Is 4.4 seconds vs 5.6 seconds alone worth $10k?

[rlawson4]

My question about the performance S vs. Regular S has to do with comfort. I ma in my car all day. I don't know much about wheels. Would I get more comfort and a better ride out of the 21" or 19" wheels? Also, do the 19" inch wheels have a longer life. If someone could explain this to me my decision will be made. Thanks in advance

[de704]

Yeah, I'm fully expecting the next gen Roadster to be sub-3 seconds.

Your bumping up against to limit of street tires.

I rather see a roadster built on a Model S inspired flat battery chassis with a 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds with a range of 600 miles per charge that a 6 foot 7 person (Me) can fit into comfortably.

[jerry33]

My question about the performance S vs. Regular S has to do with comfort. I ma in my car all day. I don't know much about wheels. Would I get more comfort and a better ride out of the 21" or 19" wheels? Also, do the 19" inch wheels have a longer life. If someone could explain this to me my decision will be made. Thanks in advance

The 19" wheels will be more comfortable because they have more sidewall and they will have much longer life--perhaps double or more.

The 21" wheels will be faster off the line, primarily because of the stickier tread compound.

The shorter-wider contact patch of the 21" tires will deliver more g-force.

Both will have the same contact patch area if run at the same pressure because contact patch area mostly depends upon the air pressure in the tires (and a very small amount on sidewall stiffness).

The 19" tires will most likely be better in the rain because the tread width is narrower. In this case I say most likely because sometimes tread compound more than makes up for the increased width.

The 21" tires will become very hard, and lose traction, when the temperature drops.

[onlinespending]

Your bumping up against to limit of street tires.

I rather see a roadster built on a Model S inspired flat battery chassis with a 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds with a range of 600 miles per charge that a 6 foot 7 person (Me) can fit into comfortably.

and i thought i had it bad at 6'5"! personally I'd rather they not build another Roadster. for a small company like Tesla, it simply doesn't make sense. it's not the type of car with mass appeal. there's a reason you see way more 3-series BMWs on the road versus Z3s. it made sense for Tesla to make the original Roadster, since they could borrow the chassis from Lotus and keep the weight down. but now I'd like to see them focus on sedans and crossover vehicles. it just makes the most business sense for a company that's going to produce a limited number of models. it'd be a costly mistake to divert their attention away from this and focus on another roadster that will not approach the sales volumes of the Model S or another sedan.

But if they wanted to, I guess it'd make more sense to come up with a coupe with hard-top convertible as opposed to a pure roadster.

[de704]

and i thought i had it bad at 6'5"!

That's one of the main reasons why I switched to the Model X. And when I heard you get close to the same stability & performance as Model S (and more time to save) It was a no-brainier for me.

[rlawson4]

The 19" wheels will be more comfortable because they have more sidewall and they will have much longer life--perhaps double or more.

The 21" wheels will be faster off the line, primarily because of the stickier tread compound.

The shorter-wider contact patch of the 21" tires will deliver more g-force.

Both will have the same contact patch area if run at the same pressure because contact patch area mostly depends upon the air pressure in the tires (and a very small amount on sidewall stiffness).

The 19" tires will most likely be better in the rain because the tread width is narrower. In this case I say most likely because sometimes tread compound more than makes up for the increased width.

The 21" tires will become very hard, and lose traction, when the temperature drops.

Thanks. 19" for me. I need a better ride and safety is important as well. I appreciate the response.

[PV4EV]

Unless I'm missing something here … surely a 19" wheel is going to give marginally better acceleration, and reduce the negative effects of unsprung weight by being a smaller diameter and lighter in weight, and be marginally more responsive to directional input, and replacement tyres are going to be easier to find than some very expensive 21" whoppers.

I vote for 19" wheels.

[ElSupreme]

Thanks. 19" for me. I need a better ride and safety is important as well. I appreciate the response.

I wouldn't assume/conclude that the tires on the 19" wheels are safer than the ones on the 21" wheels.

I am also not pretty sure both the 21" and 19" wheels are coming with equal width tires.

I think the only thing you can assume as far as size is concerned is 19" = softer ride and less cost, 21" = harsher ride and more cost.

As far as performance versus all-season you can assume is performance = much better grip and shorter life, all-season = less grip and much better life.

[ElSupreme]

Unless I'm missing something here … surely a 19" wheel is going to give marginally better acceleration, and reduce the negative effects of unsprung weight by being a smaller diameter and lighter in weight, and be marginally more responsive to directional input, and replacement tyres are going to be easier to find than some very expensive 21" whoppers.

I vote for 19" wheels.

Well the overall tire diameter is the 'same' for both cars. And in general wheels weigh less than tires. So going with a large wheel and smaller tire you may actually get overall weight savings. That being said you move the rim portion of the wheel further from the axis and increase the moment of inertia ... so in general I think it is a wash as far as acceleration goes. But talking about unsprung weight I think you would get less overall weight with the larger rims.

[Doug_G]

Your bumping up against to limit of street tires.

I rather see a roadster built on a Model S inspired flat battery chassis with a 0 - 60 in 3.5 seconds with a range of 600 miles per charge that a 6 foot 7 person (Me) can fit into comfortably.

Yes, I'm assuming AWD.