FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
Take a look at this thread http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/41776-self-made-aero-wheels
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robatbeach
Member
Falcon wing - that's what I get for replying too fast. I definitely see that as part of the basic style of the Model X.
Regarding the Roadster, I don't claim to be the expert, but a recent fastcompany article had the following quotes which are interesting (although there are lots of articles with incomplete and incorrect information out there):
"The cost of the original Roadster wound up totaling nearly $200,000, causing Musk to fire Eberhard, the company’s first CEO. "Everything in that business plan was wrong," Musk says."
"Last year, at a conference, Musk suggested that key decisions regarding the Tesla Roadster had been "dumb" and that the company had erred by not designing the first version of its electric car from scratch. "It’s like if you have a particular house in mind and instead of buying that house, you buy some other house and chop down everything except one wall in the basement," he said."
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
Tesla didn't officially promise 0.2 Cd. This is just a rumor. On the other hand, Elon promised the car would not be a weird-mobile and would not be too ambitious in order to be released on time. So I think the former would be fine, but the latter is not.
Skotty
2014 S P85 | 2023 F-150L
The problem of the difficulty of changing a tire has been generally fixed in the automotive industry by not including spare tires. That's probably not the intent, but it's what is generally happening, so the argument over tire change difficulty seems moot.
As for wheel covers, the problem for anyone of any modestly mature age is that we remember hub caps. They were flimsy cheap crap fitted to flimsy cheap cars that attached by smashing them against the wheel with something hard and removed by taking a large bar and prying it off Neanderthal-style. It's going to be really hard to shake that association. In the end, older people will die off and the stereotype will fade away like many other generational stereotypes, but it will be really hard to change people's opinions before then.
I do think the v 2.0 caps displayed could grow on me despite my generational bias against hub caps, though the pizza pan v 1.0 never had a chance. Nice job on the v 2.0.
As for wheel covers, the problem for anyone of any modestly mature age is that we remember hub caps. They were flimsy cheap crap fitted to flimsy cheap cars that attached by smashing them against the wheel with something hard and removed by taking a large bar and prying it off Neanderthal-style. It's going to be really hard to shake that association. In the end, older people will die off and the stereotype will fade away like many other generational stereotypes, but it will be really hard to change people's opinions before then.
I do think the v 2.0 caps displayed could grow on me despite my generational bias against hub caps, though the pizza pan v 1.0 never had a chance. Nice job on the v 2.0.
Olle
Active Member
How about painted wheels on wheel well covers? From afar it would look like traditional open wheel wells :biggrin:
and you could have comfortable high profile tires under there, able to handle every pothole, and the painted ones could be the 21" turbine with supersport OMFG tires
and you could have comfortable high profile tires under there, able to handle every pothole, and the painted ones could be the 21" turbine with supersport OMFG tires
These really aren't that bad looking and I'd be fine with them. After all if I look back I have had as many cars with hubcaps as without. These are just really nice hubcaps.
From the Volkswagen XL1 with a coefficient of drag figure of 0.186.
ratsbew
Active Member
This car looks dated, but to be honest I like the general feel of it. Add stylish LED headlights for accent and work on some of the kinker details and that actually lays the foundation for something pretty sexy.
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I don't believe there is any premium segment vehicle that comes with steel wheels, which is why hubcaps seems inappropriate. Even in economy cars, only the lowest trim levels come with steel wheels (with hubcaps). Alloy wheels are getting more and more common even in the economy segment.
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
mknox
Well-Known Member
My use of the word hubcaps wasn't meant to imply steel wheels. Just an old term from years ago when just about every car had hubcaps.
The point was that IMO the looks of the Volkswagen XL1 wheel cover is better than many of wheel covers talked about or linked to.
It seems to me that Tesla can do a better job than the Aero wheels that were discontinued for the Model S. The XL1 covers is just an example of what might be acceptable.
Of course what we don't know is how much would range would improve with wheel covers and whether the looks/range trade off is worth it.
So if the Model 3 had XL1 type wheel covers and range increased by 10 miles would you buy the option?
stopcrazypp
Well-Known Member
I don't believe the Prius lift-back comes standard with steel wheels. The Leaf did when they introduced the S trim. However, neither vehicle is in the premium segment.
