Hi, @gnychis,
Any tires through the SC -- I have no idea. A couple of days before I finalized my order, Tesla greatly increased the price on the wheels & tires. Roughly by a factor of two. And started charging separately for the 21s even though I was ordering a P+. So instead of ordering two sets of tires & wheels, I just ordered the P+ with the Pilot Sport 2s on 21" rims. I've been very happy with them. I saved a boatload of money by purchasing some great-looking Rial rims from Wheel DynamiX, along with 19" Nokia H2 winter tires. A great combo: I had been worried about the performance of this heavy, rear-wheel drive car in snow but the combination of the amazing Tesla traction control and the H2s have put those concerns to rest. I have seen other reports that Tesla's winter tires are of average quality/performance, and I know that you can save significant $$$ elsewhere. So while I would definitely ask Mat what he can do for you, I would also be prepared to shop elsewhere.
Xpel - I have been thrilled with the product and with the service on it from WD. I view WD as "more expensive than average but very good service and honest". And they have shown it multiple times with the Xpel. First, Jeff Orlinsky (the owner), recommended that I save significant money by just wrapping the front half or so of the car. Hood, bumper, and so on. I added in the doors. IIRC, that was about $3K. From other things I've read, I believe I could have saved money by going elsewhere; but less convinced that I would have been equally coddled. Then, I had some "incidents". For example, I punched into an old, crusty snowbank while parking. WD looked it over. The plastic nosecone was a loss and I had to buy a new one from Tesla. What could have been serious scratches on the front bumper peeled right off with the Xpel; WD put down new Xpel and I was done. By comparison, when I had some small scratches on the rear quarter panel from an errant attempt at backing into the Natick showroom's HPWC parking spot, I wound up with no choice but to get body work done. That work at Hollis Auto Body was done very well and professionally at a cost of $1700. The new Xpel was maybe $200 or $300.
On other occasions, I had some other scratches. I went to WD. They looked it over. They cleaned up and somehow buffed the Xpel and all was fine.
I finally decided that I would finish the Xpel, so I went back to WD to completely cover the car. Subsequently, I incurred scratches in various rear panels (such as the one I had had to repair at Hollis). WD would look over the problems and so far they have all just cleaned up / buffed out.
I haven't kept precise track, but based on my single repair experience at Hollis, I would guess that the WD/Xpel combo has saved me over $7000 in repair work -- given that I'm not willing to drive this beautiful car around with scratches in the paintwork. The flip side is that I spent around $5K covering the whole car.
So... I like the Xpel for the protection it has provided the vehicle. I like WD for making every effort to minimize the cost to me, such as by cleaning up the Xpel. They could easily have told me each time that I needed to replace the Xpel and I would have believed that.
I will not invest in Xpel for my Prius but absolutely will do so again when I buy my next S in August, 2016.
Alan
P.S. Another example: I have a small gouge currently in the rear bumper where someone parallel parked their car by braille, likely ramming the screw in a license plate into my bumper. Xpel couldn't save that situation. But what to do? Take the car to Hollis again? WD took a look and said, nah, this piece is plastic rather than aluminum. No need for specialized repair. So they hooked me up with their pals next door for the body work. But I couldn't get the body work done soon due to my schedule. For me, the best solution is to hand the car over for a "spa" week in April, when it will first get the bumper repaired and repainted and then move next door to WD for a new piece of Xpel and detailing. So what to do in the meantime? WD suggested that I might want to live through the winter without peeling and replacing the Xpel currently on the bumper, saving some money, then get the new Xpel in April. But I didn't like the idea of driving through the winter with a compromised piece of Xpel. So I had them peel and replace now, and then it'll have to be done again in April. There was no upsell from WD; it was all my (strong) personal preference.
Thanks for the responses, again. 21s vs 19s seem to draw as much debate as a presidential candidate on this forum
But you're right, tga, I did just move from CA to Boston. The car and myself are already there. You certainly do have more potholes, but there's something I love about the look of the 21s and while I expect some damage due to pot holes, I'm not imagining it being THAT bad...
Pollux: I'll definitely contact the SC to see what they say. Can you buy any tire through the SC? Anyway, I'll call them and ask. But one more thing while I have you in this thread: what is your experience with your Xpel at DynamiX? I have my full hood, front fenders, and rear bumper Xpel'ed from back in CA. Did you have your full car Xpel'ed or only the major impact points?
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At the risk of opening a can of worms. I'll throw out that I agree with this, if (and only if) you are going to limit yourself to factory-approved wheels and tire packages. But remember that most of the improved handling with the factory 21's is due to the improved rubber, not wheel size.
I expect that with the same tires on 19" and 21" wheels, most drivers would not notice much difference, if at all.
Hi, @tga,
I'll make every effort to keep the can upright so the worms have more difficulty escaping.
I suspect you have a great deal more experience in this realm than I do, so you're probably right about the relative merits of the rubber versus the wheel size. I've only operated and paid close attention to 19+winter/H2s, 19+all-season (Tesla factory-approved) and 21+summer/PS2s (Tesla factory-approved). The 21+summer/PS2s have a rock-solid feel under acceleration and in turns. The P+ seems to control body roll/motion very well (based on my own experience and reading of the experiences of people with a great deal more sophistication than I have in these matters), but I can definitely feel a difference from the 19+winter/H2s *and* the 19+all-season combinations when compared to each other and when compared against the 21+summer/PS2s. If it weren't for the small detail that the 21+summer/PS2 combination could be lethal in the winter, I'd gladly keep that combination year-round. As you say, it may be the rubber more than the wheel size. Maybe some day I'll have an opportunity to try 19s + a high performance summer tire.
Alan