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18" Aero wheels and Model Y load limits
- Thread starter Zoomit
- Start date
Quite possibly, see my post on the other thread (and read the ones that follow):
Lifted Model Y Owners: Report!
Have had the car less than a month and yesterday was the first experience in a very light coating of snow and was not left feeling confident. It goes great but the moment you take your foot off the accelerator I felt the rear end wanting to fish tail - had to really focus on my driving the rest...
teslamotorsclub.com
pdx_m3s
Active Member
I think it depends, from what I have found. We went 235 to assist with winter range.
According to the laws of physics, a larger contact point gives you more traction before it starts sliding/slipping.
Hockey players are sliding on ice. When two surfaces sliding against each other, the size of the contact area makes no difference on friction if all other factors are equal. A tire on a car is not sliding against the ground, it is rolling. The tire contact point stays stationary in relation to the road. Thats not friction. Wider tires provide more traction.
I was mostly joking.. I thought we were talking about winter tires though that are not necessarily rolling
Also the original question was which tire provides more contact a taller skinnier tire e.g. 235/60/18 vs a 255/55/18 according to the linked YouTube video it's not immediately obvious but I'd guess you'd get better winter traction with the skinnier tire
Farmer
Member
Narrower tread is better in snow because it will float less at road speeds and sink down to more solid snow. One would think that at very low speeds, a wider tread would help with floatation, but not really. You'd have to go to tracks like a snowmobile or Snow Cat to get enough contact area to matter then. Wide tires are great in sand and mud, not so on snow, at least not at road speeds. I see super-wide-tired Jeeps wandering all over snowy roads, going everywhere but straight. No thanks.
I had some very lightly used General Altimax Arctic 12s in a 225/60R18 size leftover from my RAV4 Prime that, despite the much narrower tread, are the same 104 load range as the MY OEM 19" Contact Pros. I found some Enkei 18x8" wheels with a similar load rating that I used to mate the tires to my Y. (Here is a link at Tire Rack, though TR is discontinuing these particular ones: https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/enkei-performance-victory-anthracite-painted
I really despise the super low sidewalls cars and SUVs are using these days and Tesla is a prime offender. Such tire/wheels are not your friend on any substandard road as I often find in central/northern New England with potholes, raised man hole covers, etc. especially with the somewhat higher curb weight of EVs.
Though the Arctic12s are much narrower than my OEM (now summer) tires, they handle fine, as they should since they carry the same load range. Steering response is a bit softer than the 45 profile Conti's, but not by much. (I don't really care for the touchy steering response of low profile tires anyhow.) The ride is a bit softer, but noisier, since we are talking about a winter tire. I never drove the 19", 255 Conti's in the snow, but the 225 Arctic 12s are great.
I know that there are much more talked-about winter tires out there in the Tesla community, but these Generals are fine. Most *any* winter tire is better in winter than the no-seasons and summer tires that are on cars otherwise.
My efficiency is a bit worse now, but that's probably due to the much colder temperatures rather than the narrower tires. This particular tire has a diameter about 1 or 2 percent greater than the OEM setup, and this now means that my speedometer speed is right on my GPS speed, whereas previously, the speedometer typically over-reported by about 2 or 3 mph @ 70 mph on the Conti OEMs, so there's that effect on miles of range reported as well.
I had some very lightly used General Altimax Arctic 12s in a 225/60R18 size leftover from my RAV4 Prime that, despite the much narrower tread, are the same 104 load range as the MY OEM 19" Contact Pros. I found some Enkei 18x8" wheels with a similar load rating that I used to mate the tires to my Y. (Here is a link at Tire Rack, though TR is discontinuing these particular ones: https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/enkei-performance-victory-anthracite-painted
I really despise the super low sidewalls cars and SUVs are using these days and Tesla is a prime offender. Such tire/wheels are not your friend on any substandard road as I often find in central/northern New England with potholes, raised man hole covers, etc. especially with the somewhat higher curb weight of EVs.
Though the Arctic12s are much narrower than my OEM (now summer) tires, they handle fine, as they should since they carry the same load range. Steering response is a bit softer than the 45 profile Conti's, but not by much. (I don't really care for the touchy steering response of low profile tires anyhow.) The ride is a bit softer, but noisier, since we are talking about a winter tire. I never drove the 19", 255 Conti's in the snow, but the 225 Arctic 12s are great.
I know that there are much more talked-about winter tires out there in the Tesla community, but these Generals are fine. Most *any* winter tire is better in winter than the no-seasons and summer tires that are on cars otherwise.
My efficiency is a bit worse now, but that's probably due to the much colder temperatures rather than the narrower tires. This particular tire has a diameter about 1 or 2 percent greater than the OEM setup, and this now means that my speedometer speed is right on my GPS speed, whereas previously, the speedometer typically over-reported by about 2 or 3 mph @ 70 mph on the Conti OEMs, so there's that effect on miles of range reported as well.
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Interesting about the deep snow performance. I can see that to be true. I'd say driving through untouched deep snow is rare on roads. The most common road conditions to worry about in winter driving is compacted snow or ice or slush. Not sure how tire width affects traction. But honestly, the difference between 255 and 235 is not much to start with.
As for the Jeeps with big tires, it might be the drivers put them in 4x4 mode, maybe even locking differentials. That definitely makes it worse and you lose traction faster.
As for the Jeeps with big tires, it might be the drivers put them in 4x4 mode, maybe even locking differentials. That definitely makes it worse and you lose traction faster.
Farmer
Member
Regarding the Tire Rack wheels I posted, TR will warn that the 18X8" wheels might not fit a MYLR, but they do and clear the brakes fine. 'Not sure about Performance brakes though.
Farmer
Member
My Arctic 12s are 225, not 235, just to be clear. They are a fair step down from the 255 OEMs, but as I say, they do have the same load range of 104, slightly different speed code, but both are over 100 mph, so, WTH?
Farmer
Member
Interesting. Looks like the size really doesn't matter much at all. Good to know.
Farmer
Member
Farmer
Member
A lot of winter roads are wet/snowy not dry snowy, and width matters quite a bit as regards to hydroplaning, "slushplaning", in very slushy snow/water. In dry, packed, yet shallow snow and ice I would agree about width. The snow/ice in that video is downright crunchy. Width won't matter on ice because no tire is going to "sink" into ice, regardless of width. Test again on an interstate covered with greasy snow and slush half-melted with salt.
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Yes.
With any winter tire, concentrating the weight of the car onto a narrower contact patch will give more traction in snow and ice than a wider tire of the same variety. It'll also offer more range via less wind resistance. The tradeoff is handling on dry roads, where a narrower tire will have less grip. For most of us who run dedicated winter tires, the trade off is well worth it. I'd rather be safer on the worst driving days than faster on the good ones.
Took my 2020 model y AWD (non performance) in for service due to a humming noise, and the tesla service center found the culprit and repaired it. They told me that they also noticed that the front brake calipers are being scraped due to me putting on the 18in aero wheels from my 2018 model 3. My tires are Hankook kinergy 4s2 XL 235/55 R18
I'm surprised I never noticed anything considering I drove my model Y for 30,000 miles with the 18in aero wheels on. Never heard any noises or had any problems for 30k miles.
It seems a lot of people in this thread put 18in aero wheels from the model 3 on their model y non performance, has anyone else also experienced this scraping on the front brake calipers?
I'm surprised I never noticed anything considering I drove my model Y for 30,000 miles with the 18in aero wheels on. Never heard any noises or had any problems for 30k miles.
It seems a lot of people in this thread put 18in aero wheels from the model 3 on their model y non performance, has anyone else also experienced this scraping on the front brake calipers?