Wheel Tire Combination To Improve Efficiency

[Pacernow]

All,
Have a 21 MYLR with 32K miles on the odometer. 90% of my driving is highway. Live in East Texas and make multiple trips to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area during the week. Drive on several types of surfaces. The wh/mi is 284 at 32K miles. Currently have the OEM 255 45 R19s Continentals with the Gemini wheels on the MY. I have not used the Aero wheel covers. I have the tires rotated every 6000 miles and have the tire PSI at 45 lbs. Has anybody found a tire wheel combination that will improve the efficiency of this MY. Thank in advance.

 

[GtiMart]

Wheel covers have been measured to be worth 3-4% efficiency on a model 3 (highway). I would guess similar on your model Y. That's an easy, free gain if you put them back since you do a lot of highway.

I don't think you can go lower than the 19" but maybe you can get lighter weight wheels. Finally, lower rolling resistance tires should help, like EV-specific tires, if you can find any. As with anything this is a trade-off. Those tires might provide less grip...

 

[jcanoe]

The Gemini wheel covers would provide an additional 4% efficiency for highway driving. Reducing highway speed by 5 MPH would result in an additional 9% efficiency, a 10 MPH speed reduction would net you almost 20% improvement in efficiency. No wheel or tire change is going to improve things significantly over the stock 19" Gemini wheels and the Continental Procontact RX LRR tires.

Plan you trips to leave in the very early A.M. hours so you don't need to use the AC.

Avoid these things if you want to maximize efficiency:

Roof cargo container
Tow hitch with bicycle rack or cargo carrier
Towing any type of trailer
Driving on the highway in excess of 70 MPH

 

[whisperingshad]

I went from that setup with Aero to Aftermarket lighter rims and kept the same

 

[TheLex]

So the best way to gain efficiency is to drive like a granny and suffer without air conditioning. Wonderful.

 

[whisperingshad]

So the best way to gain efficiency is to drive like a granny and suffer without air conditioning. Wonderful.

lighter rims help, and if they have aero covers

 

[GtiMart]

It's unfortunately just physics. You push through air and have friction on the asphalt. You can't change the car's shape so you need to slow down if you want to consume less. Otherwise lesser rolling resistance tires... That's about it.

 

[804son]

So the best way to gain efficiency is to drive like a granny and suffer without air conditioning. Wonderful.

Drive Fast - Charge Often

 

[Pacernow]

All,
Thank you for your suggestions. Lighter rims? Any suggestions? Thanks again for all comments.

 

[whisperingshad]

All,
Thank you for your suggestions. Lighter rims? Any suggestions? Thanks again for all comments.

flow forged is what i went for, a bit cheaper than Martians. Forged are best but 4x price

 

[Pianewman]

flow forged is what i went for, a bit cheaper than Martians. Forged are best but 4x price

...and the gain in efficiency is...???

 

[whisperingshad]

...and the gain in efficiency is...???

in my experience i went from Gemini with Aero to flow forged without Aero and it stayed the same(so about 4% as above people were saying what the Aeros do) Oh and I went with 8.5 wide to protect rims.

 

[Pianewman]

All,
Have a 21 MYLR with 32K miles on the odometer. 90% of my driving is highway. Live in East Texas and make multiple trips to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area during the week. Drive on several types of surfaces. The wh/mi is 284 at 32K miles. Currently have the OEM 255 45 R19s Continentals with the Gemini wheels on the MY. I have not used the Aero wheel covers. I have the tires rotated every 6000 miles and have the tire PSI at 45 lbs. Has anybody found a tire wheel combination that will improve the efficiency of this MY. Thank in advance.

Very weird. Your situation is identical to mine, except my Wh/mi was 286, after 31k miles. Psi always 43-45cold.

I asked all the same questions. Went with Michelin CrossClimate2, OEM size. Noisy on TX exposed aggregate roads. Swapped them for Michelin Pilot Sport A/S4. Much quieter, less harsh than the harder rubber on the LRR ProContact OEM tires. I like them a lot...except...

Efficiency? Now have 1400 miles (all in 95-100f temps), can't get it below 310Wh/mi, although I have been doing a lot of city driving, short trips, which kills mileage.

Taking a road trip to Fort Worth/Denver in 10 days, possibly cooler temps. I'll have a chance to evaluate efficiency.

 

[Pacernow]

All,
Thank you for the additional information.

 

[TomServo]

I opted to buy some 18" tires/wheels with 245/50-ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires from TSportLine. 15 pounds lighter and less cross-width to push through the air:

They get mounted on the 27th. We just returned from a 2K road trip. Data below.

I'll do some performance testing with my DRAGY and then monitor efficiency. But my main reason to replace the 21s with the 18s was POTHOLES and CURB damage. IL roads suck, our potholes have zip codes. And my wife is 5' and has a hard time seeing where the car is as compared to curbs etc. I have spent "hundreds of dollars" repairing wheels. She kind of insisted I do this. Plus I didn't see much POSITIVE benefits to the OEM 21s on a DD in a climate with bad roads and FOUR seasons aside from looks.

More to follow

 

[Pacernow]

All,
Flow forged wheels? Brand or model? Excuse my stupidity. Aware of the Martian wheels, but there customer service is a concern. Thanks in advance.

 

[whisperingshad]

All,
Flow forged wheels? Brand or model? Excuse my stupidity. Aware of the Martian wheels, but there customer service is a concern. Thanks in advance.

Avante Garde for mine from vendor on here

 

[Kare]

I opted to buy some 18" tires/wheels with 245/50-ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires from TSportLine. 15 pounds lighter and less cross-width to push through the air:

They get mounted on the 27th. We just returned from a 2K road trip. Data below.

I'll do some performance testing with my DRAGY and then monitor efficiency. But my main reason to replace the 21s with the 18s was POTHOLES and CURB damage. IL roads suck, our potholes have zip codes. And my wife is 5' and has a hard time seeing where the car is as compared to curbs etc. I have spent "hundreds of dollars" repairing wheels. She kind of insisted I do this. Plus I didn't see much POSITIVE benefits to the OEM 21s on a DD in a climate with bad roads and FOUR seasons aside from looks.

More to follow

I don't understand... 21 would have less damage from pothole than 18?
I've already had two flat tires in 18 months and I'd really like to get a tire that is a little sturdier.
BTW, as I was sitting in the Tesla waiting area the two people waiting with me had both had flat tires in the past year; although they weren't there for tire issues. Before the Tesla, the last flat tire I got was in 1995.

 

[804son]

I don't understand... 21 would have less damage from pothole than 18?
I've already had two flat tires in 18 months and I'd really like to get a tire that is a little sturdier.
BTW, as I was sitting in the Tesla waiting area the two people waiting with me had both had flat tires in the past year; although they weren't there for tire issues. Before the Tesla, the last flat tire I got was in 1995.

The 18" tire/wheel combination has a higher profile tire, which will absorb the effect of hitting potholes better. Thus less likely to get a damaged wheel and/or tire. Tesla's all have fairly low profile tires, however the 21" Model Y Performance tires are 35 series, which are very low profile. Same with the Performance Model 3.

 

[TomServo]

The 18" tire/wheel combination has a higher profile tire, which will absorb the effect of hitting potholes better. Thus less likely to get a damaged wheel and/or tire. Tesla's all have fairly low profile tires, however the 21" Model Y Performance tires are 35 series, which are very low profile. Same with the Performance Model 3.

Aside from looks what are the benefits of these low-profile tires on street cars driven as daily drivers? I never liked the look so I'm not giving any benefit.