19 inch vs 20 inch wheels ride quality

[Konicom04]

I'm no tire expert.

So in a nut shell, there is no safety issue by lowering the tire to 35psi?

Also, what about the tire wear?

Thanks much!

Most legacy cars advertise tire pressure in low 30's.
In my opinion the only reason Tesla wants the tires to be over 40 is to achieve higher range through lesser rolling resistance .
Other than the range - you won't hurt anything dropping it to mid 30's

 

[TomB985]

I'm no tire expert.

So in a nut shell, there is no safety issue by lowering the tire to 35psi?

Also, what about the tire wear?

Thanks much!

Nope. The Volvo S90 uses an almost-identical 255/40R19 tire, and the recommended spec is 35 PSI for a GVWR of 5,355 lbs. That’s higher than the Model Y’s GVWR of 5,224 lbs.

There’s no reason you need 42 PSI to support the weight of a fully-loaded Y.

 

[gt2690b]

Most legacy cars advertise tire pressure in low 30's.
In my opinion the only reason Tesla wants the tires to be over 40 is to achieve higher range through lesser rolling resistance .
Other than the range - you won't hurt anything dropping it to mid 30's

Range and of course efficiency.. it will cost you more to run in the 30s.. how much would be interesting to know

 

[JohnB007]

Range and of course efficiency.. it will cost you more to run in the 30s.. how much would be interesting to know

This will be tricky for me.

I drive about 380km every weekend. During the first summer, MYLR had no problem getting back home with no additional charging, starting at 100%. During the winter, I had to charge - not much, around $5-$10 at the supercharger.

I noticed that I lost range slightly when I switched to Cross Climate 2, a very small drop.

Now that this will be 2nd spring/summer, I may be able to test if I can come back home with no additional charging with lower pressure and (presumably) slightly degraded battery.

 

[TomB985]

This will be tricky for me.

I drive about 380km every weekend. During the first summer, MYLR had no problem getting back home with no additional charging, starting at 100%. During the winter, I had to charge - not much, around $5-$10 at the supercharger.

I noticed that I lost range slightly when I switched to Cross Climate 2, a very small drop.

Now that this will be 2nd spring/summer, I may be able to test if I can come back home with no additional charging with lower pressure and (presumably) slightly degraded battery.

I’d be curious to see what you find. I never noticed much of a drop when I lowered the pressures on my Model 3 a few years ago, but I haven’t tried playing with that on my Y. I lowered pressures right after I got it before swapping to my skinny winter set.

I’d guess it wouldn’t be more than one or two percent.

 

[Konicom04]

I’d be curious to see what you find. I never noticed much of a drop when I lowered the pressures on my Model 3 a few years ago, but I haven’t tried playing with that on my Y. I lowered pressures right after I got it before swapping to my skinny winter set.

I’d guess it wouldn’t be more than one or two percent.

Chevy Volts ( I've owned a bunch of them over the years ) have relatively small batteries, and so rolling resistance has greater affect on range than in a Tesla.
I could easily notice 10 to 13% gain in range when I moved to 45 Psi from iirc recommended 32

 

[TomB985]

This isn't a huge amount of data, but I prematurely swapped my summer tires on 3/21, only to mount my all-season Geminis on 3/29 because of an inbound snowstorm. So I ran each for about a week. My set of Überturbines is at 42 PSI (Green line), and my Geminis are at 36 PSI (Blue line).

Despite the lower pressure, the Gemini wheels at 36 PSI with hubcaps were more efficient than the Überturbine 21's at 42 PSI. I'll do this for longer periods later this summer when I have longer stretches of consistent temps. I think this supports my thesis that pressures don't affect efficiency that much.

 

[gt2690b]

This isn't a huge amount of data, but I prematurely swapped my summer tires on 3/21, only to mount my all-season Geminis on 3/29 because of an inbound snowstorm. So I ran each for about a week. My set of Überturbines is at 42 PSI (Green line), and my Geminis are at 36 PSI (Blue line).

Despite the lower pressure, the Gemini wheels at 36 PSI with hubcaps were more efficient than the Überturbine 21's at 42 PSI. I'll do this for longer periods later this summer when I have longer stretches of consistent temps. I think this supports my thesis that pressures don't affect efficiency that much.

View attachment 925896

Doesn't the energy meter on the car tell you exactly what the hit is? Maybe it's lumped in with other factors I forget

 

[gt2690b]

Doesn't the energy meter on the car tell you exactly what the hit is? Maybe it's lumped in with other factors I forget

Here's a tweet from Elon about it (recommends 39 psi for comfort at a 2% range / efficiency loss)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1001903414555492352

 

[JohnB007]

I think this was the tweet that got me to experiment at 39psi. I do feel the difference, but it wasn't obvious.

Once the weather warms up more, I'll try 36psi all the way and see what happens. If no significant difference in feel, I'll live at 42psi.

 

[blueice89]

I came to a realization today… a lot of this ride comfort thing is psychological… part of it is you just spent 50-70k and you want a smooth ride. Part of it is you hear all these loose things in your car and it eats at you like wtf .
Today I just turned my music to 8/10 and it drowns out all this noise and you can just drive smooth. That said with the big family in the car I can’t do that and hear the noises again. I am getting 18s to stay sane with the family but alone just pump the music up!

 

[TomB985]

I was just poking around online and the Audi E-Tron’s specs caught my eye. It’s an absolute chonk at almost 6,000 lbs empty, with a 7,055 lb GVWR. It’s over 1,500 lbs heavier than a Model Y.

It uses similar-width 255/50R20 tires, and specs 38/42 PSI. For 7,055 lbs.

The lightweight 4,400-lb Model Y doesn’t need 42 PSI.

 

[JohnB007]

I came to a realization today… a lot of this ride comfort thing is psychological… part of it is you just spent 50-70k and you want a smooth ride. Part of it is you hear all these loose things in your car and it eats at you like wtf .
Today I just turned my music to 8/10 and it drowns out all this noise and you can just drive smooth. That said with the big family in the car I can’t do that and hear the noises again. I am getting 18s to stay sane with the family but alone just pump the music up!

Part of it is age too...

I don't enjoy sporty feel as much as I used to, but I seem to prefer softer ride more. But I still seem to like acceleration when needed.

Having said that, I like every other aspect of Model Y. I don't see any alternative cars to fill our need better if I had to start all over again. Just looking to see if there's a slight adjustment to improve the ride.

 

[blueice89]

Here's a tweet from Elon about it (recommends 39 psi for comfort at a 2% range / efficiency loss)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1001903414555492352

This thread has so much useful data thank you for sharing this will try this as well on the 18s

 

[rlzalusky]

Part of it is age too...

I don't enjoy sporty feel as much as I used to, but I seem to prefer softer ride more. But I still seem to like acceleration when needed.

Having said that, I like every other aspect of Model Y. I don't see any alternative cars to fill our need better if I had to start all over again. Just looking to see if there's a slight adjustment to improve the ride.

These days the passenger is not necessarily enjoying the scenery. My wife goes crazy trying to put on lipstick or type on her phone as go down a less than perfect road. I would say she is surfing 90% of the time compared to the old days and she does complain about the difference compared to our other car - Ford Cmax.

 

[blueice89]

Okay update I got the 18s!! It’s night and day difference this changed my life for the better. No more plastic shaking no more garage door opener making sounds. It’s how a Model Y was meant to drive. Anyone on the 20s you don’t I know good til you drive the 18s !!
Love it !!!!

 

[blueice89]

Also this is the Setup :

 

[gt2690b]

Okay update I got the 18s!! It’s night and day difference this changed my life for the better. No more plastic shaking no more garage door opener making sounds. It’s how a Model Y was meant to drive. Anyone on the 20s you don’t I know good til you drive the 18s !!
Love it !!!!

245/50?? I was running 235/60 in the winter and 245/55/18 in the summer why only 50?

 

[blueice89]

245/50?? I was running 235/60 in the winter and 245/55/18 in the summer why only 50?

It’s what Tsportline makes

 

[blueice89]

Also it doesn’t look too different from the inductions.