Wiki Model Y 19" vs 20" Decision Guide

[Mayday1]

I also debated btw 19” vs 20”..

My original order was for white/black 19” LR AWD. When I finally decided I wanted Inductions, they increased the price to almost $76K Cdn. I also wanted the tow hitch but it wasn’t worth paying the increased price + upgrades.

I was supposed to take delivery end of June but rejected delivery. That turned out to be a great decision as they decreased the price by $6K (around $3K for me).

With the new pricing, I placed a new order for black/black w/Inductions + tow hitch (promptly spent the savings on upgrades lol).

Changed to black ext since I haven’t read many (serious) complaints compared to the other colours (mainly white). Plus black ext + Inductions look amazing ) Actually Inductions look great with any colour!

 

[Watts_Up]

=== LOOK ===

Who are we kidding. The only reason I did all that research is because the 20" Inductions are just so dang sexy.

Yes, the way to go! No hesitation for me too.

 

[everydaychris]

lol. the dreaded question... I have been debating this for months.

Not only are the 19" free, the wife wants to invest that 2k on the induction wheels into something else. haha

Also, it gives you some room to feel the car out and won't be that bad if you curb the wheels. You can also upgrade to 20" later through T sportline which has some sweet wheels.

And you can sell your gemin's later.

But, I didn't want to go through the hassle and also I loved the way the inductions looked so I switched it and convinced the wife haha

 

[steve841]

20" .. just placed my order.

Curb rash .. yeah, you better be careful. I've had 2 MS's and only one incident of curb rash and it was a $200 fix because I couldn't stand to look at it less than perfect.

19's ... just makes me think of a rental car with hub caps. Just not my taste.

 

[theganjaguru]

So, 19" is better in every way than 20" (cost, comfort, range, performance, safety, etc.), except 20" looks sexier... Trophy wife/husband? ;D

I ordered mY with 20" as well, knowing all the trade-offs and experience with having to replace low-profile wheels (NJ foxholes).

But I changed my order from 20" to 19" after watching this:

You’re looking at less than half an inch between the sidewall height for the Gemini vs inductions. This may be more true if you were comparing Gemini to the Uberturbine

 

[jf64k]

I was going back and forth as well...what finally got me to decide on the 19" was ride quality. I test drove both 19" and 20" and I could tell the difference easily. The 20" ride wasn't terrible, but it was more firm than I like. But man-o-man are those Inductions sexy, haha!! I'll be powder-coating my Gemini's satin black as a consolation prize.

And when Tesla released the towing capacity for the different sized tires, I was very glad I went with 19".

 

[iamnid]

I have been going through the same machinations. I like the look of the 20" turbines but I like the sidewall and ride of the 19". There's been lots of discussion here about getting aftermarket 20" wheels as an alternative. Honestly, the only thing I like about the 20" turbines is the look -- I'd buy them as 19" wheels if they were offered.

I think I'm going to go with some t-sportline 19" wheels, which has yet to be discussed in this thread so far. That way you get the good looks of those wheels (subjective) AND 19" sidewall and comfort. The only hassle is the selling of the Geminis but, at even a very modest price, it will offset the cost of the t-sportlines vs. 20" turbines.

 

[MrTemple]

And when Tesla released the towing capacity for the different sized tires, I was very glad I went with 19".

Thankfully that was just a typo! All Model Y wheels have the same towing capacity (which makes much more sense).

 

[jf64k]

Thankfully that was just a typo! All Model Y wheels have the same towing capacity (which makes much more sense).

View attachment 569901

Interesting!! Is that confirmed as a typo? That ^ chart is from the latest Owner's Manual.

Curious if the Tesla Shop is right, or the OM?

 

[BreatheEasier]

Honestly, I think the 19" will ride significantly smoother and more quiet with better tires. Many times I've had factory Continentals on German cars and replaced them with Vredesteins or Michelins and the ride and noise improved dramatically. As soon as Vredesteins are available for 19" I'll be swapping out these low-budget Continentals. Vredesteins snows are the only ones on Tirerack at this point for the MY 19".

 

[macanjr]

My wife and I picked up the new mY 2 weeks ago. During wife's inaugural 15 minute drive home (with me driving behind her), unfamiliarity with regen braking caused her to full-on jump the curb while making a right turn. I pat myself on the back for the 19" choice.

 

[CYBER_Y]

I love the look of the 20s but since I live in an area that is snow several months out of the year I went with 19s. But I’d love to get some 20s and use them on the 4th of July.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Hey folks this has been an informative thread! From the original post, it seems that the 20" induction wheels come with M+S "four season" tires while the 19" are only "all season" (aka 3 seasons, without M+S). Is that correct?

When my partner and I did a test drive a few weeks ago, the sales rep told us the car comes with M+S tires, but maybe he neglected to mention "only if you upgrade to the induction wheels"? We live in the greater Vancouver area, and while we don't get a ton of snow (most winters), we do get some, and would definitely prefer M+S. But even the 19" gemini unit we drove was quite rough on anything but perfect pavement, so I'm not sure it's worth the trade-off.

This really is a tough decision isn't it. To be honest, I'm not even a fan of dark rims. If the inductions were available in a traditional silver finish or brushed or polished silver, I'd probably be all over them. I do like the style a lot, but the colour is a bit dark for me. But the more I see it the more it's growing on me. Ugh!

 

[MY-Y]

Hey folks this has been an informative thread! From the original post, it seems that the 20" induction wheels come with M+S "four season" tires while the 19" are only "all season" (aka 3 seasons, without M+S). Is that correct?

...

The OEM 19" tires are M&S rated. I like my 19s.

 

[Ghanziang]

The Continental pro-contact I have had on my previous cars (Mercedes S500, BMW X5) sucked in the snow. They may be rated it for it, but be very careful those first few snow covered road days.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

@MY-Y thanks for confirming, that's great to know! @Ghanziang thanks for the feedback on real-world performance.

I'm thinking the Gemini are still probably my best bet. It sounds like the stock tires on them are likely to wear quickly, so we can pick up something better when we replace them. But still thinking....

 

[gavine]

I think I'm going to go with some t-sportline 19" wheels, which has yet to be discussed in this thread so far. That way you get the good looks of those wheels (subjective) AND 19" sidewall and comfort. The only hassle is the selling of the Geminis but, at even a very modest price, it will offset the cost of the t-sportlines vs. 20" turbines.

With this scenario, you can even keep the OEM tires and just sell the wheels, so your cost is just the new wheels minus whatever you get for the Geminis.

 

[Mightybhwk]

I too spent many of an hour debating on which one to go with. I do like the look of black rims and I know a guy who can powder coat the 19"s for $50 each so I thought of getting the Gemini's and using them for the first year then go and buy a quality tire to swap. So maybe around $1300 on new tires and $200 on powder coating plus wheel caps. Roughly $500 cheaper. Why I chose the inductions was first, the fact that they did get better scores on tirerack (earlier in the post) especially in the snow category. Owning mostly rear wheel cars I know the value of having a decent set of tires. Being AWD is going to help also. Second, laziness. My current car I plastic dipped the rims and honestly they came out great and lasted a long time. I watch a video of a guy doing it to his Tesla and thought I just do that again. But after contemplating I decided that I want to spend my time enjoying the car not worrying about how the continentals are going to perform in the elements or how I'm going to get the rims black like I wanted. So instead of getting red I spent to 2K on tires and got white.

 

[MrTemple]

@MY-Y thanks for confirming, that's great to know! @Ghanziang thanks for the feedback on real-world performance.

I'm thinking the Gemini are still probably my best bet. It sounds like the stock tires on them are likely to wear quickly, so we can pick up something better when we replace them. But still thinking....

TireRack lists the Continentals on the 19" wheels to be generally a worse tire (especially in Snow) than the Goodyears on the 20" wheels.

Neither of these are particularly good on the wet garbage snow we get here (I moved recently to Victoria from Vancouver).

Though the 'Star Trek' quality traction control will help quite a bit when accelerating and cornering on snow, it's stopping where dedicated snow tires shine.

If you can't afford the cost (and storage) of running dedicated winter tires, then you're probably better off getting the best All-Season you can. Of the OEM options, that's the 20" Wheels with the Goodyears.

Even then, the best tire in Vancouver snow is the one that sits in your parking spot! I learned to drive in the snow outside the Lower Mainland, and the crap we get here is just impossible to drive on (even dedicated snow tires aren't great in it). And that's not even counting the chowderheads who think having an SUV with AWD (which is usually phoney AWD) means they can still go 80kph through snotty wet snow.

I drove with Continental DWS (excellent All-Seasons) for 10 years in vancouver with a FWD car. It's fully do-able.

One bonus you'll notice with the Goodyears on the 20" wheels is the wet performance. They're not quite as good as my beloved DWS, but having a tire that cuts through puddles and streams of rain down the highway is SOOOOOO nice. Huge safety benefit in Vancouver.

 

[angus[Y]oung]

Thanks @Rockchurch, very helpful indeed.