I see several threads around (mainly) p3d owners downsizing from the stock 20" to a lightweight 18 , 19, or even forged 20 setup. That said, I'm not seeing much direct feedback on how the reduction of unsprung weight changed your opinion on the feel of your 3....
My situation - on my dual motor non perf car, I went from aeros/mxm4 to a heavier 19" setup that weighs 52lb per wheel tire (26lb tire + 26lb rim). Obvious loss of range due to tire patch/offset/weight. However, random sidenote, it does seem that weight is only part of the range equation and the actual wheel design and offset are heavy contributors. Interested in comments on that, but my main thing is the FEEL of a 3 with lighter wheels.
As soon as I first drove my car, I could feel either the slightly increased diameter (245/40), or the "heavy" feel when moving from a stop and changing directions. Maybe the offset is part of this also (+33 vs +40 stock). I love the look of my 19's but I miss the "nimble" or "lighter on its feet" feeling of the aero wheels and am tempted to go for a forged 19, or hell, even put back on my aeros as the aeros are kinda hard to beat for a daily driver (or at the very least, throw on the aeros for science and to see if its a placebo effect). On other cars, when I've gone to lighter wheels, I love the eager, light feeling when coming from a stop light or changing direction.
Just looking for feedback of people who have either gone to heavy wheels, and the change in feel does/does not bother them - or - gone to lightweight wheels who really appreciate the nimble feel and would never go back.
Thanks!
I've had experience with three different sets of aftermarket wheels, all pretty positive but with different strengths and weaknesses:
1) Advanti (23.5 and 24.5 lbs) from Tire Rack but no longer available. Good value in a "rotary forged" wheel (around 300 bucks a wheel) with decent weight reduction (4-5 lbs) relative to stock OEM 20 inch wheels which weigh roughly 28.75 pounds. Good value but appear to be prone to impact defamation or at least more prone than the next two options;
2) Vorsteiner VFF 107's (25/27 lbs in 20x9 and 20x10.5 sizes also rotary or flow formed), but appear to be stronger than the Advanti wheels, and much less prone to deformation but of course they are about 1.5/2 lbs heavier so they should be. I got these on sale, so also excellent value at $400/wheel, normally $600/650. Got these from EVS, a good outfit. If you want to get these I'd wait for their sale because at this price they are roughly the same cost as VS forged - a way better option for the money.
3) VS Forged, in the VS 14 style. IMO, the best option, at only $650/wheel, which frankly is cheap for forged custom-built wheels , but VERY light at 22 lbs in the popular 20X9 size, 23 lbs for the larger 20x10.5. I got these from get your wheels.com. Highly recommended. Jason is a stand-up guy. Super lightweight, super strong, but of course a bit more money. Worth every penny. Plus I could tune offsets to my application which in this case had to do with Racing Brake aftermarket rotors which chew up 5 mm from thicker rotor hats, necessitating front offsets at 40 mm and rear at 50. That's about the most positive offset you can run on the front at 9.5 inch wheel width and still have the wheel and sidewall clear the front suspension knuckle.
Discernible difference relative to Vorsteiner in from dropping 20 lb of unsprung weight, with significantly more compliance over bumps and small impacts. Zero to 60 went from 3.3 to 3.2 on dragy, after dropping roughly 4 to 5 lb a corner relative to the Vorsteiners, which in turn were 4/2 lbs lighter front/rear compared to very heavy OEM. I ran a 7.45 at 95 miles an hour at 1/8 mile drags at Miami Dade on the heavier Vorsteiner staggered setup. Don't have a comparable time on the VS 14 forged but will try to get one and post it, without getting a massive ticket. I also decided to go for minimally staggered namely 9.5 by 20 in front and 10.5 by 20 in rear, allowing me to comfortably Mount 265 / 30 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S in front and a Tesla specific 275 / 30 Tire in the rear. I thought that minimally staggered would still give some appearance advantages without as much potentiation of understeer at the limit. Somewhat concerned about potential range hit from 265 / 30 on the front, particularly given that the front tire is both significantly wider and not Tesla specific. Don't have those on the car yet. - have to wait until I go through the stock 235 / 35 4S front tires.
Overall recommendation:
save your money until you can afford the best namely VS forged or some other forged wheel, preferably one where you can get custom offsets. If you can't swing that kind of cash, go with 19's which will save you some weight and money and give you a bigger sidewall. Car looks fabulous with 20 inch wheels but we all know the trade-offs: increased unsprung weight, increased vulnerability of both the wheel and the tire to impact damage, and significant extra cost for the larger wheel and also for the super low profile tires. That's a lot of trade-offs but of course you get to decide what you're willing to sacrifice in order to get a certain aesthetic. I'm amazed overall at how well the car rides, and the transient response particularly with the coilovers from Mountain Pass, and shocks set pretty firm, is phenomenal. Looking forward to seeing the handling with the 265 / 30 front 4S!
But if you got to have that Ultra low-profile ultra-wide look, the 20-inch setup is pretty sweet.
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