I just bought my first Tesla Model 3 and was thinking ahead to the winter. I live in the northeast (MA +CT) so there can be bad winters with snow and ice. I would like to get better tires but not sure the best route to go. I could get just winter tires and switch them out for the winter months and use the stock tires it comes with for the other 3 seasons. Or I was looking with the all weather tires (Michelin CrossClimate+) and have those on always. I like the second option but feel like it might be a waste since I already have the tires the Tesla comes with so why not get better winter tires? Any advice would be appreciated!
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Winter Tires
- Thread starter newman53
- Start date
Nothing beats dedicated winters. I have converted from Blizzaks to Hakkapeliittas. You have to tolerate keeping extra tires around. Or better yet get a second set of rims.
I am less picky about summer tires, and frankly less pickly about all season tires. I doubt I could tell the difference between new all seasons and the all seasons that came with the car.
I am less picky about summer tires, and frankly less pickly about all season tires. I doubt I could tell the difference between new all seasons and the all seasons that came with the car.
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It's a difficult decision, but only you know your specific Winter conditions and driving requirements, your skill level in snow/ice, etc.
I live in Maine, on a dirt road, that gets plowed, but not always by the time I leave in the mornings. I drove on the OEM tires the first winter to get a baseline of the Model 3's capabilities in snow with the OEM tires. Since then, I had to replace two fronts because the inside shoulders were worn, too much toe angle. Because of that, I went ahead and replaced all four with the Vredestein Quatrac 5, similar to the CrossClimate+ in that it has the 3PeakMountainSnowflake mark, that I'll run year-round.
The OEM tires were acceptable in Winter. I have lots of winter driving experience so a little sliding is enjoyable, but I felt there were better tires I could run if I wanted to run year-round, like the Continental DWS tires. However, when I needed a pair of tires, I learned there's a new category, 3PMSF, that are snow-rated, ie they pass a snow tire test not like the M+S tires that don't pass anything. I thought the Michelin CC+ and Vredestein Q5 looked the most promising, but since I had a set of tires with a tread pattern similar to the CC+ in the past that were noisy, I decided to try the Vredestein.
For my purposes, the Vredestein are great. Not as good in the snow as a pure snow tire, but pretty close. I had no issues whatsoever last winter driving thru all types of conditions. Complete confidence. As a summer tire, they are no louder than the OEM tires, and very close to the same efficiency. ABRP calibrated my efficiency at 65mph at 235Wh/mile, which I think is very good for LR-AWD models. As far as driving, they are definitely not sport tires. A little soft in the twisties, but what do you expect? Can't have everything with a year-round tire. There are trade-offs, but I think the Q5 were a good compromise for me. If I ever see a nice pair of wheels, I might switch to a dedicated set of snows and summers, but I haven't seen anything I really like. Can't really say much about durability, since I've only had them since November and with Covid, haven't been driving nearly as much. I did get a nail in a treadblock that caused a slow leak that I plugged. No issues since.
While I like the Q5, I would probably try the CC+ next, since alot of people like those, just to see if they're a little tighter in cornering. Of course, there may be other tire choices by then.
Knightshade
Well-Known Member
This.
If you live someplace with real winters- get winter tires. They're a lot better than all seasons when they're frozen moisture involved.
(just as summers are a lot better than most all seasons in all cases when it's above freezing out)
I got the Pirelli Sottozero 3 with foam for Teslas and a set of wheels from Tire Rack. They were quieter and handle better on dry pavement than the OEM MXM's, which are getting close to replacement. They are a "performance" snow tire, which I think means less squishy than a straight snow tire, probably at the expense of some traction. But the car felt solid and planted on snowpacked roads and made it up, down, and start/stop on our steep driveway fine, which is usually a decent test of traction. We did have a light winter though.
I run dedicated winters on my aeros and run better lighter rims with all seasons (Continental DWS06) for everyday except when the snow hits or when the temperature is below safety for DWS06. I just swap in my garage in real time for the changing conditions. It snows once a year for a few days in Vancouver and rarely gets too cold for the DWS06's.
Everyone's situation is different but if you can afford it, go with a dedicated set and swap them out yourself. You'll save money because if you just swap tires, you'll need to swap twice a year (once to change and once to change back) and that cost adds up over four years (average life of winters).
Everyone's situation is different but if you can afford it, go with a dedicated set and swap them out yourself. You'll save money because if you just swap tires, you'll need to swap twice a year (once to change and once to change back) and that cost adds up over four years (average life of winters).
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