Beware pot holes

[RichardGH]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

 

[UncertainTimes]

19”s and 20"s more prone but any big enough pothole will take out any wheel. Remember when most cars came with 15/16” wheels and 18” wheels only came as options on sports cars. Yea neither.

 

[jjrandorin]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

Both, actually (at least in my opinion). These cars are seriously heavy, and fitted with OEM tires with skinny sidewalls in some trims, so there is a greater chance of what you experienced. After 15 years of driving the same roads, and having no issues, when I got my model 3 2.5 years ago now, I have replaced 3 rims and 4 tires so far due to hitting potholes and damaging both rim and tire (or "tyre" as you say in your part of the world).

 

[zhu-]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

I'm going to guess you have performance with 20" wheels? I stuck with 18s mainly for the pothole protection.

Technically it is more common in Tesla's because most other car makers usually max out their mid-size sedans at 19".

 

[Mr. Big]

I hit a pothole with my 20" performance wheel and luckily it only damaged the tire and not the wheel. When it's time to replace all 4 tires I'm going to switch to an 18" wheel/tire combo because they're less susceptible to road damage and for the better ride quality and increased range. I don't really care about looks because it's basically a nerd car to begin with.

 

[RLS697083]

Will 15" wheels fit on the Model 3? I live in a country where road maintenance is no longer a priority, and absolutely require a massive sidewall on my tires.

 

[The_Observer]

Will 15" wheels fit on the Model 3? I live in a country where road maintenance is no longer a priority, and absolutely require a massive sidewall on my tires.

Not possible, smallest you can go is 18". You can try to compensate with less sidewall with slightly bigger and thicker tires, but it will reduce range.

 

[Jeremy3292]

I don’t see how an 18” rim/sidewall would be too thin on our M3. You would have to hit a serious pothole at a high speed and also have bad luck to ruin the rim IMO.

 

[Ecoli]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

you could try having your wheels repaired

 

[Shelburne]

Will 15" wheels fit on the Model 3? I live in a country where road maintenance is no longer a priority, and absolutely require a massive sidewall on my tires.

When I first read your post, I thought maybe you lived in another country - a much poorer country. But then I saw you live in Colorado. But yeah, at least in terms of roads and bridges (and I can think of a few other categories too) we are headed towards the third world.

 

[vogz]

I hit a pothole with my 20" performance wheel and luckily it only damaged the tire and not the wheel. When it's time to replace all 4 tires I'm going to switch to an 18" wheel/tire combo because they're less susceptible to road damage and for the better ride quality and increased range. I don't really care about looks because it's basically a nerd car to begin with.

Just some little anecdotes to counter some of your assertions about 20” vs 18” wheels. I run the OEM 20” setup in the summer and 18“ setup in the winter on my M3P. I have had zero issues with damage to either setup due to pothole damage in the pothole ridden midwest. In 25 years of driving I‘ve found that actively avoiding potholes by paying attention to the road surface (especially on a road I am not familiar with), not following too closely and slowing down significantly to pass through standing water to be much better defenses against wheel/tire damage vs. a small difference in sidewall height.

Reading posts on here you’d think that the 20” wheel/tire setup on the model 3 is insanely susceptible to damage due to small potholes and road imperfections I simply haven’t found that to be the case at all over about 2 years of driving the car with the aforementioned setup.

I also haven’t noticed better ride quality when I switch to the 18“ winter setup. The handling definitely gets a little mushy pushing into corners harder, but that’s about it. This could simply be due to the Pilot Sport 4S tires having fantastic ride quality and my Sottozero winters not sharing that advantage. Though I had the same experience in my previous vehicle (Audi S4) going from 19“ in the summer to 18” in the winter.

As far as range goes, I see very little difference since I’m not running the OEM 18s with the aero covers and super efficient tires.

 

[Sam1]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

They're cast wheels. get forged wheels of some sort, and get a smaller diameter if you're on 20"s

 

[ODWms]

I also haven’t noticed better ride quality when I switch to the 18“ winter setup. The handling definitely gets a little mushy pushing into corners harder, but that’s about it. This could simply be due to the Pilot Sport 4S tires having fantastic ride quality and my Sottozero winters not sharing that advantage. Though I had the same experience in my previous vehicle (Audi S4) going from 19“ in the summer to 18” in the winter.

Same here. I‘ve had 2 occasions where I got to drive Model 3 cars for loaners while my Performance was at Tesla for multiple days. For all that I’ve read online about the comfort level deviation between the configurations, I’ve seen little of it personally. I’ve definitely noted a handling disparity. And logically, the 18’ setup should make a difference in pothole damage potential to be sure. But ride quality changes through the lineup are minimal from what I have experienced, even with the attendant suspension differences.

 

[Gasaraki]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

Bad luck. Make sure your tire pressures are full.

The 19" and 20" tires have less sidewall so the rims get damaged easier. This is not just a Tesla thing.

 

[2020]

I feel your pain. Recently knocked out the left front and rears by a pothole.

 

[RichardGH]

Deepest sympathy. Mine’s now been picked up by the garage.

 

[Gimmethecash]

I have 20’s, but they’re forged and I run the tallest tire I feel like I can get away with (255/35/20 - has almost as much sidewall as 265/35/19 that so many folks here with 19’s run). I also do my best to avoid potholes and the local areas known to have a lot of them.

 

[Xenopotamus]

Driving to work this morning noticed tyre warning light came on. Checked pressures and both left tyres were seriously low. Went to kwikfit today and told I need two new wheels. The inner rims on the two wheels had a slight kink allowing air to escape. They thought this was due to a pot hole - which could explain why it was the two left tyres that were soft. Indeed I did notice I went over a fairly fierce pothole (hidden by a puddle) on my way home last night.
Is this common in Tesla’s or just bad luck?

I would agree it's both. I've owned the Tesla Model S for 6 months with 21" Arachnid wheels. Potholes are awful in NJ, and they are wreaking havoc on my car. So far, I've hit 4-5 of them. One caused a sidewall bubble in the front driver's side tire, requiring it to be replaced. Another 'apparently' bent my front passenger side rim, at least that is what Tesla gave me as the reason for vibrations in the yoke/accelerator on the highway. I have my doubts, because the new ram barely addressed the vibration. On the way home yesterday, after picking up my brand new $1500 front passenger wheel, I managed to drive through what looked like a small meteor crater on a dark country road. Immediately blew out both passenger side tires, and obliterated the brand new wheel that I just spent $1500 on a mere hour or two earlier. I'm at a crossroads now... trying to decide what my next move is going to be. I hate to say it, but perhaps 21" rims are just not made for Northern NJ. I previously owned a 2015 Porsche Cayman S and had similar blowout issues with potholes, but nothing like I am experiencing with this Tesla. Time for a jeep/truck?

 

[zhu-]

Time for a jeep/truck?

Just stick with low profile rims. I had the same pothole issues with my previous car with 19" (C300 with 19s has about the same sidewall as Model 3 with 20s since it uses lower profile tires). Now with 18's I go over most mild potholes without batting an eye and there's barely any impact whereas with 19s or 20s they always hit with a loud bang.

 

[tm1v2]

Nice thread revival @Xenopotamus

Just stick with low profile rims. I had the same pothole issues with my previous car with 19" (C300 with 19s has about the same sidewall as Model 3 with 20s since it uses lower profile tires). Now with 18's I go over most mild potholes without batting an eye and there's barely any impact whereas with 19s or 20s they always hit with a loud bang.

I'm with @zhu-. Just downside your wheels / upsize your sidewalls. No need for a Jeep or truck unless you're really offroading or such. Yeah a hard enough hit can break anything but in practice your S will probably be fine by just moving to 19" wheels with taller sidewalls. It's the 21" Tesla cast wheel setup that is not practical.

There's no performance benefit to the bigger diameter, heavier wheels (unless you need to squeeze in extra large aftermarket brakes because race car). It's just a style trend. Ride, handling, wheel protection, and tire pricing are all better with smaller diameter wheels + taller sidewall tires (assuming you maintain about the same outer tire diameter).

After arguing with Tesla service to replace a cracked 21" wheel on our S P85 we downsized it to 19" and never looked back (245/35R20 to 245/45R19). For our M3P I ordered 18" wheels to replace the OE 20" before we even picked up the car (235/35R20 to 245/45R18). I'll admit the huge, heavy wheels our S and 3 came with absolutely look cool, but honestly they belong on a concept car, not a practical road car.

Just my 2c!