Are the OEM wheels cast or forged?

I'm fairly certain that they are cast, not forged. If they were forged, I believe Tesla would be mentioning that fact in the specs.

Forged or cast, it is common for OEM wheel designs to be quite robust in order to withstand harsh road conditions. Aftermarket manufacturers will push the envelope a bit more. Unfortunately, robustness comes at the expense of weight. Bottom line: I wouldn't take weight to be an indication that they're cast.

The base 19" wheels aren't priced that high. For example, you can buy a 19" winter tire setup for $2500. This is pretty reasonable for an OEM (any OEM) 19" wheel! The 21" wheels, however, definitely command a forged-worthy price premium.

I'm sure the base 19" wheels are cast. I'd be quite surprised if the others were forged. This is not authoritative.

Having lifted a couple of types of OE wheels, they have to be cast. I was surprised at how heavy they were.

The 19" and 21" OEM wheels are both cast, confirmed by a Tesla tech on the main Tesla forums.

Hardly any auto manufacturer uses Forged wheels. Of course forged are far superior, they are much more costly. Considering the 21" wheels are a $4,500 option and most 21" cast wheels cost $200-$300 each, you can see the large profit in them.

Zybane said:

Hardly any auto manufacturer uses Forged wheels. Of course forged are far superior, they are much more costly.
Considering the 21" wheels are a $4,500 option and most 21" cast wheels cost $200-$300 each, you can see the large profit in them.

Click to expand...

A few auto makers offer OEM forged wheels ... BMW, Porsche and Audi to name a few.
Since the bolt pattern is the same for Tesla and BMW, I picked up a set of M6 forged wheels.
They are much lighter and stronger than stock, with a more aggressive offset and rim width.

Only on some of their models. What is ironic though is that even some other auto makers use forged wheels, they charge less than the silly $4,500 price Tesla does for cast wheels! For me it was a no-brainer to go with the standard 19" wheels and get a nice set of aftermarket forged 21".

Zybane said:

Only on some of their models.
What is ironic though is that even some other auto makers use forged wheels, they charge less than the silly $4,500 price Tesla does for cast wheels!
For me it was a no-brainer to go with the standard 19" wheels and get a nice set of aftermarket forged 21".

Click to expand...

I Agree completely. I was able to purchase a complete set of pre-owned BMW Forged wheels for less than the price of 1 new Tesla wheel.
Plus I like the staggered width and the deep concave look of the wheels on the car. The weight savings is also a bonus ... 10lbs per corner.

I believe that wheel design is more limited with a forged wheel. I'm not sure that Tesla's turbine wheels could be produced as a forged wheel.

ToddRLockwood said:

I believe that wheel design is more limited with a forged wheel. I'm not sure that Tesla's turbine wheels could be produced as a forged wheel.

Click to expand...

It's quite the opposite actually. You should see what you can come up with a forged wheel. The Tesla cast wheel is quite simple.

Just as a point of reference for the OEM wheels on the Model S:

19" Wheels: 13.74kg ~30.2 lbs each
21" Wheels: 16.02kg ~35.2 lbs each

A bit on the heavy side ... forged wheels can save 10 lbs per corner.

FlatSix911 said:

Just as a point of reference for the OEM wheels on the Model S:

19" Wheels: 13.74kg ~30.2 lbs each
21" Wheels: 16.02kg ~35.2 lbs each

A bit on the heavy side ... forged wheels can save 10 lbs per corner.

Click to expand...

Yes, the Vossen 21" forged wheels I went with are 25 lbs!

Wonder if the lightness of forged wheels would give a significant range increase?...

.

FlatSix911 said:

A few auto makers offer OEM forged wheels ... BMW, Porsche and Audi to name a few.
Since the bolt pattern is the same for Tesla and BMW, I picked up a set of M6 forged wheels.
They are much lighter and stronger than stock, with a more aggressive offset and rim width.

Click to expand...

What size wheels, offset, width are these as they look fantastic on your S!!

I am specifically interested in upgrading from the OEM 19 slipstreams to forged 20 inch wheels (staggered ofcourse and at a minimum 245 in the front and 275 in the rear or 285 would be even better) simply because I have to stick with All Season tires as opposed to Z rated tires (can't afford to change my tires that often as Z rated tires don't last very long)

Thanks very much in advance!

Thread is quite old but just to add the referral Arachnid 21" wheels for the MS are said to be forged. I don't know about the MX referral wheels, I don't think they are.

DrJFoster said:

Thread is quite old but just to add the referral Arachnid 21" wheels for the MS are said to be forged.
I don't know about the MX referral wheels, I don't think they are.

Click to expand...

Correct, the 21" Arachnids are a true forged wheel... very strong and light.

FlatSix911 said:

I Agree completely. I was able to purchase a complete set of pre-owned BMW Forged wheels for less than the price of 1 new Tesla wheel.
Plus I like the staggered width and the deep concave look of the wheels on the car. The weight savings is also a bonus ... 10lbs per corner.

Click to expand...

Did you noticed any significant range improvement with the forged wheels, or is it basically a handling and cosmetic thing?

Based on the Teslastats app I saw a 3% range increase with the lighter forged wheels. YMMV.

FlatSix911 said:

I Agree completely. I was able to purchase a complete set of pre-owned BMW Forged wheels for less than the price of 1 new Tesla wheel.
Plus I like the staggered width and the deep concave look of the wheels on the car. The weight savings is also a bonus ... 10lbs per corner.

Click to expand...

What size wheels, offset, width are these as they look fantastic on your S!!

I am specifically interested in upgrading from the OEM 19 slipstreams to forged 20 inch wheels (staggered ofcourse and at a minimum 245 in the front and 275 in the rear or 285 would be even better) simply because I have to stick with All Season tires as opposed to Z rated tires (can't afford to change my tires that often as Z rated tires don't last very long)

Thanks very much in advance!