9000 miles and front tires almost worn off!

[fbitz777]

9000 miles and I might have to buy new front tires?

I have been less than impressed with the traction on my 2014 FFE in that the front tires keep slipping every time I accelerate
from a dead stop...been doing this since new 8 months ago.

Anyhow I measured 5/32 on front tires and 10/32 on back ones (they look great).. not sure what new tires are at?

The only thing might be working against me is that I inflated to 41PSI 3 months ago as I kept getting low PSI warning on cold days.
Also my driveway is fairly long (.5 miles) and it's gravel. I have also had lots of slipping and sliding trying to get unstuck on icy roads.

what gives? Any warranty on the tires?

 

[michael]

At 33,000 miles my tires are getting a little thin. I've rotated them so not sure whether was wearing faster front or rear.

I'm considering replacement with runflats. According to Tire Rack, Pirelli offers LRR Runflats that are reasonably well rated (3 1/2 stars, same as the OEM tires) They are on sale right now for as low as $404 for a set of four in some versions.

 

[damania]

The front tires are going to go quicker than the rear ones because both the acceleration AND deceleration (motor regen) comes off them.

 

[JTCalif]

The front tires are going to go quicker than the rear ones because both the acceleration AND deceleration (motor regen) comes off them.

That matches my experience: at 22,000 miles, the tires that had been on front were down to 3/32".
(Others clearly better, but I did not record the depth.)
No gravel or ice here, fairly gentle driving. Keep at 38 or 39 psi (by my rotary dial gauge).
Appreciate comments here on alternate tires, for when I replace (with preference for good traction).

 

[brogult]

I'm considering the Bridgestone DriveGuards. I'm waiting for someone else to go first! They're expensive (over $700 installed at Costco) but well-rated. They look like a good idea and (sort of) solve the spare tire problem.

 

[damania]

I don't think the brand of tires would make any difference. They would all wear down just the same. I'm thinking not to rotate my tires and keep replacing the fronts every time it comes time to do so.

How Do tesla tires fare? The acceleration is on the rears, and is deceleration on all 4 wheel?

 

[WattsUp]

How Do tesla tires fare? The acceleration is on the rears, and is deceleration on all 4 wheel?

Why do you say that?

In the rear-wheel drive Tesla, acceleration and deceleration (when using regen) are only on the rear wheels.

Only in the all-wheel drive Tesla acceleration and deceleration are on all wheels (though, still, it may not be distributed exactly evenly).

In the FFE, acceleration and deceleration (when using regen) are only on the front wheels.

 

[WattsUp]

I don't think the brand of tires would make any difference. They would all wear down just the same.

No, the brand (as a proxy for quality) of tire makes a huge difference to how fast they will wear.

Though not always true, in general, cheaper tires will wear more quickly.

Of course, there are exceptions. Tires made for special purposes (and may very well be more expensive) may wear more quickly. But, I'm talking in general terms for general-purpose tires. You'll most likely have to replace cheaper tires sooner.

 

[davideos]

Turn the radio off, roll the windows down and, accelerate from a dead stop. What you'll hear is tire noise. The harder you accelerate, the louder it will be. It's easy to accelerate hard with the focus electric because the motor doesn't growl like a gas car does. So, for me, I believe I wore my tires down because of this. Will I stop because I just had to put new tires on the car? No. For me, that's what makes driving the car fun.

Anyway, I rotated the tires regularly and both front and back tires hit the wear markers, and then some, at 20,000 miles. The front definitely took the hardest hit. The wear was pretty even across the width of the tire; however, there was a slight bit more wear on the inside circumference than on the outside. Will take it in for an alignment check next week to be sure.

9000 seems a bit premature. Is the wear even?

 

[fbitz777]

Turn the radio off, roll the windows down and, accelerate from a dead stop. What you'll hear is tire noise. The harder you accelerate, the louder it will be. It's easy to accelerate hard with the focus electric because the motor doesn't growl like a gas car does. So, for me, I believe I wore my tires down because of this. Will I stop because I just had to put new tires on the car? No. For me, that's what makes driving the car fun.

Anyway, I rotated the tires regularly and both front and back tires hit the wear markers, and then some, at 20,000 miles. The front definitely took the hardest hit. The wear was pretty even across the width of the tire; however, there was a slight bit more wear on the inside circumference than on the outside. Will take it in for an alignment check next week to be sure.

9000 seems a bit premature. Is the wear even?

Yes the wear was even. I guess I still have 3/32" on the front and 8/32" on back so by rotating them I will get to 18,000 miles.
The front was probably wearing bad because I had a lot of slipping trying to get out of iced up gravel roads

 

[jeffand]

I have 21,000 miles on my tires. Front have 7/32, while the rear have 8/32 tread on them. The tires have been rotated a two times since I got the car.

 

[hybridbear]

I can't imagine having to replace tires before the lease is up at around 30k miles. The FFE has the same tires as the Fusion Hybrid/Energi & C-Max and other owners of those vehicles have reported 50-60k miles before needing to replace the tires.

 

[Lithium]

I'm at 14K and there is wear on the fronts, need to rotate, but 9000 seems awfully quick to be down so much. Check your alignment.

I've noticed the rear wheels have significant camber, top leaning inward, on this car and the inside of the rear tires seem to bare the brunt of the weight in the back. I think that will do in your tires more quickly.

The traction on these energy efficient tires is pretty bad. Cold weather makes traction even worse. You would figure these tires to last for a long time given their energy efficiency features... hard as a rock... but you might just be enjoying that torque feel a little too much...

As far as the Tesla wear comment, they eat tires. 5000lbs on skinny tires with 400+ hp equals a new set every 14K. on 21" rims that is the most expensive part per mile on the car....
H

 

[michael]

Have people here focused on a candidate replacement tire?

Obviously the OEM tires are a candidate. According to Tire Rack website, they cost around $700 a set and have received mixed but generally favorable reviews.

They have a wide variety of LRR tires from a half dozen manufacturers, plus LRR runflats from Pirelli.

Hard to know which direction to go. I like the idea of runflats, but some people seem to hate those Pirelli runflat.