Winter tire recommendations

[Hybris]

sorry but there are other factors than studded tires that create loads of more of those particles. so yes its BS! Plus no non-studded are even close to studde in terms of safety on icy roads. funny that people from areas wirh now snow and ice are the experts commenting....

 

[wycolo]

My second winter driving the Teslas. MS while not as effective as the Roadster for traction (only 52% vs 64% weight on driving axle) is still quite doable on plowed highways with Blizzaks. So much so that my interest in AWD has waned. I just need to plow my driveway more regularly.

Michelin X-ice I have on Subaru, Yoko-iceGuard on Roadster and these are equally fine. Deepish lugs, siping and low temp rubber is what you need so probably all tires on the list will be fine. Except, from reports, the Pirelli Soto___ is not as effective. Photo of this tread pattern, anyone?

Studs should be only for very unusual local conditions; not sold to general public. In mid-day sun one should drive slower to compensate for surface slush/water. When 90-99% of driving is on dry roads then studs are a nuisance and get rounded off, so are less effective anyway.
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[Hybris]

in my city they prohibited spikes in one central road with very bad air and particles. based on this BS reports. Two years later the same bad air and particles... Strange isnt it?

In Sweden spikes save many lives each winter that is why i get annoyed at those reports that are not really scentifically proven. Plus when we have the same issues with the same particles in non snow regions? Like spain... plus no changes when removing spikes like in my city. Yes they measured this in detail.

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studs are for nordic winters. Period!!! If you dont have snow and ice. well good for you. we do... the best tire right now is the Hakka 8. Studs have saved me multiple times on black ice and when rapid changed conditions from above zero to under. Near death experiences where the studs saved me. I have crashed two times with studless real nordic wintertires. So I know what works over here. from worst to best: summer tires, allyear tires, european style winter tires (often sold for performance cars. some are bad and some are terrible), nodic style winter, nordic style studded...

 

[bsd]

Vibrations at a certain speed indicate a tire/wheel/hub balancing problem.

Had them rebalanced this morning and the tires are great now. They said it's not unusual for newly-mounted tires to slip when the lubricant is fresh and the car has high torque… which the Model S has in spades.

 

[Cottonwood]

Had them rebalanced this morning and the tires are great now. They said it's not unusual for newly-mounted tires to slip when the lubricant is fresh and the car has high torque… which the Model S has in spades.

I've also had temporary imbalance problems from accumulated ice, slush, and snow inside the rims. A heated garage is a great fix for this issue. :wink:

 

[jerry33]

Had them rebalanced this morning and the tires are great now. They said it's not unusual for newly-mounted tires to slip when the lubricant is fresh and the car has high torque… which the Model S has in spades.

That's actually correct. It's why you are supposed to be somewhat conservative with acceleration and braking for the first 300 miles.

 

[bsd]

They never told me that! Our daughter is a bit prone to car sickness which is now serving as a damper on the accelerator.

 

[Hybris]

just ordered winter wheels. Titan/dark gray rial lugano 19" with Nokian Hakka 8. the hakka 8 did win the Swedish winter tires tests big time this year. extremely good on ice. more queit than hakka 7. 80% less particles vs other spiked tires. most important great comfort and hands down the best winter tires for nordic weather with snow and ice.

 

[gpetti]

I bought the GunMetal Rials with Blizzak Tires and they came perfect mounted, balanced, properly inflated with installed TPMS. They also sent black lug nuts and an adapter (21mm). Everything installed perfect and tpms works great. The Tires perform flawlessly in Rochester NY snow and ice. Very Impressed. I sold my 21 inch wheels and plan on just getting a second set of Rial maybe in Silver with Michelin Primacy tires in March or April.

Did you have to do anything special to get the black lug nuts? I ended up with the silver one.

 

[AndreyATC]

I'm thinking of getting rims + TPMs from tirerack and Nokian Hakkas R2 from elsewhere
Anyone can recomend good place for Nokian purchase, besides tiresbyweb?
Or tiresbyweb is as good as it gets?

 

[jerry33]

I'm thinking of getting rims + TPMs from tirerack and Nokian Hakkas R2 from elsewhere
Anyone can recomend good place for Nokian purchase, besides tiresbyweb?
Or tiresbyweb is as good as it gets?

I've dealt with Ryan at tiresbyweb before it was tiresbyweb. I've always had good experiences. Sometimes he gives a small discount if you say that you are a member of TMC.

 

[Oyvind.H]

just ordered winter wheels. Titan/dark gray rial lugano 19" with Nokian Hakka 8. the hakka 8 did win the Swedish winter tires tests big time this year. extremely good on ice. more queit than hakka 7. 80% less particles vs other spiked tires. most important great comfort and hands down the best winter tires for nordic weather with snow and ice.

I`ve driven the Model S here in Norway on icy roads, snowy roads, over mountains etc. Nokian R2 studdless is a perfect match for this car. Lowest available rolling resistance, excellent traction and almost dead silent. In 12 years I`ve never felt the need for studded tires, I just adjust my driving to the driving contitions. And I`ve never got stuck. I was sceptical of 400 horsepower rwd car coming from an 100hp fwd car, but the Tesla is far better! The superior traction control maximizes the grip, and I get up hills where my previous fwd car would get stuck (brand new VW Passat).

If you end up in situatons where the differende between studded/studless is what saves you, you have failed completely as a driver.
Studded tires are horribly noisy, and makes the Model S far more noisy than a gasoline car with studdless tires.

However, if you live on a mountain with long winters and steep icy roads, I support the purchase of studded tires, even on the silent Model S.

 

[gpetti]

I've dealt with Ryan at tiresbyweb before it was tiresbyweb. I've always had good experiences. Sometimes he gives a small discount if you say that you are a member of TMC.

I had been struggling to find tires locally: no Nokkians, no Michelin Xice Xi3s, only performance winter Blizzaks, etc. TireRack didn't have the Nokkians and even the Michelins seemed to be out of stock (and I gather they were in short supply). I just ordered the Nokkian R2s from tiresbyweb and so far I have not received a notice to say they are out of stock (fingers crossed) though I did only order a few hours ago.

 

[Mayhemm]

Winter tires are typically in short supply in all but the largest retailers. Even more so for the weird sizes used on Model S. You probably should have ordered tires as soon as you put down your deposit on the car. Not that this helps you much. :redface:

I hope tiresbyweb tracks down some Nokians for you.

 

[gpetti]

Winter tires are typically in short supply in all but the largest retailers. Even more so for the weird sizes used on Model S. You probably should have ordered tires as soon as you put down your deposit on the car. Not that this helps you much. :redface:

Yeah, yeah, I know. Originally my car wasn't coming until April and I was considering whether this would be a year when we Calgarians have snow until May or not. I moved up my delivery date and then considered that maybe I'd use my lease vehicle if the conditions required - until the lease expired. Finally I spent a week or two scouring the various threads on here to decide on which type of tire I wanted - I've never spent so much effort picking a winter tire before! Now the only tire I've found locally that is even close is a performance winter tire (Blizzak LM-32)

I hope tiresbyweb tracks down some Nokians for you.

Unfortunately this was not to be. TiresByWeb called me today and they are completely sold out of Nokkians except for the studded hakkapeliitta 7. It also turns out that they are not allowed to ship Nokkian tires directly to Canada (this might be just for the western region) as apparently some local distributor has exclusive rights. This is the only tire they had in the 245/45/19 size.

 

[AndreyATC]

I had to order Michelins from tirerack
Nokians were sold out when i called few days ago

I really wanted the Nokians

 

[gpetti]

I had to order Michelins from tirerack
Nokians were sold out when i called few days ago

I really wanted the Nokians

I didn't order these initially from tire rack because I thought they were out of stock and later when they showed up, I didn't buy them because they seemed more expensive than local prices; however, given that no one has them any more I might need to try again, if you haven't bought the last 4 in stock :smile:

 

[mknox]

I`ve driven the Model S here in Norway on icy roads, snowy roads, over mountains etc. Nokian R2 studdless is a perfect match for this car. Lowest available rolling resistance, excellent traction and almost dead silent.

I agree. I can't speak highly enough of the Nokian Hakka R2's I have on my car.

 

[Mayhemm]

Now the only tire I've found locally that is even close is a performance winter tire (Blizzak LM-32)


It also turns out that they are not allowed to ship Nokkian tires directly to Canada (this might be just for the western region) as apparently some local distributor has exclusive rights.

The local distributor they are referring to is likely Kal Tire, which is the only Canadian chain I'm aware of that deals in Nokian (I'm assuming you've tried them already?). If all else fails, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Blizzaks...

 

[gpetti]

The local distributor they are referring to is likely Kal Tire, which is the only Canadian chain I'm aware of that deals in Nokian (I'm assuming you've tried them already?). If all else fails, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Blizzaks...

Kal Tire definitely has them (or have them normally when they haven't run out ) but I think a few other dealers have them. I'm thinking it might be some kind of distributer that has the rights. Anyway, its a moot point for this year no matter where I get them.