2021 MYP Uberturbine 21" to 20" Aftermarket Wheels... 30 pound weight savings

[ReversePolarity]

After 15 months and 23000 miles on my '21 MYP I decided to downsize from factory 21" to aftermarket 20" wheels. On the Pirelli Pzero, the front tires had 50% tread, and rear tires had 25% tread, so plenty of life remaining.

The handling for my MYP on 21" always surprises me, I'd get myself carsick driving through mountain passes before the car shows any signs of getting close to the limit.. but my biggest gripe is how rough the car rides while being daily driven (you start noticing a lot of stuff on a 1.5 hr commute). And now, with 20" tires the car rides noticeably smoother. I also noticed a reduction in road noise, and on the interior, the super annoying rattles decreased significantly.

Weight/Range difference.... This is probably the most surprising... Dropped from 63 to 54 lbs per corner! Forgot to weigh the rear wheels so I'll round the difference to 30 pounds.

The internet has a lot of information about unsprung weight but I personally dont know if this will give extra performance or how much more range this translates to.... but with my commute being 80 miles a day, I'll probably find out pretty quickly.

Before:
Tesla Uberturbine (cast?) 21x9.5 21x10.5
Pirelli Pzero 255/35/21 275/35/21

After:
VMR V802 20x9 / 20x10" Flow Formed (tires fit much better imo)
Continental Extreme Contact 255/40/20 275/40/20

Total damage: ~$3000

I also bought a new set of sensors from Tesla, because i dont want to deal with pulling them out of factory 21".

If I were to do this all over again, I'd definitely choose 20".... With the added bonus of 20" tires being $1200 compared to $2000 for 21's. I might even do same size front/rear just for ease of rotations... I have a feeling I wont notice much of a difference.

 

[av_three]

So smart and yes to all of this. I got the Zink Enterprise which are fully forged and weigh 28 lbs.

Tesla Model Y Wheels - 20in. ENTERPRISE Fully-Forged - Carbon Black

Make your Tesla Model Y look amazing with 20-inch ENTERPRISE Carbon Black fully-forged aluminum aftermarket wheels. Engineered for beauty, strength, & performance.

zinkwheels.com

 

[ReversePolarity]

Zink advertises as 28 lbs. But if you add the 27 lbs of the tires, result is 55 lbs for a "fully forged" wheel/tire package vs my 54.4 lbs for flow formed (which is basically an alloy wheel with a spun forged barrel). What did your w/t package end up weighing in at?

 

[Corndart]

In a Tribute to Unsprung Weight

The importance of lightweight wheels is often overlooked in search of style and appearance. But maybe you can have both, at least to a certain point. I think the Y needs at least a 20" wheel to look correct and even a bit of drop to square that. So after much digging and tires sent back...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[rogersmj]

I know this is an old thread but I'm looking to do this exact swap (from an MYP with 21" Uberturbines to a lighter 20") and I would love to hear more people's opinions on the ride quality and handling. I don't care about range. I just want the thing to not feel so crashy/harsh over regular road imperfections.

I'm looking at some Atomic Wheels AW01 as one possibility, which are even a few pounds lighter than the VMR's that OP used.

 

[Sambub]

I have 23’ YP with 20” winter wheel set with Pirelli winter tires and the ride is worse not better than stock Uber’s with the Michelin AS 4’s. I think the Pirelli’s must be stiffer the Michelins. But whatever tires you run, I think you will have better luck improving ride a little by going down to 19’s instead of messing with 20’s.

I really like the look of the 20’s on my car, more so than the Ubers. 20” is the right sized wheel for the car IMO, whatever that’s worth, but I dont think ride will improve much with the 20’s.

I had considered purchasing a X to obtain air suspension, quieter interior, but my car has depreciated so significantly it negates any savings on the X with decreased price. Also, the X is just huge and I think the Y is big enough.

After looking into all of this over the past year and talking to different shops, etc, I’ve concluded the very best way to address the ride quality is to put coil overs on the car. I was planning on getting a lift, tools, and coil overs in the spring and installing myself. It seems easy enough, and cost is not prohibitive.

But, after driving the highland LR 3 yesterday with quieter interior, better stereo, and much improved ride, I am considering just waiting for the Y update and maybe getting a new Y, instead of messing with suspension in my car. Of course this will depend on how the big the $$$ hit might be. It will certainly be a bigger hit than going the coil over route tho. I guess it will depend on how much.

 

[rogersmj]

I am considering just waiting for the Y update and maybe getting a new Y, instead of messing with suspension in my car. Of course this will depend on how the big the $$$ hit might be. It will certainly be a bigger hit than going the coil over route tho. I guess it will depend on how much.

I admit I am having the same thoughts

 

[Teedub21]

I just went back to the 21” Ubers after having aftermarket 20’s. My 2023 rides so nice, it seriously feels very similar to the 20’s. Main thing is the Michelin all seasons are such good tires, they ride better and are quieter than the Falken 20’s I was running.

Plus everything I have read points to aero having a much bigger effect on range than weight. Weight would be more important around town but at highway speeds the aero makes a big difference. I honestly did not see an increase in range when I went to the 20’s.

 

[ReversePolarity]

Tire quality contributes a bunch to ride quality as well, but unfortunately there is not very much published information about this aside from anectodal info listed on the tirerack site. Its also helpful to note that my comparison was for 21" Pirelli's that came with the 21MYP and I don't keep up with the suspension/tire changes over the years. Still its a known fact that more sidewall will have a better ride

 

[bluestonex]

I just went back to the 21” Ubers after having aftermarket 20’s. My 2023 rides so nice, it seriously feels very similar to the 20’s. Main thing is the Michelin all seasons are such good tires, they ride better and are quieter than the Falken 20’s I was running.

Plus everything I have read points to aero having a much bigger effect on range than weight. Weight would be more important around town but at highway speeds the aero makes a big difference. I honestly did not see an increase in range when I went to the 20’s.

Agree a lot with this. I've had multiple different wheel and tire combinations and have the ultra light 20" VS Forged VS02 at the moment. The only thing light wheels are good for is maybe acceleration. Does not help with efficiency and does not help with ride comfort. (don't know maybe just in my head the heavy 21" Ubers seemed to absorb road harshness better than light forged wheels).

Biggest factors for efficiency are aero (use Gemini wheel covers or something like Fast EV01+) and tires (a boring all season with long tread life and hard compound or an EV designed tire). Biggest factors for ride comfort are size (19" is really the only "comfortable") and again tires (a boring all season with soft sidewalls).

Btw VMR makes good quality wheels that look amazing esp with the polished finish, though not really that lightweight comparatively. I have a set on another car.

 

[Noflash]

Agree a lot with this. I've had multiple different wheel and tire combinations and have the ultra light 20" VS Forged VS02 at the moment. The only thing light wheels are good for is maybe acceleration. Does not help with efficiency and does not help with ride comfort. (don't know maybe just in my head the heavy 21" Ubers seemed to absorb road harshness better than light forged wheels).

Biggest factors for efficiency are aero (use Gemini wheel covers or something like Fast EV01+) and tires (a boring all season with long tread life and hard compound or an EV designed tire). Biggest factors for ride comfort are size (19" is really the only "comfortable") and again tires (a boring all season with soft sidewalls).

Btw VMR makes good quality wheels that look amazing esp with the polished finish, though not really that lightweight comparatively. I have a set on another car.

Heavier wheels absorb more road impact. There is myth floating around here stating otherwise.

 

[TomServo]

I dumped the 21" UT for some 18s from TSportLine. My weight savings was 68 pounds. But the MYP with the 18s is a better all-around DD. Faster, more efficient, rides better, I can rotate the tires and I no longer fear potholes or curbs.

Aside from looks I'm trying to find a use case where the OEM 21s are the better choice on a DD?