0 - Being careful to ask and understand from someone like yourself.
1 - Powdercoating only last for a certain time? 2 years? A wheel that comes in black would save that reoccurring expense and repeat visits is my thought.
2 - .1 to .2 won't be that noticeable I don't think in day to day situations. Giving up durability and range is a bummer.
3 - Understand and makes sense.
4 - Essentially, I shouldn't have gone with the 5K Performance Upgrade Package per my desired requirements. All I got was some rice out of the deal.
So then it sounds like my best option at this point is to find a good 19" setup? Also assuming the aero cover setup is only for the 18 wheels?
Thanks again.
1 - Powdercoating will last longer than 1-2 years certainly, but you get what you pay for. The best powder coating is a baked on finish that is extremely hard and durable, its what the factory puts on wheels from manufacture, sometimes with an additional clearcoat. A finish like this will be very durable as long as you don't curb it, and keep it washed.
Painted wheels are much less durable, as paint is a much thinner and cheaper option.
All aluminum is naturally silver/grey, so every wheel you have seen is either painted, clearcoated or powder coated. Factory grey turbine wheels are a good example of this.
2 - The place you will most notice difference in hard vs sticky tires is on braking and turning. Due to traction control and abs you might not notice that you are approaching the limit of the tire, but if you compare stopping distances, or skid pad numbers then you would be able to see the difference even if you might not feel them. like was mentioned above the best of both worlds is just to get both worlds. An 18" aero set with 500 Treadwear tires inflated to 42-45 psi for daily driving and aero covers on, and an 18-19 set of summer high performance or DOT racing rubber for the need for speed. I used to commute in my red vr6 GTI over highway 9 on Yokohama A032 Advan tires, treadwear like 60-80. That was the best commute of my life
but expensive. I remember one of the times I got pulled over, the cop literally said "Son, I drive this race track every day" after eyeing my 4 point harness and well prepped car.
However for most people that's not reasonable, as changing tires often might be a significant amount of work depending on your garage situation. The best bet is a compromise. In California you can basically run summer tires all year and just slow down a bit for the rain. Something like the Pilot 4S at 300 treadwear is an excellent compromise tire that takes the performance as primary, something like the stock Primacy is perfect for long lasting range focused tires with a much lower overall grip.
Finding a good 19" forged performance setup is certainly the compromise that I am taking, I will run a high performance summer tire on them, wider width than stock and the whole assembly will be lighter or very close than stock due to the lightweight rims. Since I get free charging for work, I'll take the range hit for daily driving and not really care. I'll still get that really sporty ride, and increased safety with the better braking and handling. Efficiency wise, It might be as bad in wh/m as a model S, and I'd still feel like I was doing great. We plan on doing a cross country trip to new york next year, so for something like that I will switch back to my stock tires with aero caps on it. That's the same reason I did not get the performance package, as I knew the bigger brakes would not only be heavier, so reducing acceleration, but also be larger than the stock aeros, and I'd like that extra range for yearly multi day trips.
