22-inch Turbines

Should be even more impractical than the 21s!

did it have manufacturer plates? or was it a customers?

Looks like it might have ballast on the roof. If so, I'm guessing it's a Model X mule.

Modern high-end SUVs tend to come with larger diameter tires than similarly-sized sedans. Is that why the wheel wells are enlarged, so larger diameter tires will fit?

Edit: the 265/35/22 tires are larger diameter than either the 245/45/19 or 245/35/21 OEM tires on the Model S.

The good news, if adopted is that 22 inch tires cost less than 21's. After having 21's on my Q7 for 8 years, I was about to change to 22 rims and tires. The change over was only 350 more than the 21 inch. Then the next set of 22 would have been nearly $800 cheaper. However, awaiting my Model X, so I stuck with the 21 again. I will be selling the car before I would get a return on the change over.

CalDreamin said:

Modern high-end SUVs tend to come with larger diameter tires than similarly-sized sedans.

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My Fisker Karma came with 22's as stock. Of course it weighed more than most SUV's!

We saw that on the road at the Fremont factory on Friday. It was very noticeable.

I recall seeing close-up pictures of those oddly arranged spokes before ... at the time I was puzzled but assumed I had never paid enough attention to the normal 21'' rims to notice they looked like that. So it turns out they ARE different rims.

would larger wheel dia. negatively impact ride comfort?

so it's worth noting that the sidewall heights on these 265's are .27" wider (taller?). this means they would be less slightly less susceptible to blowouts when hitting potholes...also the section wider is wider (which is the reason it's missing the well liners in the front so they don't rub, obviously they are just testing these out for now). also in the pic it looks like they literally CUT with aluminum cutting shears the fenders to fit the tire. the diameter is much higher though, so if these tires are in the front they HAVE to have different suspension components or otherwise the tires would be hitting them.

245/35R21 (OEM) vs these 265/32R22:

CalDreamin said:

Looks like it might have ballast on the roof. If so, I'm guessing it's a Model X mule.

Modern high-end SUVs tend to come with larger diameter tires than similarly-sized sedans. Is that why the wheel wells are enlarged, so larger diameter tires will fit?

Edit: the 265/35/22 tires are larger diameter than either the 245/45/19 or 245/35/21 OEM tires on the Model S.

Click to expand...

Didn't catch that roof assembly. Agree, this is probably an old X test mule.

justaddsun said:

Didn't catch that roof assembly. Agree, this is probably an old X test mule.

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that's not a ballast but instead the roof rack. it gets blended in with the building in the background making it look different but its definitely the OEM roof rack.

polything said:

would larger wheel dia. negatively impact ride comfort?

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The 22 vs 21 is the inside wheel diameter. The tire outside diameter is unchanged.

Aljohn said:

The 22 vs 21 is the inside wheel diameter. The tire outside diameter is unchanged.

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Not true. Look at yobigd20's chart above.

yobigd20 said:

that's not a ballast but instead the roof rack. it gets blended in with the building in the background making it look different but its definitely the OEM roof rack.

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Look at the slab on top of the roof rack in docrice's first photo. It looks like the test car spotted early last year. Speculation is that the slab is ballast, used to simulate the higher CoG of the Model X. The larger tires and wheel wells would be consistent with Model X also.

CalDreamin said:

Look at the slab on top of the roof rack in docrice's first photo. It looks like the test car spotted early last year. Speculation is that the slab is ballast, used to simulate the higher CoG of the Model X. The larger tires and wheel wells would be consistent with Model X also.

Click to expand...

Oh right I see it now. Good point.