[Speculation] Production 18" Wheels without Aero Cover

[gambit48]

Best new argument I've seen in a while!

 

[AceSkywalker]

Or you could keep the aero covers on like you're supposed to.

 

[cella]

My 2 cents: The Aero wheels without cover look pretty good, but the gray (with or without covers) doesn't go well with all the available car colors. For that reason I hope Tesla will offer an alternative 18" wheel. It's not so much that I don't want to pay for the sport wheels, but I much prefer to have a litte more rubber that the low aspect ratio tires that come with the 19" ...

 

[Sportstick]

Or you could keep the aero covers on like you're supposed to.

So, how would that work? Blindfold to walk up to the car before taking it off once safely seated and out of view of the wheels?

 

[gambit48]

My 2 cents: The Aero wheels without cover look pretty good, but the gray (with or without covers) doesn't go well with all the available car colors. For that reason I hope Tesla will offer an alternative 18" wheel. It's not so much that I don't want to pay for the sport wheels, but I much prefer to have a litte more rubber that the low aspect ratio tires that come with the 19" ...

What colors does the grey not look good with? The only ones I can think of that I'm not completely sold on are the blue and maybe the red. But I think they still look ok. Looks really good on the white, black, and silvers.

 

[smak]

I'd say blue and silver don't look great with dark wheels in general.

Think they look great with white, red, midnight silver

 

[cella]

What colors does the grey not look good with? The only ones I can think of that I'm not completely sold on are the blue and maybe the red. But I think they still look ok. Looks really good on the white, black, and silvers.

To some extent it's a matter of taste of course (and probably age). I haven't seen a Model 3 in person yet, but based on the pictures I have seen, the dark wheels appear to look good on red, white, and probably silver, but not on the darker colors (that includes the "gray on gray" look with midnight silver, which looks terrible IMO). Not everyone likes the stealth fighter look.

 

[AceSkywalker]

So, how would that work? Blindfold to walk up to the car before taking it off once safely seated and out of view of the wheels?

Force yourself to like/love the aero wheels and enjoy the added range they provide. If it were up to me, we'd all be in autonomous vehicles that 1. Is safe for the passenger and 2. Is as aerodynamic as possible. Do note that I ignored styling or passenger comfort, because that doesn't really matter. What matters is that its safe, and that its efficient.

 

[CarlitoDoc]

Boy, I wish you had a choice to pick "winter" (snow) tires for the 18" wheels. That would make it easier to get a nice set of "summer wheels". I understand this only applies to those of us in northern latitudes though

 

[AceSkywalker]

Boy, I wish you had a choice to pick "winter" (snow) tires for the 18" wheels. That would make it easier to get a nice set of "summer wheels". I understand this only applies to those of us in northern latitudes though

I don't understand why people spend extra money for "snow tires". I got by with all seasons paired with front wheel drive when I used to live in the NorthEast, paired with extremely disciplined driving.

 

[CarlitoDoc]

I don't understand why people spend extra money for "snow tires". I got by with all seasons paired with front wheel drive when I used to live in the NorthEast, paired with extremely disciplined driving.

It's proven that appropriate season tires make a huge difference. Even if you're a "disciplined" driver, most other morons out there are not. We are also talking about a RWD model, so snow tires would be more helpful than a car with Front Wheel drive.

 

[timk225]

I don't understand why people spend extra money for "snow tires". I got by with all seasons paired with front wheel drive when I used to live in the NorthEast, paired with extremely disciplined driving.

Because your average consumer grade idiot thinks that just because their SUV is all wheel drive, that they can go anywhere, do anything, and drive at high speeds on wet, icy roads. I've seen it a lot. On winter roads, there's a time to go fast and a time to slow down, no matter if you have RWD, FWD, or AWD.

I've driven RWD and FWD cars in snowy winters for many years each, and FWD never did anything that proper handling of RWD couldn't do.

 

[Knightshade]

Boy, I wish you had a choice to pick "winter" (snow) tires for the 18" wheels. That would make it easier to get a nice set of "summer wheels". I understand this only applies to those of us in northern latitudes though

and I wish they offered the 18s with high end summer tires- because all seasons suck in all seasons so I kinda hate I'm gonna be paying for tires I'll be taking off the wheels as soon as possible after getting the car.

Who the heck is gonna buy my slightly used all-seasons?

At least if they put decent summers on there I could drive em till they wear out and then put better ones on.

I don't understand why people spend extra money for "snow tires". I got by with all seasons paired with front wheel drive when I used to live in the NorthEast, paired with extremely disciplined driving.

See above.

Comparing the same car in any weather above 40 degrees summer tires beat the hell out of all-seasons... and in weather below 40- especially wet below 40- winter tires beat the hell out of all-seasons.


And I don't just mean things like cornering or acceleration- they stop the car significantly shorter too.

 

[FlyingKiwi]

Force yourself to like/love the aero wheels and enjoy the added range they provide. If it were up to me, we'd all be in autonomous vehicles that 1. Is safe for the passenger and 2. Is as aerodynamic as possible. Do note that I ignored styling or passenger comfort, because that doesn't really matter. What matters is that its safe, and that its efficient.

The extra range is irrelevant 99% of the time. The only time the extra range is going to matter is when that means you can make the next charger or not, or if you can totally eliminate one stop on your route. Other than that it may save you a couple of cents a week in recharging cost.. I'd rather drive a non-ugly car and pay an extra dollar a week.

 

[brucet999]

are 19s that much worse than 18s with regards to road comfort? I still like the way the 19s look though the 18s look better without the covers.

The experiences of MS owners with 21" vs standard 19" wheels were striking. The much lower profile tires (necessary to keep the OD the same) caused a harsh ride (favored by some who associate it with sports cars), much faster tire wear and far more frequent road damage problems to both tires and wheels.

M3 wheel difference is only 1", so the 19" tires are not as low profile as the MS 21", but I think we can predict with certainty that the 18" wheels will deliver a smoother ride, longer life and fewer incidence of road hazard damage than the 19" ones.

 

[xmetal]

I had very wide 19's on my BMW M3 and while they looked great and handled well on the AutoX, generally they didn't do much for me. They were really expensive to replace and potholes were a killer. I'm going to go with the 18's this time and probably will just swap on some sport springs to drop it a inch st some point, but I think they'll work fine for my day to day family usage.

 

[brucet999]

I'm not 100% sure those are aero wheels minus the covers. The spokes don't have the same contours as the spokes partially shown on covered aero wheel close-ups I've seen. I hope I'm wrong.

Look closely at the side-by-side pictures in the Elektrek article. The aero covers do not show any part of the underlying wheels.
The wheel itself "steps up" from the rim to the inner edge of the spoked wheel, but the aero is just a smooth curve from rim to inner edge. Note too that the valve stems are fully exposed on the spoked wheels but 80% hidden by the aeros.

Note that the valve stems on the bare wheels are off center between the spokes, but centered in the air gap of the aeros.

Look closely between each of the "Y" spokes of the exposed wheels and you will see a little tab right at the rim, which would be perfect for the plastic aero covers to snap onto. There is no reason for such an element otherwise.

 

[JonathanD]

I had very wide 19's on my BMW M3 and while they looked great and handled well on the AutoX, generally they didn't do much for me. They were really expensive to replace and potholes were a killer. I'm going to go with the 18's this time and probably will just swap on some sport springs to drop it a inch st some point, but I think they'll work fine for my day to day family usage.

I've owned two M3s and I feel you. Staggered directional tires....the back ones would cost $400+ each, you couldn't rotate them, and they'd be shot in under 15k miles.

 

[SageBrush]

I don't understand why people spend extra money for "snow tires". I got by with all seasons paired with front wheel drive when I used to live in the NorthEast, paired with extremely disciplined driving.

For the same reason some people pay for better brakes.

Crazy, right ?

 

[scottm]

Sage.. don't waste breath there's no chance of winning that one.

I've come to realize I just can't convince people who don't need snow tires that I do.

WE know they're a requirement in our climates. I've got RWD... so picked out a snow set of wheels and rubber in the first week of ownership and winter was still miles away.