Tire sizing, types (compounds), and recommendations:

Tires are one of the most (if not the most) important components of your vehicle. It is your only attachment to the road so we feel like you should make an educated decision when choosing your tires.

Sizing:

Most of our size recommendations are paired with their perspective wheel sizes in the guide above. If you wish to deviate from these recommended sizes please do so with care. If you need help or are not sure how to calculate appropriate tires sizes outside of our recommendation please contact us:

Email – sales@modbargains.com | Phone – 715-582-3330 | Live Chat – modbargains.com

Types/Compounds:

Summer, Winter, All-Season? You’re probably wondering how to pick the right tire for your Model 3. Well, guess what, we have a blog completely dedicated to explaining how to choose the right type of tire: MODBARGAINS TIRE GUIDE: GET A GRIP

The quick summary of that article if you don’t want to read through it all:
Winter Tires – “Do you get moderate to heavy snow in the winter? You’re gonna need some winter tires, no question.”

All-Season Tires – “If you live in the right climate they (All-Season Tires) will be decent in every situation you will encounter. The “right climate” we speak of is one that does not experience severe winters, leaning more towards hot summers and moderate winters. If temperatures pretty much always stay above freezing in your area and you rarely encounter snow these will work very well for you.”

Summer Tires – “If you live in a more temperate climate you should reflect on your priorities before deciding if you want a set of all-seasons or summer tires for your car. Just to recap, all-seasons are going to generally be a bit quieter, last you a fair amount longer, and will be cheaper. Summer tires will give you more thrills but for more bills. Road holding, braking, and acceleration will all be better, but at the cost of faster wear and a higher price point.”

Winter Tires are pretty straight forward. The rubber used in winter tires is specifically engineered to remain malleable in sub-freezing temperatures. The tread is designed to provide traction on snow and ice. These weather focused elements make them unsuitable for driving in every other weather condition. You generally won’t buy these for a set of nice aftermarket wheels so we won’t talk about them much.

All-Season Tires tend to have some variety to them when it comes to compounds. The All-Season tires that come on the Model 3 equipped with 18 & 19 inch wheels are both “Grand Touring” meaning they are engineered for a balance between Handling, Noise, Comfort, Longevity, and decent versatility of traction in Dry, Wet, and Light Snow conditions. They all the jack of all trades, master of none tires that are fine if you aren’t looking for excitement when it comes to your driving experience. We find most of our customers lean towards improved performance so the “Grand Touring” category is generally not something we recommend. Though if you are purchasing wheels of the same diameter as your factory wheels in a square setup there is a good chance you can reuse your stock tires which will serve you fine and be cost effective. The “Performance & High Performance” All-Season Tire categories are kind of a weak middle ground and we generally don’t recommend them. The most popular All Season Tires we see customers order are from the “UHP (Ultra High Performance)” category. When you need an All-Season Tire (or just want more miles out of your tires) but don’t want to sacrifice much performance these tires strike a decent balance. Our two top sellers are the Continental DWS06 and the General G-Max AS-05.

Continental DWS06
Few tires can claim to do everything the best with no compromises. This is what makes Continental’s Extreme Contact DWS 06 tire so exceptional.
Based on an evolution of the previously highly acclaimed DWS series, Continental further improved the breed with a focus of even longer tread life and side wall strength while also improving on Dry Wet and Snow traction.
General G-Max AS-05
General’s G-Max AS-05 tire is for the budget minded all-season enthusiast. For those who want a tire that Combines performance handling in the dry, wet, even light snow. Its Asymmetric tread design provides confidence inspiring traction and feel. Strong two-ply sidewalls further improve cornering response and add durability.

 

Summer Tires we could talk about for hours, but we will try and keep this brief. The name can be a bit misleading. Summer tires are not solely good in hot weather. They actually tend to perform better than All-Season tires in the wet and even cooler temperatures, so don’t be scared off if you live somewhere that rains a lot. Just remember that if you encounter snow at all where you drive, we recommend All-Season or dedicated Winter Tires.

Summer tires have 5 different categories: “Grand Touring”, “High Performance”, “Ultra High Performance (UHP)”, “Max Performance”, and “Extreme Performance”. We generally don’t recommend Grand Touring or High Performance Summer Tires because you’re getting similar performance to a UHP All-Season tire without the versatility and often don’t last as long. It is also important to note that Extreme Performance tires are not typical for anything outside of pure performance cars that see a lot of aggressive driving and typically regular track time. They wear out very quickly but give you the best handling and traction at the cost of longevity (you’d be lucky to get more than 10-15k miles out of them driving conservatively). Knowing this and that most of you out there reading this are enthusiasts, we are going to mainly recommend UHP and Max Performance Summer tires.

Ultra High Performance (UHP) Summer Tires:

When it comes to UHP tires there is no shortage of options. Within this category you have a wide variety of tread patterns and Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG*) ratings which encompass treadwear & traction grades. Typically higher treadwear means your tires will last a bit longer, though treadwear numbers vary between manufacturers because of the testing procedure.

*UTQG Treadwear Grades are open to some interpretation by tire manufacturer rating is determined after the tire has only experienced “a little treadwear” as it goes through the 7,200 miles test phase. Because of this, manufacturers can extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades. In truth, all treadwear ratings need to be taken with a grain of salt because some testing departments are more optimistic than others. However, it is safe to compare treadwear grades between tires from the same manufacturer as they will be internally consistent with their testing procedures and processing of the data results.

Just keep that in mind when considering any set of tires that have a higher or lower rated treadwear grade as a 220 treadwear tire could easily last as long as another brand’s 300 treadwear tire.

Our top picks for UHP Tires when looking for a great balance between performance and decent treadwear at a reasonable price are the Nitto NT555G2 and the Toyo T1 Sport. 

Nitto NT555G2
The Nitto NT555G2 is exactly what it sounds like, it is the second generation of the legendary NT555 which was touted by many to be the best Ultra High Performance Tire on the market for years. Nitto sought to improve upon their best selling (for cars at least) tire and made it their mission to make improvements in areas that competitors were catching up in. With increased dry traction, lateral grip, and straight-line stability as well as improved all around performance in the wet the NT555G2 continues to be a leader in the UHP Summer Tire category.  The symmetrical design of the tread means potential for even greater treadlife. Rotating is always recommend but even if you are running a staggered setup you can flip the tires left to right (requires re-mounting and balancing) effectively doubling your tire life. You can easily see 30k+ miles out of these.
Toyo T1 Sport
The Toyo Proxes T1 Sports are a high grade, performance summer tire ready to be abused. These tires are made with a high grip silica compound to improve dry and wet tractions. Inside the tire is a wide steel belt layer, and high density polyester carcass. Both of these also increase handling, while also providing better sidewall stiffness and durability. The tread pattern itself includes an “Aqua Jet” design, channeling water out of the center of the tire for those wet days, while also providing an enhancing cooling system for those hot days at high speed. The unique wing tip design on the tread is to help reduce noise while driving.
Nitto Invo
A great option for those looking for the performance but prioritize comfort and low noise above treadwear should look at the Nitto Invo. Still reasonably priced but they won’t last as long as the NT555G2 or T1 Sport.
General G-Max RS
Our budget pick for the UHP category is the General G-Max RS. Just because it is more budget friendly doesn’t mean it falls short on quality. This tire holds its own in respect to performance and delivers excellent tread life (General Tires claims 60k miles but since we have yet to see one on a car for that long, we can neither confirm nor deny this claim). It isn’t on the same level as the Nittos or Toyos in regards to comfort though so that is a small sacrifice you would be making if you decide to go with the G-Max RS.

Max Performance Summer Tires:

Our favorite tire category is definitely Max Performance. With over 80% of our tire sales falling into this category, we’d consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable about them.

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (PS4S)
Our top recommendation and our best selling tire would definitely be the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S (PS4S). It ticks all the boxes for anything you could want from a summer tire. They have phenomenal traction in both dry and wet conditions, they are quiet, comfortable, and even come with a 30k mile tread warranty (for rotatable setups). There are only two downsides of the Michelin that one could really argue. One is the sidewalls are a little softer than other Max Performance tires so on the track they are a little less responsive, but most people who drive their car on the road the majority of the time will take the added comfort that comes with it. Two would be the price, they are more expensive than some of the other options, but with tires, you get what you pay for and they are worth every penny. Also keep in mind when considering cost, the PS4S will last longer than many other Max Performance tires so you can end up breaking even on costs in the long run.
Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2
Our good all around and more budget friendly recommendation is none other than the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2. The V12 Evo2 does a great job of balancing dry and wet traction with good responsiveness, fairly civil road manners, and good tread life. The side wall is a bit stiffer than the PS4S but that also translates to a little bit stiffer ride. Road noise is a bit more pronounced than with the Michelin PS4S, but still within acceptable levels for most drivers. Overall, the Hankook is a great option and one of our most popular tire models.
Nitto NT05
For our performance focused drivers that are willing to sacrifice some treadwear for more grip and responsiveness at an affordable price, we recommend the Nitto NT05. This tire is incredibly grippy (almost Extreme performance levels) with a stiff sidewall that gives great feedback for aggressive or spirited driving. The other tradeoffs on top of the less than spectacular treadwear are extra road noise and a stiffer ride.

If you have any additional questions about wheels and tires for your Model 3 please free to reach out to us:

Email – sales@modbargains.com | Phone – 715-582-3330 | Live Chat – modbargains.com

If you would like to speak to our Model 3 expert specifically please contact Kevin McDonnell:

Email – kevin@modbargains.com | Phone – 715-582-3330 x8003

Stock Fitments (Page 1)
Effects of lowering on fitments (Page 1)
How different setups will affect the Model 3’s Performance and Range (page 2)
Wheel Spacers (page 3)
Stock Height Fitments (page 4)
Lowered Fitments (page 5)
Aggressive (lowered) Fitments (page 6)
Recommended Wheel Brands & Models (page 7)
Tire sizing & types (compounds) (page 8)

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