Cyclones vs Slipstreams

[agloutney]

There was a Tesla blog a while back about Tesla’s Cyclone wheels being a little more efficient than the base 19” wheels of the day. I haven’t heard much since then and was wondering if there’s any data out there comparing the Cyclones and the Slipstreams? Given the Aero wheels are starting to get pretty hard to find, I’m looking for the next best thing.

 

[ucmndd]

I had slipstreams for ~12k miles and switched to cyclones for the last ~20k. Any difference in efficiency is completely within the noise. No noticeable difference.

 

[The Duke]

You will see a lot of hype one way and another. Just remember the body and tires direct air around the wheels. I went to the most logical source - Bonneville speed runners. Most say wheels do not matter for speed and only on some cars for stability. Like ucmndd said, not enough difference to measure reliably.

 

[Buster1]

The Duke is correct. However, if one wheel is measurably lighter than another, that might deliver some efficiency gains over a significant amount of time.