, Bridgestone or Nokian. With the few times this season I have had these all-weathers on the ice and in snow I had no issues whatsoever. (As I say this it looks like we finally have winter; -16 C air temp and -26 with wind chill) And they handled in the dry just as well as the Goodyear touring all seasons.
Half of that observation, (and any tire comparison), is due to the tire, and half of that is due to the "powertrain", electronics and mass of the two different vehicles. These are probably the tenth set of "winter tires" I have owned and it is almost impossible to compare tire A on car D with tire B on car C. But made to choose between the Infiniti AWD on Blizzaks or the model S on WRG4's I think the latter is more capable.
All I can say is for a tire that is that good in the winter, almost as good as a full-on winter tire, and has a 70,000 km wear out warranty how can you go wrong? As an added bonus the rolling resistance and therefore efficiency is better than the Goodyears also. I think many people won't choose them because Nokian is fussy about who sells their tires; you won't find them at Tirerack.
Nokian | WRG4 tires
Nokian WR G4 - All-Weather tire / Nokian Tires
I would argue they chose them more for the weight class of the car and/or HP requirement you mentioned, rather than for the performance in the snow. I think snow performance was a distant 3rd for requirements.
StealthP3D
Well-Known Member
Yes, to match the characteristics of the class of car. And they didn't develop them to specialize in any one winter condition, they offer a good balance of grip in all cold weather conditions. The rubber compound of the Sottozero 2's works well over a wide range of cold pavement/snow/ice that leave non-winter tires lacking. They outperform the relatively recent class of "all-weather" tires on ice and snow (and obviously "all-seasons" as well). And on cold dry or cold wet pavement, a condition that leaves non-winter tires sorely lacking, they step up to the plate better than anything I've experienced. Actually, it's not just non-winter tires that perform poorly on cold dry or wet pavement, many winter tires can't handle high cornering or acceleration forces without washing out and developing scalloping, a big problem with many winter tires on a car capable of high performance. The Pirellis avoid scalloping from hard driving and are a balanced, all around tire for any cold, wintery condition. I'm not willing to hang up the high performance attributes of the Model 3 and drive like grandma for the 5-6 months of the year that I absolutely need great traction in snow and ice. Even the LR RWD Model 3 is best suited to a performance winter tire because it puts roughly the same amount of power through each drive wheel as the AWD and Performance versions do.
I totally agree. I’m pretty sure they are it for a high speed rated winter tire. I would also say the fact that they are the only winter tire that come on the size to fit the 20” P3 tire size was a pretty large factor as well.
Don't forget that Tesla choose the Michelin ice3 as their Canadian winter tire. So the
Pirelli is surely not the end all when it comes to approved tires. Why they didn't go with the Michelin for both is another mystery although I will say that in hard cornering with the ice3, they feel more "marshmello-y".
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