Best Tesla Model 3 compatible tires
compared using Tire Rack and Tyre Reviews
For any Tesla owners looking to buy tires for their Tesla Model 3 (AWD, RWD or Performance, here's a handy guide to the best. It originally started when I created a smaller collection of tires and posted the results at Reddit. It was so well received that I've updated the table to incorporate more tires, more stats (such as warranty, UTQG, EU tire label, tire weight, Extra Load), extra ratings from BlackCircles.com and TyreReviews.co.uk (to supplement the existing TireRank ratings), and last but not least, it's now categorized by season type!
In a perfect world, everyone would try every tire out and rank attributes such grip and comfort appropriately and relative to each other, and so we wouldn't need to sort by season. But in reality, the kind of people who only stick to say, All Seasons don't usually have a clue about track tires, and ratings can be misleading as a result (we had instances where the best Summer and even best AllSeason ranked higher in Dry Performance stats than specialist Track tires, or higher in winter/snow performance than dedicated Winter tires, when in reality, this is almost certainly not the case).
All important notes:
- It is not an exhaustive list of Model 3 compatible tires (235/45-18", 235/40-19", 235/35-20"). Scouring sites such as TireRack and Tyrereviews, I tried to pick the best ranking from each tire sub-category. For example, I skipped 245mm width tires (which supposedly can fit the Model 3), but that would open up even more options.
- These are all Model 3 compatible tires, but when it comes to fitment for your 3, watch out obviously for the size (18", 19", 20"), but also for stuff like: Extra Load, Load Index or Speed ratings. Some places won't even sell or fit tires on your Model 3 unless they match or exceed the specification for these attributes. I have tried to highlight these in red for the table.
- Pinches of salt are needed. Tires such as the Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5, Michelin Cross Climate +, Primacy Tour A/S and Goodyear Assurance Maxlife tires have had relatively few reviews, so the final ratings won't be accurate! It may be wise to go for a tire with at least 50-100 ratings. Regardless of number of ratings, one should never completely trust the scores anyway.
- Tires with less than 5 ratings were excluded from the table.
- The "Final Rating" is a weighted average of the TireRack and TyreReviews ratings. That means that few ratings from one site means it won't contribute as much to the overall score. For the techies, the formula is: (Number of TyreReviews ratings x "Buy again" + Number of TireRack ratings x "Would you recommend?" / 10) / (Number of TyreReviews ratings + Number of TireRack ratings) x 100%
- Regardless of rating, I included the stock Tesla tires (for example, Michelin Primacy MXM4) which are highlighted in blue (along with the tire size, also in blue).
- It's possible, but be wary about comparing ratings across season categories. As already stated, ratings for grip and comfort differ according to the target market and are not as comparable across groups as within a season group.
- Although the Michelin Primacy MXM4 tires are ranked low, they have decent tire efficiency, something which is not reflected in the table, so bear that in mind. For example, I estimate they could cause around a 5% of range loss compared to the Michelin PS4S tires. Also bear in mind there are many worse tires than the MXM4 which didn't make the table.
- Outside the (arguably misleading) "EU Tyre Label" stat, I tried my best to include my own tire efficiency stat, but unfortunately, data on the web is sparse. Tirerack runs tests, but they often use different cars, or different tire stats (e.g: section widths) which can muddy the results. Even with EXACTLY the same tire, tire stats and car, on different days, results were conflicting (perhaps due to weather or experiment change/error). However, you can see my efforts in this table
- Outside the (arguably misleading) "EU Tyre Label" stat, I tried my best to include my own tire efficiency stat, but unfortunately, data on the web is sparse. Tirerack runs tests, but they often use different cars, or different tire stats (e.g: section widths) which can muddy the results. Even with EXACTLY the same tire, tire stats and car, on different days, results were conflicting (perhaps due to weather or experiment change/error). However, you can see my efforts in this table. TyreReviews.co.uk also provide rolling resistance stats (kg / T), but results are also conflicting (potentially due to the different tire widths and maybe cars). For example, this page gives the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 a figure of 8.3 and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5: 8.95, whilst this page, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 get a score of 9.8, and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 gets 9.61. TyreReviews.co.uk also provide rolling resistance stats (kg / T), but results are also conflicting, potentially due to different tire widths, and maybe different cars. For example, this page gives the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 a figure of 8.3 and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5: 8.95, whilst [this page](http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2019-Auto-Bild-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm) the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 get a score of 9.8, and the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 gets 9.61. Also note Consumer Reports offer rolling resistance ratings for some of the tires (the table specifies which ones). I am unable to share these ratings due to copyright, but they appear to roughly agree with the EU "Tyre efficiency" rating, apart from for the applicable four All Season tires where Consumer Reports ranks the rolling resistance significantly better.
- Despite ranking better in specific stats, I found it strange how the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady tire scored lower overall than the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady. In a similar vane, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ appears better than its "Would you recommend" would suggest.
- I almost didn't include the EU tire label. After some research, I found some criticism (from tire companies and car enthusiasts alike), and making my own comparisons produced some conflicting or at least misleading results. I don't think there's an independent body either; tire companies are expected to conduct their own tests. Grain of salt required (including my assessment here, since I didn't research this thoroughly).
- TireRack doesn't say whether a tire is fringe protected (protects the rim from curb damage), and I got some conflicting information from other sites too. Take another grain of salt.
- Warranty info is sourced from TireRack and is condensed for this table. See the TireRack site for more information.
- I didn't incorporate the BlackCircles rating in the "Final Rating" because the ratings appears quite compressed, and nor are there specific ratings for dry, wet, snow etc. performance. You may wish to however.
- Some tires (e.g: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 or Michelin Primacy 4), or tire sizes are not available in the US (or at least not on TireRack), but were found on Tyrereviews.co.uk or other European tire sources.
- After feedback from the previous table, I decided to include the Extreme Performance Summer tires in the Track category. Your mileage may vary.
Sources for tyres:
Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack, Michelin Cross Climate +, Goodyear Assurance Maxlife, Michelin Primacy Tour A/S, Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady, Vredestein Quatrac 5, Continental PureContact LS, General G-MAX AS-05, BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport (H- or V-), Yokohama AVID Ascend GT, Yokohama ADVAN Sport A/S, BFGoodrich g-Force COMP-2 A/S, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (W- or Y-), Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (H- OR V-), General AltiMAX RT43, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric All-Season, Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus, Continental ExtremeContact DWS06, Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS, Continental ProContact RX, Michelin Primacy MXM4, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5, Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, Michelin Pilot Super Sport, Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, Vredestein Ultrac Vorti, Falken Azenis FK510, Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125, Continental PremiumContact 6, Michelin Pilot Sport 4, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3, Michelin Primacy 4, Pirelli P Zero Nero GT, Pirelli P Zero (PZ4), Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4, Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 N-Spec, General Altimax Arctic 12, Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D, Michelin X-Ice Xi3, Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3, Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II, Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32, Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R, Bridgestone Potenza S007A, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
All text on this page is copyright D. White 2019 onwards.
Please ask for permission should you wish to use the text material on these pages.