Model S winter wheels and tyres

[LukeT]

For those of you that swap between summers and winters, what have you bought in the way of both wheels and tyres?

I've got the standard 19" wheels and tyres as it came at the moment. On my previous car I had winter wheels for a quick swap between seasons. I like this - I think it makes a worthwhile difference in grip and long term doesn't increase tyre cost, but those winter wheels cost buttons.

However the Tesla wheels cost a fair chunk. Anyone gone aftermarket with wheels that still look (and function) like they're meant to be there? I think they don't have to mimic the factory wheels but they shouldn't be obviously aftermarket.

 

[pgkevet]

...

However the Tesla wheels cost a fair chunk. Anyone gone aftermarket with wheels that still look (and function) like they're meant to be there? I think they don't have to mimic the factory wheels but they shouldn't be obviously aftermarket.

It's on my thinking about it list - looks like there's lots of choice too.

 

[LukeT]

It's on my thinking about it list - looks like there's lots of choice too.

Maybe too much choice. Not sure I know where to start...

Does anyone have some recommendations of suitable ones to go for or experience as to what is or isn't suitable? Amongst other things I'm conscious it's a very heavy car.

 

[volts]

I was just going to buy the Tesla option (for model 3), they cost £1800 for a set and come with tyre bags. I'm a skier and so drive in wintery conditions all the time. It's a bit expensive but I don't know where to start to get decent aftermarket wheels either.

 

[MrBadger]

@volts UK centric link please

 

[pgkevet]

Maybe too much choice. Not sure I know where to start...

Does anyone have some recommendations of suitable ones to go for or experience as to what is or isn't suitable? Amongst other things I'm conscious it's a very heavy car.

I was thinking I'd drop by the village garage sometime and have a chat. They fixed a flat for my S last year foc (they service my ICE) and even if they can't match on price with direct off the web they'd be happy to do the job of lifting and swapping wheels which saves buying a torque wrench and doing one corner at a time. I need to go se them anyway cos theyve forgotten to charge me for my ICE's service, mot and 2 new disc rotors and it's been 3 mths

 

[pjuk]

I’m keen to know about this too. Already booked to drive down to the Alps next year and will need a set of tyres for the MX. Also happy to just go with tyres alone but as I understand the wheels are different sizes front and back.

 

[Fly.guy]

Having lived in countries that require winter tyres for many years we are very familiar with, and appreciative of, the extra security and traction provided by a decent set of winter tyres.

Given that we live in the Peak District where it’s been known to snow, and given that we intend keeping our Model S for the long term we bought a set of 19’ rims and winter tyres from Tesla when we got the car. The local tyre shop swap them over for me twice a year for a few pounds and I keep the spare set in a rack I built out of slotted angle iron in the garage.

It’s not the budget option, but pretty much guarantees our mobility in all but the worst conditions...

 

[WannabeOwner]

Given that we live in the Peak District where it’s been known to snow...

Doesn't snow much here, and flat as a pancake , but we have had Winter Tyres on all the family's cars since the first time I used Winter Tyres to go up an alpine road snow-packed top to bottom. Made far better headway than the people with chains, and I find they perform far better in cold & wet, let alone when i turn off the main road onto an ungritted side road ... that used to catch me out, back in the Old Days.

 

[Avendit]

Looking at a decent brand of after market alloys + tires you are very quickly up at something pretty near the Tesla prices. So unless you want to vary the look it might be easier just to get the tesla pack? You could go cheap, but that's going to look cheap and they probably just won't last that well.

I've had winter tyres for my current ICE for years. Well worth it overall, but I just got the tires and paid ~£60 at the start and end of winter to get them swapped onto the alloys on the car. Its definitely not ideal, adds wear and tear and I suspect has led to the slow leak in one of them. Also, over the years I could have paid for some alloys by now.

If you could find the sizing, it might be possible to pick up some rims second hand? A petrolhead friend recommended this for my current car as it has the same specs as a golf, so loads of options out there for it, not sure for a model S or 3 tho. Anyway, none look as good as the slightly customised OEM ones I had made when I bought it, and I didn't want the car looking worse all winter ever year.

 

[arg]

This is what I bought last autumn:

Wheels (19" 'turbine' style): 4 @ £220.83 = £883.32 + VAT = £1059.86
TPMS (old type) 4 @ £54.17 = £216.68 + VAT = £260.01
Wheel centre caps 4 @ £10.83 = £43.32 + VAT = £51.98
Tyres (Nokian WR A4 245/45 R19 102V XL) 4 @ £130.25 = £521.00 + VAT = £625.20
Mount & balance labour (Tesla) £60 + VAT = £72

Grand total £1724.32. + VAT = £2069.18


I bought the wheels from Tesla. My first thought was to buy used Tesla wheels off eBay (where there's a regular supply due to people upgrading their wheels), but since my car is one of the few in the UK old enough to have the old TPMS, new wheels were almost as cheap as buying used and having to swap the TPMS to suit my car. Likewise, third-party wheels didn't seem sufficiently much cheaper to offset the risk. Wheel centre caps are overpriced; not sure if I could have easily swapped the ones from the wheels I was taking off.

Tesla's own offering of winter tyres (Pirelli) didn't seem well reviewed compared to the Nokian, so I bought tyres and wheels separately.

Original plan was to get just the wheels from Tesla, source TPWS off Amazon (several vendors supply compatible ones significantly cheaper), tyres from cheapest online vendor and have a local tyre shop mount/balance. However, various circumstances caused me to first buy the TPMS from Tesla and then end up with Tesla fitting them too - I think the very reasonable labour price above was partly in compensation for various cockups along the way; the rest of the prices I believe are list price (or were at the time).

Note also that it pays to order the tyres ahead of winter - at the time I ordered them this was the cheapest but there were lots of offers at similar price; a couple of months later they had got scarcer and more expensive.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Lots of places to get tyres, but FWIW I've bought several times from this lot and always had good service.

https://www.camskill.co.uk/

 

[LukeT]

This is what I bought last autumn:

Wheels (19" 'turbine' style): 4 @ £220.83 = £883.32 + VAT = £1059.86
TPMS (old type) 4 @ £54.17 = £216.68 + VAT = £260.01
Wheel centre caps 4 @ £10.83 = £43.32 + VAT = £51.98
Tyres (Nokian WR A4 245/45 R19 102V XL) 4 @ £130.25 = £521.00 + VAT = £625.20
Mount & balance labour (Tesla) £60 + VAT = £72

Grand total £1724.32. + VAT = £2069.18


I bought the wheels from Tesla. My first thought was to buy used Tesla wheels off eBay (where there's a regular supply due to people upgrading their wheels), but since my car is one of the few in the UK old enough to have the old TPMS, new wheels were almost as cheap as buying used and having to swap the TPMS to suit my car. Likewise, third-party wheels didn't seem sufficiently much cheaper to offset the risk. Wheel centre caps are overpriced; not sure if I could have easily swapped the ones from the wheels I was taking off.

Tesla's own offering of winter tyres (Pirelli) didn't seem well reviewed compared to the Nokian, so I bought tyres and wheels separately.

Original plan was to get just the wheels from Tesla, source TPWS off Amazon (several vendors supply compatible ones significantly cheaper), tyres from cheapest online vendor and have a local tyre shop mount/balance. However, various circumstances caused me to first buy the TPMS from Tesla and then end up with Tesla fitting them too - I think the very reasonable labour price above was partly in compensation for various cockups along the way; the rest of the prices I believe are list price (or were at the time).

Note also that it pays to order the tyres ahead of winter - at the time I ordered them this was the cheapest but there were lots of offers at similar price; a couple of months later they had got scarcer and more expensive.

Did you buy this whole package from tesla? It would be ideal for me I think. I had the same tyres on previous car and I think they were the best winters I've had.

 

[james_power]

I have a very rare set of 4 Tesla Model S 19" Grey Turbine Wheels with Winter Pirelli Sottozero + fitted alloy gators + brand new fitted (but not yet used) TPMS (latest spec) sensors, see part no below, that I'm selling if anyone is interested (sold my model S and now have a model 3, so no need for winter wheels for model S anymore). Been used for 2 trips to the alps, plenty of tread on tyres, no scratches, very good condition.

They are rare, because Tesla only made a handful of them in grey. The line items from the invoices are:

WHEEL - 19x8.0J ET40 TURBINE GREY (1024183-01-A)
WHEEL ORNAMENTATION CENTER CAP - GREY (6005879-01-A)
TPMS, WHEEL SENSOR, BLACK, 433 MHz (1074812-00-B)
Tire - Snow - 245/45/19 - Pirelli 240 Sottozero (1013809-01-A)



They also have lug nut covers in matching grey for all 20 bolts

If anyone is interested, pm me.

 

[Jonslatt]

Auto socks are a good alternative for the final mile solution along uncleared roads. Have used them very successfully in the winter for a number of years.
Just bought a set of four for my M3P+ - £65 for the set ( 4 x Autosocks 685 ).

 

[arg]

Did you buy this whole package from tesla? It would be ideal for me I think. I had the same tyres on previous car and I think they were the best winters I've had.

Everything but the tyres. Tesla only sell the Pirelli Sottozero as a winter tyre (and if you want that you may as well get @james_power 's ones above).

If you want the Nokians, you have to get the tyres separately, and if you are doing that you might as well get the TPMS separately as well and save a few quid.

The only reason I didn't do that was that just as I was ordering this stuff a TPMS fault popped up on the car - and if the fault had been at the car end they might have swapped it for the new type TPMS, leaving me with a set of the wrong sort. So I agreed to buy the TPMS from Tesla and booked a service appointment to get the fault fixed and pick up the wheels at the same time. In the end, the fault was just one of the existing wheel sensors. Then they said they couldn't fit the wheels in the back of the car (I'd brought the tyres along just-in-case) as they were in huge boxes. I suggested taking them out of the boxes, but they seemed to think it was easier to just mount the tyres on the wheels. Then they could only find 3 sensors (having evidently used one of the 4 I ordered for the repair) and they suggested sending the 4th wheel/tyre when it turned up. Then they found they did have one after all. So I ended up having the whole job done by Tesla with just the tyres that I'd bought online and brought with me, and I went home with the new wheels on the car. Downside was 4 hours sitting in Milton Keynes service centre while this pantomime went on.

 

[WannabeOwner]

............................ Then they found they did have one after all

You making this up?

... thought not!