Has anyone been able to get any information about this? We have an extra set of 20 in wheels and tires that we have for our Sl500. I seem to remember someone saying that Tesla might use the same pattern. I would love to be able to swap back and forth between these and the stock 19's.
I see Tire Rack has the 2013 Tesla Model S as a selectable model in their search engine, but no data or wheels come up yet. Step in the right direction.
Looks like a no go on MB compatibility. http://reviews.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Wheel-bolt-patterns-Mercedes-Benz?ugid=10000000009550010 It looks like BMW may be the winner http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse.com/BMW___Vehicle_Bolt_Pattern_Reference.cfm
So, will any 20" 5x120, 40mm offset wheels work? For instance: Prado Paladine 20 Black Chrome Wheel / Rim 5x120 & with a 40mm Offset and a 72.6 Hub Bore. I'm thinking that with 20" wheels we'd be using 40 Aspect tires - not as agressive at the 35 Aspect for the 21" wheels, but not as ugly as the 45 aspect on the 19" wheels. Thoughts?
The wheel will need to have the correct centre-bore (which I don't know the dimensions of, but it appears wheels that fit BMW should work--meaning no one has actually tried it). On some cars the wheels are centered around the centre bore so getting the exact size is important. On other cars it's the bolt circle that the wheel is centered around so the centre bore just needs to be large enough to go over the hub. I don't know which of these the Model S uses. Also some wheels use a square nut and some use a chamfered nut. The pictures of the wheels look like they are chamfered (as are most wheels so that shouldn't be a problem).
I believe the term you are looking for is "hub-centric" vs "lug-centric" wheels. Everything else you stated is spot on!
Usually people don't understand hub-centric and lug-centric (not this forum's members) so I end up explaining what the terms mean anyway:smile: Call it force-of-habit.
I too am considering going with 20" wheels (prob 245/40ZR20). Any idea when the speedometer needs to be recalibrated if there is a substantial difference in revs per mile (+/- 20 or so?) with the new tires? Looks like we've got the aftermarket rim specs figured out...
Just divide the RPM of the candidate tire by the RPM of the OE tire and come up with a percentage. It shouldn't be more than 2% higher or 5% lower.
tire size I found a tire size comparion at discounttire.com where you can put in your sizes here are the specs for the tesla OEM tires [td align="left"] [/td] [td align="left"]245/45 R-19[/td] [td align="left"]245/35 R-21[/td] [td align="left"]Sidewall Height:[/td] [td align="right"]4.34[/td] [td align="right"]3.38[/td] [td align="left"]Section Width[/td] [td align="right"]9.65[/td] [td align="right"]9.65[/td] [td align="left"]Overal Diameter[/td] [td align="right"]27.68[/td] [td align="right"]27.75[/td] [td align="left"]Circumference[/td] [td align="right"]86.96[/td] [td align="right"]87.19[/td] [td align="Left"]Revs per Mile[/td] [td align="right"]278.59[/td] [td align="right"]726.73[/td]
[td align="left"] [/td] [td align="left"]245/45 R-19[/td] [td align="left"]245/35 R-21[/td] [td align="left"]Sidewall Height:[/td] [td align="right"]4.34[/td] [td align="right"]3.38[/td] [td align="left"]Section Width[/td] [td align="right"]9.65[/td] [td align="right"]9.65[/td] [td align="left"]Overal Diameter[/td] [td align="right"]27.68[/td] [td align="right"]27.75[/td] [td align="left"]Circumference[/td] [td align="right"]86.96[/td] [td align="right"]87.19[/td] [td align="Left"]Revs per Mile[/td] [td align="right"]278.59[/td] [td align="right"]726.73[/td] - - - Updated - - - Sorry I tried to put in in a nice table format. It didn't work... Here it is again with no table. 245/45 R-19 245/35 R-21 Sidewall Height: 4.34 3.38 Section Width: 9.65 9.65 Overal Diameter: 27.68 27.75 Circumference: 86.96 87.19 Revs per Mile: 278.59 726.73
So would the wheels that were shown previously work? Also, TireRack has a number of tire options as a former post noted. My main question is: are the available replacement tires low-rolling resistant tires? I would think that the OEM tires are LRR in order to increase range. Thoughts?
Tesla chose performance tire sizes that have almost no LRR tires. The only one I've found so far is the winter tire Nokian Hakkapeliitta R: "The new Hakkapeliitta R has the lowest rolling resistance of any tire in Nokian Tyres product line." Why Tesla didn't design the Model S so that it could have sensibly sized tires/wheels where LRR is common--only as an option for those that want it--is beyond me.