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Winter tires - impact of 19" vs 20"?

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Hey Gang -

Been reading through some of the historical threads on winter tires and am about to pull the trigger. I have the 20" rims right now and am on the fence of just getting 20" winter tires to fit those or ponying up a bunch more money to get a set of wheels as well. Then trying to figure out if I do the latter do I look at going 19".

Between Blizzaks and X-ICe.

Any comments on range reduction in going to winter tires? And then if there is any difference between 19" and 20" tires?

Thanks for all the intel in advance!
 
Hey Gang -

Been reading through some of the historical threads on winter tires and am about to pull the trigger. I have the 20" rims right now and am on the fence of just getting 20" winter tires to fit those or ponying up a bunch more money to get a set of wheels as well. Then trying to figure out if I do the latter do I look at going 19".

Between Blizzaks and X-ICe.

Any comments on range reduction in going to winter tires? And then if there is any difference between 19" and 20" tires?

Thanks for all the intel in advance!
The logic in going to a smaller diameter wheel is that the taller tire sidewall will put more rubber between the road and the wheel rim. This combination is potentially more likely to survive an encounter with a pot hole crater. Of course you have the additional expense of buying a set of wheels. If you buy a second set of wheels you will also need to purchase a set of four TPMS either from Tesla or from the tire seller. See TireRack for recommendations on winter tire and tire/wheel packages in 18", 19" and 20" for the Model Y. Sometimes the cost of tires in the smaller diameter size is lower so that will save you a little money.
 
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I can confirm for 18 vs 18 and 19 vs 19, the efficiency does get reduced when using winter tires, but not enough to prevent buying them.

Smaller diameter and width tires will always be better in the snow. Easier to carve through the snow vs. pushing snow out of the way of a wider tire, plus smaller wheels are usually lighter.

I have started just getting same size tires vs. -1 and new rims, it's just easier to have Tesla swap the rubber vs. storing and doing the swap myself. I would prefer 18s or 17s, but the 19s for Model Y worked great this past week in the snow (Pirelli P Zero Winter).