I'm looking to get different wheels for my 19 P3D. That being said I know lighter is technically always better from a performance standpoint but does it make a difference in daily driving? I don't really plan to track the car in any respect. I don't plan on going heavier either but wasn't sure if I should worry about trying to save the weight if it doesn't really matter day to day.
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Wheel weight and daily driving
- Thread starter betit
- Start date
Solution
Subjectively - maybe a little. My forged wheels are ~10 lbs per wheel lighter than OEM Tesla ones.
Objectively - I don't care, since I've stopped doing full throttle runs after the first few months of my 19 TM3P ownership.
Weight is a byproduct of wheel material and design.
Cast aluminum wheels, like OEM 20" ones, are the heaviest, and also the softest. The ones with the thinnest tire sidewall are most exposed to pothole impacts, and I had been repairing an average of 2 summer wheels per season.
Flow / roll-formed wheels are cast into shape, but then spun to apply centrifugal force to more densely pack the aluminum into the cast. BBS is famous for this method. These wheels come out lighter, but are a bit bit more expensive ($250-750 / per wheel).
Forged wheels are the strongest, the lightest, and the most expensive. They are the best, but will run you $750-$1500 / per wheel. There are also CF (carbon fiber) wheel out there, but they are ridiculously expansive, so I will ignore them in this thread.
Stronger material in flow-formed and forged wheels opens up possibilities for thinner / fewer spokes, and thus more interesting and lighter designs.
Long story short, I would strongly recommend stepping up to at least flow-formed, and ideally to forged wheels.
When I went shopping for replacement wheels for my TM3P earlier this summer, there were 3 or 4 forged wheels vendors with Model 3 OEM fitment (hub bore, width, and offset). Only the following 2 had forged wheels in stock:
Tesla Model 3 Wheels - Concave, Forged & Racing Wheels
I ended up ordering a set of Apex VS-5RS Wheels in 19x9.5" ET29. Then put 265/35-19 Michelin S4S tires over them, and the car looks and rides perfect.
Most importantly - there will be zero bent, cracked, or broken wheels from here on out. Worth it for me for that reason alone!
HTH,
a
P.S: On my car:
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Thanks for sharing
Previous more or less made this a stealth performance with the exception of red brakes. They were able to downsize the "summer" setup to use the 19 sports and 18in aeros for winter. I was mainly asking from a ride quality/driving feel perspective. With that much saved weight do you feel a difference?
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@betit When I swapped from the M3P 20x9" Uberturbines (really heavy) to forged 18x8.5" wheels (much lighter)...yeah I could feel the difference right away, even in daily driving. The steering felt lighter, more nimble, almost as if the power steering had been struggling just slightly with the heavy Uberturbines. In the twisties the steering felt similarly more nimble in quick transitions, especially in slalom-like sections.
That was with "max performance" category summer tires on both sets of wheels.
Would I recommend buying smaller lighter wheels *just* for the feel though? Honestly, no. Steering feedback didn't really change, the steering just got easier to turn, that's all.
I *do* recommend downsizing the M3P wheels, for the extra sidewall to protect from bad roads, and also for cheaper tires and better ride quality. Those are the truly worthwhile benefits. The difference in power steering feel is of lesser consequence.
Worth noting, my change from Uberturbines to forged 18x8.5" is about as drastic as it gets for these cars. The change you're considering will NOT be as extreme, because your older 20x8.5" M3P wheels aren't quite as heavy as the Uberturbines, and the 19x9.5" wheels you're considering won't be as light as my 18x8.5". I'm sure you'd still feel some difference from the weight, but not as much.
Oh, and if you like heavy steering, get with the heaviest wheels you can find. Maybe some Uberturbines.
That was with "max performance" category summer tires on both sets of wheels.
Would I recommend buying smaller lighter wheels *just* for the feel though? Honestly, no. Steering feedback didn't really change, the steering just got easier to turn, that's all.
I *do* recommend downsizing the M3P wheels, for the extra sidewall to protect from bad roads, and also for cheaper tires and better ride quality. Those are the truly worthwhile benefits. The difference in power steering feel is of lesser consequence.
Worth noting, my change from Uberturbines to forged 18x8.5" is about as drastic as it gets for these cars. The change you're considering will NOT be as extreme, because your older 20x8.5" M3P wheels aren't quite as heavy as the Uberturbines, and the 19x9.5" wheels you're considering won't be as light as my 18x8.5". I'm sure you'd still feel some difference from the weight, but not as much.
Oh, and if you like heavy steering, get with the heaviest wheels you can find. Maybe some Uberturbines.
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On the ride quality front, that was a pretty meaningful improvement. Personally I was fine with the ride quality when stock, but having the extra sidewall from 245/45R18 certainly smoothed out small bumps and imperfections. No handling downside that I could tell, grip actually got better as mentioned thanks to better tires.
Now to be clear, the car still rode and drove like a Model 3. The extra sidewall didn't change the overall feel of the car, it just smoothed out some of the sharpness. The background business and bounciness of the stock suspension remained, until I swapped for aftermarket coilovers.
Now to be clear, the car still rode and drove like a Model 3. The extra sidewall didn't change the overall feel of the car, it just smoothed out some of the sharpness. The background business and bounciness of the stock suspension remained, until I swapped for aftermarket coilovers.
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I sort of ended up doing the same: have 18x8.5" cheapo wheels for the winter supporting 245/40-18 winter tires, and 19x9.5 summer wheels supporting 265/35-19 Michelin S4S tires.
Yes, I do.
Lighter wheels spin up faster, so throttle response is livelier. I also went with wider (265mm vs. 235mm stock) and taller sidewall tires to overcome NJ Beirut-inspired roads. There is one particular section of the road on the way to work that has a few pot holes that used to produce a "smack-crack" with older wheels, and now only register as a bounce.
My primary objective wasn't ride quality, however. If anything, I find TM3P suspension too soft and too sloppy, and I will upgrade it soon to something more performance inspired (probably either Redwood Öhlins 'Road & Track', or Mountain Pass KW DA Coilovers).
However, there was a noti8ceable difference in ride quality between 255/35-19 tires with 3.65" sidewall vs. OME 235/35-20 with 3.24" sidewall (same PS4S tires on both).
My winter 245/45-18 tires with 4.34" sidewall are downright sloppy. But that is tolerable in the winter, when road traction is suboptimal anyway, and pot holes multiple like rabbits in the spring.
HTH,
a
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Solution
Flow form wheels though only refer to the barrel construction not the spokes. They may start with a better quality casting allowing thinner spokes, but they are not as strong as true forged and machined wheel.Subjectively - maybe a little. My forged wheels are ~10 lbs per wheel lighter than OEM Tesla ones.
Objectively - I don't care, since I've stopped doing full throttle runs after the first few months of my 19 TM3P ownership.
Weight is a byproduct of wheel material and design.
Cast aluminum wheels, like OEM 20" ones, are the heaviest, and also the softest. The ones with the thinnest tire sidewall are most exposed to pothole impacts, and I had been repairing an average of 2 summer wheels per season.
Flow / roll-formed wheels are cast into shape, but then spun to apply centrifugal force to more densely pack the aluminum into the cast. BBS is famous for this method. These wheels come out lighter, but are a bit bit more expensive ($250-750 / per wheel).
Forged wheels are the strongest, the lightest, and the most expensive. They are the best, but will run you $750-$1500 / per wheel. There are also CF (carbon fiber) wheel out there, but they are ridiculously expansive, so I will ignore them in this thread.
Stronger material in flow-formed and forged wheels opens up possibilities for thinner / fewer spokes, and thus more interesting and lighter designs.
Long story short, I would strongly recommend stepping up to at least flow-formed, and ideally to forged wheels.
When I went shopping for replacement wheels for my TM3P earlier this summer, there were 3 or 4 forged wheels vendors with Model 3 OEM fitment (hub bore, width, and offset). Only the following 2 had forged wheels in stock:
Tesla Model 3 Wheels - Concave, Forged & Racing Wheels
I ended up ordering a set of Apex VS-5RS Wheels in 19x9.5" ET29. Then put 265/35-19 Michelin S4S tires over them, and the car looks and rides perfect.
Most importantly - there will be zero bent, cracked, or broken wheels from here on out. Worth it for me for that reason alone!
HTH,
a
P.S: On my car:
View attachment 970370
There is a ton of variation in wheel construction and many of the wheels that are "forged" are forged in marketing only. Even the much hailed Volk TE37 is not a full forged wheel as the barrels are flow formed. Forgeline is the only wheel I can attest to that is a fully forged wheel as I have seen their manufacturing line. They start with a large round forging that is the rough outer shape of a wheel then CNC machine the wheel from that block. It is a truly forged wheel throughout and the strongest damn wheels I have ever used. I have cracked a number of TE37's in the barrels due to their "forged" design.
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