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Interested in Group Buy of Roadster Wheels?

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So, I just bought a Roadster. Not in love with the forged wheels. I've been searching for an alternative and there isn't much if anything actually available. One of my first stops was Sector 111, because I thought Elise wheels might fit. I quickly found out a) that Elise wheels are 4 lug not 5 lug like the Tesla and b) that Sector 111 had built 1 set of the StellaCorse wheel back in '08. Pix of this are on various threads here.

So, I just called Shinoo Mapleton, owner of Sector 111 and asked him if these wheels could be made. The answer is "Yes, if you can put together a group buy". So, here's the deal:

$3500 per set to us
Your choice of black or silver finish
Minimum group buy of 10 sets

These are very light (14lb. front, 16 lb. rear), forged, 16" front/17" rear with correct offset. They work with OEM tires.

Complete info is here:

Tesla stellaCORSE

The purpose of this group buy is not to save money with group purchasing power (there aren't really choices to save on, as far as I can tell). The purpose is to create an alternative that doesn't now exist, that meets OEM spec and has a more classic, alternative look.

What I suggest is that you simply indicate interest here by saying "I'm in, if you can put this together". I'll have to circle back to confirm, so ideally you'd send me a PM with your email or some way to contact you.

If you're not interested, that's fine; this thread is for people who are interested.
 
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stellasilver_large.jpg
 
$3500 doesn't sound like a particularly great price.
If you can't get the required 10 - you should look into a set of custom wheels - try Fikse Wheels
You should probably get a competitive bid from someone else in any case.
You might want to do 17" front and back to improve the tire choices.
 
The Fikse wheels (Profil 10) are $3000+ (depends on finish, that's the base price). They are 17" front and rear, which forces you to use a 195 front tire. That adds another $400 or so to the project, if money is a big deal (actually, if money is a big deal, stick with the stock wheels I guess).

I've heard that 195s aren't ideal for the street due to steering effort. I'd be interested in thoughts on that. And then there's the question, no doubt a matter of personal opinion, about the Fikse style (very '90s IMHO).

The StellaCorse for the Elise is $2800, so we're looking at a premium of $700 for customizing to the Tesla.

I'm open to other custom wheel ideas. In my experience custom forged wheels aren't going to be much cheaper than this, but who knows?
 
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These should be cheaper than $3000.
hummer-with-wooden-wheels.jpg

;)

What don't you like about the forged wheels? I think they're great. The standard wheels are not bad either.
Maybe you can try to get these wheels i've seen on the scandinavian Roadsters (I don't like them):
tesla-roadster-3598802_b_90693185.jpg


Or the Tesla Roadster Brabus wheels:
Tesla5_DW_Sonstiges_704701p.jpg
 
The Brabus wheels are 18" and 19" which amplifies the concern about steering effort in town. I don't know if this is a big deal. And, personally, I don't think the Brabus wheels are an improvement on the base wheel. The Brabus wheels are $3140 per set, FYI (plus tires at another $600).

As for the forged wheel, it is directional and I generally don't like directional wheels. You may love them, which is fine; I'm not trying to covert the world here.
 
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I don't think that just changing from a 175 to a 195 will be a significant change in steering effort.
The A048 tires on the Sport are much stickier than the AD07s and that is where the difference is.
The car my Roadster replaced was a 1993 Porsche 911 RS America, which was also blessed with the absence of power steering. When it had sticky track tires on it ( like the A048s ) it was a bear to handle at parking lot speeds - however at normal driving speeds the steering effort and feel was fantastic.
If you stick with a regular street tire - not a competition tire - I don't think you will have much of an issue with a slight size change.

One of my motivations for thinking about new wheels is to fit more ( wider ) tire for better performance on the track. So if the new wheels don't offer me something in that regard I'm not interested.

Going with 18s and 19s will make you go ridiculously low profile, and while that may look good to some, I worry that that would make the ride ridiculously harsh and you could easily wreck a wheel on a pothole.

The whole question of style and looks is individual taste.
The Stella Corse look okay to me, but not compelling. I agree that the Brabus ones are unattractive, and the other wheels pictured ( Scandinavian ) are ugly.
I like the look of the Fikse's, but I had a set of those for my 911 ( yes from the late 90s ) so I am biased.
 
The Stellas are built for us in Japan - and the Yen is extremely strong vs the $. The price is very much driven by this exchange and the low volume. The wheels are superb quality and perfect fitment as we worked directly with Tesla. Installing larger wheels will not help the handling of these cars. The Stellas for the Elise/Exige have become a cult favorite (we have no stock as I'm waiting for the Yen to soften). We designed this wheel with our supplier and have no plans to source it to any other source - very few can build a 16" forged, single piece wheel (at least no one in the US).
 
Hey I would be interested in another wheel set. I looked at both over the internet. Currently I have the standard tires and they are just too heavy. The section 111 tires have the follow weights Fronts 16x6.5 13.9lbs/ 6.3 kg Rears 17x7.5 6.3616lbs/ 7.2 kg. Now the Brabus rims are larger. Just could not find the weight of these rims yet. Please put me on the list for the interested people in an alternative wheel set.
 
I am very interested in not just having an alternative outside Tesla Motors, but I particularly want to get the weight down as much as possible.
Hey I would be interested in another wheel set. I looked at both over the internet. Currently I have the standard tires and they are just too heavy. The section 111 tires have the follow weights Fronts 16x6.5 13.9lbs/ 6.3 kg Rears 17x7.5 6.3616lbs/ 7.2 kg. Now the Brabus rims are larger. Just could not find the weight of these rims yet. Please put me on the list for the interested people in an alternative wheel set.
SSR Wheels has semi-solid forged wheels that are 11.0 to 12.5 lbs in 16" sizes and 14.9 to 15.8 lbs in 17" sizes. This is their Type-C "Competition Light Weight" line. Unfortunately, in order to offer Tesla Roadster compatible wheels they must build about 40 and crash test them before they can legally sell them. I don't see why they can't just drill different holes, since their existing wheels are available in 4/100, 4/114.3 and 5/114.3, so it seems that 5/110 would fit right in between the existing extremes. But I called their U.S. representative and was told that he would look into the cost.

Anyway, if anyone wants to join me on a quest for the ultimate light weight Tesla Roadster wheels, then please let me know. Light weight should be equally beneficial for extended range and top racing performance, both.

I don't think that just changing from a 175 to a 195 will be a significant change in steering effort.
The A048 tires on the Sport are much stickier than the AD07s and that is where the difference is.
Results may vary depending upon road conditions. With my Honda CRX Si, increasing to 195 tires had me fighting to maintain control on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge where there were extreme ruts in the asphalt. I've been on that bridge during an earthquake, and the pull from side to side is about as extreme with wider tires on normal days as it was when everything was shaking! Narrower tires seem to ride flat in the middle of the ruts while wider tires grab more at the edges. On properly-maintained freeways, there should be no ruts, and thus the width would have far less effect.
 
I don't think that just changing from a 175 to a 195 will be a significant change in steering effort...One of my motivations for thinking about new wheels is to fit more ( wider ) tire for better performance on the track...

I use 205 width Hoosier A6's on the front of mine on stock rims. I would be interested in lighter wheels but don't know anyone who makes them in the 5 lug Tesla bolt pattern (Lotus is 4 bolt).
 
I would be interested in light weight wheels as well can anyone help fill out the missing info?

Some stats:
Tesla 1.5 standard rims
Front ??lbs, 6J x 16, 175/55 R16
Rear ??lbs, 7.5J x 17, 225/45 R17

Tesla 2.0 standard Rim
Front 20lbs, 6J x 16, 175/55 R16
Rear 25lbs, 7.5J x 17, 225/45 R17

Tesla Sport Rim $price?
Front ??lbs, 6J x 16, 175/55 R16
Rear ??lbs, 7.5J x 17, 225/45 R17

Sector 111 Rim stellaCORSE $3500
Fronts 13.9lbs, 16x6.5, 175/55 R16
Rears 16.3616lbs 17x7.5, 225/45 R17

Brabus wheels $3140
Fronts ??lbs, 7Jx18, 215/35 R18
Rears ??lbs 8.5Jx19, 255/30 R19

Fikse wheels Profil 10 $3000
Front ??lbs, ?J x 17, 195/?? R17
Rear ??lbs, ?J x 17, ???/?? R17
 
I was told by Tesla that their cast wheels are 40.8 kg for the set and their forged wheels are 30.8 kg for the set. i.e., you save 10 kilos by upgrading from cast to forged - equivalent to taking the spare out of your trunk if the Roadster could fit a spare. Most likely, those were the 1.5 rims, as the date was 2009. I have no specifics on the front versus rear weights.

Tesla 2.5 cast wheels with Pirelli Sottozero tires mounted
weigh about 46 lbs for each rear
and about 38 lbs for each front.

Tesla 2.5 forged wheels with standard tires mounted
weigh about 40 lbs for each rear
and about 33 lbs for each front.
Price is around $4,000 for the forged wheels.

That's with a cheap bathroom scale, and I didn't have a chance to measure the wheels without tires.

It's less difficult to find wheels than I originally thought - it's just that The Tire Rack doesn't list anything for the Tesla Roadster.

Drag Wheels has 16" DR-23 rims at 15.00 lbs (6.80 kg)
Their 17" DR-23 rims are 16.60 lbs (7.52 kg)
Their 17" DR-17 rims are 17.00 lbs (7.71 kg)
NOTE: I have no idea whether the offsets of these Drag Wheels are compatible with the Tesla Roadster

On that note, does anyone have offset specifications for the Tesla Roadster?
 
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Super light Stella Course Wheels --- Please reply if you are interested ----

All, I talked to the owner of Section 111 again. He would need to sell 20 sets of wheels. We can determine the selection of colors. Silber, black, etc. It need to be 20 sets so we need to find 20 parties. The price would be around $ 4,200 per set.

Please remember that Tesla Spares is also interested. They might buy the design and will sell the sets as an upgrade to us. The price most likely will be much higher than now. I am serious interested. These wheels are about 35 % lighter then the Tesla's forged wheels. With additional lighter disk brakes you could make the entire wheel about 50 % lighter. I would estimate this brings much more performance and a longer reach as well. We need to be faster as Tesla Spares.

==== PLEASE REPLY NOW IF YOU ARE INTERESTED ++++++

- - - Updated - - -

Sure I got the specification of the Roadster from a long support member at Tesla.
Bolt pattern: 5x110mm
Front: 6”x16” - 25mm offset
Rear: 7.5”x17” – 38mm offset
The hub bore size is 65.1mm.

I would be open if you find something lighter for our roadster.

Cheerss