Directional Wheels on our Model 3?

[Cintoman]

I've been trying to look for as many pictures of the Model 3 as I can to confirm whether the turbine wheels will come as directional wheels or not. From what I can tell looking at the Silver car, they are not directional. Meaning all 4 wheels look the same.

Doing a search, I've run into a few posts on the Model S sub forum, where this has been discusses at length, and it seems that even on a much more expensive car (S), and at a cost of $4,500.00 for them, the turbine wheels for the S are not directional.

Copied from a post: "Directional wheels would have right side and left side wheels so the blades point the same direction when viewing the car from either side. Currently the blades point one direction on the right and the other direction on the left."

I would assume that's the case for the Model 3, and the included pictures of the left rear wheel and right rear wheel show it's the same design from a blade pointing direction. However, I did see a picture of a shiny black Model 3 which shows the right side of the car with the "correct" directional wheel. But since we know of no shiny black Model 3 (only the matte Black one), it could be a mirrored photoshop.

Having 4 of the same wheels instead of 2 lefts and 2 right directional wheels would drive my OCD a bit nuts.

Anyone have any thoughts or comments? Would not having directional wheel drive anyone else crazy? I would think it would play on the aerodynamics of the wind swirling around the wheels/rotors/brakes. But sadly most cars out there only have 1 wheel design and hence 4 of the same wheels regardless if the pattern is reversed on one side.

Thanks,
Cintoman

 

[VIKING26]

Directional would make rotating your tires a pain. Plus that would add another p/n for the M3 for Tesla inventory to have to maintain and keep for replacements. If you were in a wreck and had to replace a rim you'd have to specify which direction. Not worth it.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I've always had directional tires. I have found them to be much better in the rain than the tires on my other car. They are also much quieter.

 

[Cintoman]

Directional would make rotating your tires a pain. Plus that would add another p/n for the M3 for Tesla inventory to have to maintain and keep for replacements. If you were in a wreck and had to replace a rim you'd have to specify which direction. Not worth it.

I agree partly that it's a bit more of a pain, but even if we don't get directional wheels, many tires are now directional, which eliminates the ability to rotate left tires onto the right side. And if I recall, the Model 3's front and rear tires are staggered width, which then prevents us from rotating them front to back.

So even if we don't get directional wheels, if the tires are directional and the width are staggered, we still won't be able to rotate our tires.

This is the case my current car... an '05 Mercedes C230 Kompressor sport sedan....staggered width and directional tires.

--Cintoman

 

[Zaphod]

The black car you mention is most definitely a CG picture. I can't think of any manufacturer that has available directional wheels. Maybe on high-end custom built cars, but on mainstream production cars, from a cost point of view as well as inventory and other manufacturing reasons, it is not going to happen.

Yes, from an aerodynamic point of view, directional wheels would have some benefit, but I would think the difference would negligible at best. For purely aero reasons, it would be best to have wheels similar to the original aero wheels that were available on the Model S.

 

[Zaphod]

And if I recall, the Model 3's front and rear tires are staggered width, which then prevents us from rotating them front to back.
--Cintoman

The staggered wheels/tires most likely will be on the performance version only. I think it would be a safe bet that non-performance versions would have same size at all locations.

 

[Cintoman]

The staggered wheels/tires most likely will be on the performance version only. I think it would be a safe bet that non-performance versions would have same size at all locations.

I'd be willing to say that as well...non-Performance version would have all the same wheel/tire size. Again, I'm thinking along the lines of Mercedes, where the luxury versions have non-staggered wheels whereas the performance (AMG/Sport) have staggered ones.

Interesting to note, but my 93 Ford Probe GT that came standard with 16" 5-spoke GT wheels were directional wheels. I never realized this until I had to get a new wheel thanks to a pothole cracking an existing wheel. So I ordered a new used one, and the place asked if it was a left or a right one. Told them it was a right one (since it was on the right side). Months later, as I'm walking towards my car, I noticed something different between the front and rear right side wheels. And sure enough, thanks to the previous owner rotating the tires from the left to the right side, the wheels on the right side were actually left ones, and the left side were right ones. So I ordered a wrong wheel. I now had 3 right wheels and 1 left wheel. Thankfully the bone yard exchanged it for me.

That was my first experience in even realizing there was such a thing as directional wheels. And now, my OCD picks them out all the time when I'm looking at cars.

--Cintoman

 

[strykeroz]

Interesting to note, but my 93 Ford Probe GT that came standard with 16" 5-spoke GT wheels were directional wheels.

My 1989 Honda Civic also had directional wheels. They were optional, but factory. The set I got was delivered with 3 lefts and a right, so I ended up having a directional alloy for my spare too once the replacement was ordered!

 

[Craig-Tx]

... so I ended up having a directional alloy for my spare too once the replacement was ordered!

I can see the OCD in me going nuts. Stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire on the right side of my car, and I only have a left spare tire.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I can see the OCD in me going nuts. Stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire on the right side of my car, and I only have a left spare tire.

In an emergency? I'm putting on whatever fits. I'm not going to sit on the side of a road if I have ANYTHING that fits on the lugs.

 

[Craig-Tx]

In an emergency? I'm putting on whatever fits. I'm not going to sit on the side of a road if I have ANYTHING that fits on the lugs.

Well... obviously I was joking.

 

[Cintoman]

Well... obviously I was joking.

Hahaha....I laugh when I see cars on the road with their donut spare. But hey...whatever works to get you home or to the tire repair shop, works for me...even what this guy did above

--Cintoman

 

[strykeroz]

In 2016 why are punctures even still a thing?

Like cheques, diskettes, VHS tapes, new romantic music and phone banking they should be a memory I might need to awkwardly explain to my kids at some stage...and yet I have to show my eldest how to change a spare.