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Weight of 19" Wheels and Tires

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They look awesome NrCooled. I'm going to order a black set for my Model S. :)

For the price for a set plus the "potential" added benefit of better range and performance it's an absolute bargain.

We just got hit in Northern VA with an ice storm so the Model S will continue to collect dust in the garage. Since I've put the wheels on the weather has gone to complete crap and is ruining my ability to get more data points for performance/range differences. As soon as the weather improves I will get the car back on the road to collect more data to post up here.
 
Interesting first impressions of the wheels:

I took the car out to run some errands today. Normal driving and no flooring it all done on surface streets. I traveled a total of 11.5 miles in 39 deg F weather. The car used 2.7 kWh of energy to do this trip.

What was interesting is that the rated miles for the car started at 230 miles then when I got home I had 223 miles of rated range left. Can the wheels have THAT big of an impact?

I will keep updating this thread with my observations.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

I am still seeing some interesting results from my little experiment:

Starting:

721.9 miles traveled
267.1 kWh used
370 Wh/mi average

Update 1:

76.6 miles traveled
26.5 kWh used
345 Wh/mi

Today when I started out in the morning I had 234 miles rated range indicated on car I am currently at 220 miles rated range after traveling 16.9 miles. So far so good!
 
Starting:

721.9 miles traveled
267.1 kWh used
370 Wh/mi average

Average temp during this period is 47.7 degrees

Update 1 (1/30/13):

76.6 miles traveled
26.5 kWh used
345 Wh/mi

Average temp 45.1

Update 2:

1034.2 miles traveled
374.9 kWh used
362 Wh/mi

The average temp 41 degrees.

Again, there has been no hypermilling or attempts to "conserve" energy during this period with plenty of spirited driving. Using the instant power is just too damn tempting.

I would love to have the wheels a bit more flush but she will do for now. I will probably be changing out the wheels in the summer for something a little different.
20130218142837.jpg


- - - Updated - - -

@nrcooled. Anymore updates, or is VA weather still gettin in the way? Also, did you consider any other wheels?

I considered a lot of other wheels including the Advan T5, HRE P40SC, and Vossen VVS CV2. Ultimately, it came down to weight, price, availability, and what the wife would allow.

I'm also interested in further updates
also can spacers be put on?
Wider stance would look awesome

Given the stud length I think you could add a 5-7mm spacer but above that you would be pushing it with the amount of thread left to secure the wheel. I considered going wider and staggering the fitment. Something like a 10" wide wheel in the rear and 9" wide in the front with a concave face. It would fit with no problem but weight became a factor. I would have been adding a good deal of weight between the wider wheels and bigger tires to accommodate the look. Since I am an EV newbie I decided to go with a very conservative fitment to prevent serious impacts to the range of the car. Not to mention that flush wheels are not very areodynamic.

I am a bit of a wheel fitment snob and I love the look of "stanced" vehicles. Example:
Stance-Evolution-BMW-F10-5-Series-Wheels-Black-Machined-1.jpg


Not to the extreme of having "poke" (where the lip of the rim is flush with the fender). Example:
6346172853_5e4dc763ed_o.jpg


This is all coupled with the fact that I have the air suspension and you can't keep the car in "low" mode (I hope Tesla eventually allows the driver to set and hold a ride height). Flush/stanced wheels at stock suspension height will NOT look good. The car will just look like a monster truck unless it is lowered.
 
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Thank you for the update, glad to see the lighter wheels are making a small difference, as they should.


Right now it is small but after looking at the average temps, and all things being equal, I think that they are making a pretty decent difference. Once the weather warms back up to an average of 50ish they will really start to shine. Right now the colder temps are killing the average.

Who am I kidding, I am just ready for spring!