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Curb rash!

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S

Stuart1979

Member
Jan 8, 2022
30
37
UK
#1
Hi All. Ordered my MYLR in October and as much as I liked the 20 inch induction wheels I couldn’t bear the thought of all the curb rash, so went for the 19s. I live in London and parking next to curbs is inevitable plus I’m not the only driver of the vehicle. I currently have 21s on my Range Rover and the damage is heartbreaking and impossible to keep up with on repair without a money tree in the garden.

Just wondering if anyone else has chosen 19s over 20s for this reason alone?
 
#4
Tony Hoyle said:
Teslas tend to get curbed sooner or later.. it's part of the wheel design. Just live with it and fix it all at once before you sell the car.
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Its absolutely nothing to do with the wheel design. Any wheel's going to get scuffed if you get too close to a kerb.

Heartbreaking I know... Having done it myself several times on all my cars in the past on 19's and 20's - its my crap parking and poor awareness of the corners of the car! Nowadays, I refuse to mount a kerb if someone's coming my way on a tight road, and when I park - its at least a size 9 from the kerb.
 
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#7
Tony Hoyle said:
Nah I've driven cars for years and never scuffed an alloy once. The tesla one... 2 weeks. The tesla alloys stick out further than the tyre which means they take all the damage whereas on other cars they don't. It's quite a common experience for a new user to post on here they've damaged the allow and not knowing what to do.
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Congratulations on your very commendable alloy scuff free driving! Just wish I was as fortunate. :)

But - its quite common for a new user to post that they've kerbed the alloys on their new car because its a new car and they are not quite used to the dimensions of their new car. The tesla wheels are no different to any other car / wheel combo unless you fit a tyre with specific alloy protection on the sidewall - ie: that thick bit of rubber that sticks out further from the wheel rim.
 
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#10
I generally prefer lighter wheels on a dark coloured car and I’m going for blue, but my main reason for going for the basic 19s is that I’ve experienced the stress of constantly worrying about my alloys and I’ve decided these will be sacrificial to a degree. I’m not prepared to constantly fret about it on my daily London journeys.
 
#11
RobbieBurns said:
The tesla wheels are no different to any other car / wheel combo unless you fit a tyre with specific alloy protection on the sidewall - ie: that thick bit of rubber that sticks out further from the wheel rim.
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Maybe little different to other fancy pretty alloy wheels, but I would have been perfectly happy with ugly steel with more rubber like the Nissan Leaf. I've touched kerbs plenty of times with that car (and older cars with similar style wheels), never left a mark. Much more forgiving, and probably more comfortable too?

Am I an exception in not wanting 20s, 19s, or even 18s, but the other extreme - less metal, more rubber? I might be convinced if it makes a massive difference to the energy efficiency...
 
#12
DenkiJidousha said:
Maybe little different to other fancy pretty alloy wheels, but I would have been perfectly happy with ugly steel with more rubber like the Nissan Leaf. I've touched kerbs plenty of times with that car (and older cars with similar style wheels), never left a mark. Much more forgiving, and probably more comfortable too?

Am I an exception in not wanting 20s, 19s, or even 18s, but the other extreme - less metal, more rubber? I might be convinced if it makes a massive difference to the energy efficiency...
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Steel is heavier than aluminium alloy which is why the Prius was using aero covers over alloy wheels 15+ years ago when it would have been cheaper to put covers over steel wheels. Saving rotating unspung mass on a vehicle has a big impact on economy and performance.

The performance of the M3 also limits how small a wheel could be used - you won’t fit the brakes needed to stop such a heavy powerful vehicle. Handling also improves with lower profile tyres.

If Tesla fitted better dampers, not even going as far as adaptive ones, then the comfort argument would go away.

I’m not saying you are wrong in wanting more tyre and less wheel but that isn’t what the public want, or isn’t what the industry is giving us. Even Formula 1 is being forced to move from 13” to 18” wheels to be more relevant to the younger generation.
 
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#13
Good point on the brakes, but again I'm probably an outlier - never had our model 3 out of chill mode (and in fact wanted a super-chill mode while taxiing our newborn baby, little necks in rear facing car seats don't like acceleration), only ever tried the default "fast mode" on the test drive.

As to unsprung mass, I understand why that should be minimised - but haven't looked into how alloys with thin rubber compare to smaller alloys with fat rubber. Feels like the later would be lighter, but that's me guessing.
 
#14
DenkiJidousha said:
As to unsprung mass, I understand why that should be minimised - but haven't looked into how alloys with thin rubber compare to smaller alloys with fat rubber. Feels like the later would be lighter, but that's me guessing.
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I was referencing your happy with ugly steel comment here. Smaller alloy and more rubber is normally lighter.
 
#15
Sorry, yes - steel might be stronger than alloys and thus less prone to damage, but I'd meant that more from a cosmetic point of view.

So, I'd prefer small light alloys with more rubber over the current Tesla and market trends. Because I know I'm going to curb mine again, probably parking somewhere with high or irregular curbs, but you never know.
 
#16
Seriously cannot believe this. We have had our Tesla M3 LR 2022 for 1 week and 1 day today.

Literally only been able to drive it day the we got it and yesterday. Wife drives it today, and boom totally grinds the front right rim.

I am so sad and disappointed that my wife just doesn’t seem to take care of things like I do. On the flip side, I was fully expecting her to have spilled coffee in it by now.

Sad day.
 
#19
I have heard reports that dirt can get between the wheel and the alloygators and it causes damage anyway. I’ve not known any cars more susceptible to wheel damage than a Tesla. MY 20’s have lasted a whole 4 weeks but damage is in the post. I’ve been considering wheel I insurance. I’m only assuming a 20 inch black induction will be expensive to repair.
 
#20
GDW1986 said:
Has anyone tried Alloygators or similar on their car?
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I'm probably in the minority but I've had Alloygators on both my MS due to kerbing within 5 minutes of collecting the first MS. When I collected my current vehicle I was going away for a week the following day so arranged to have 'gators and ceramic coating as early as possible on my return. Those same 'gators are still on after 2 years and 9 months. I don't do that many miles (around 8K per year) but do numerous short trips where kerbs are in evidence. If asked I would thoroughly recommend them.
 
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