Driving experience w/ 22/23" wheels

[allenmhc]

Hi, I wanted to gather the experiences of folks who opted for the largest 22/23" wheels. I have a 20/21" DE on order that won't be built for another 2–3 weeks at least (and then another ~month to ship it, I'm guessing), but I'm being offered another DE w/ the same specs for everything other than the jump in wheel size—and I'm wondering what I'm trading off from a driving standpoint. I'm fine w/ the look on all 3 rim options.

• On the plus side, I know the larger wheels will increase grip and traction and handling, and shorten braking distance. From another thread, they're shown to perform better in wet road conditions too.
• On the minus side, they reduce range (~406mi → ~360 EPA estimates), should wear out more quickly, are more susceptible to ripping with potholes, and will cost more to replace.

What I'm wondering are things like road noise and ride quality, which should also be negatives on the larger tires but could be mitigated w/ the systems the car has. Any impressions or comparisons?

 

[037]

Hi, I wanted to gather the experiences of folks who opted for the largest 22/23" wheels. I have a 20/21" DE on order that won't be built for another 2–3 weeks at least (and then another ~month to ship it, I'm guessing), but I'm being offered another DE w/ the same specs for everything other than the jump in wheel size—and I'm wondering what I'm trading off from a driving standpoint. I'm fine w/ the look on all 3 rim options.

• On the plus side, I know the larger wheels will increase grip and traction and handling, and shorten braking distance. From another thread, they're shown to perform better in wet road conditions too.
• On the minus side, they reduce range (~406mi → ~360 EPA estimates), should wear out more quickly, are more susceptible to ripping with potholes, and will cost more to replace.

What I'm wondering are things like road noise and ride quality, which should also be negatives on the larger tires but could be mitigated w/ the systems the car has. Any impressions or comparisons?

Dragtimes recently measured a GT 0-60 in 3.1 with 1ft roll out which put it equal to DE, and the quarter mile difference is only 0.6s with a 12mph or so trap speed difference.

It’s very possible that PZ5 in their current size do not allow DE to utilize all power anyway…

On the other hand, bigger wheels are a $3500 upgrade and choosing small wheels is a gift to Lucid, gift them to me instead…

Depending on location you might be buying Lucid winter kit which will be 20/21 with a Nokian winter tire and can get efficiency when you need it most.

 

[DrZorro]

Hi, I wanted to gather the experiences of folks who opted for the largest 22/23" wheels. I have a 20/21" DE on order that won't be built for another 2–3 weeks at least (and then another ~month to ship it, I'm guessing), but I'm being offered another DE w/ the same specs for everything other than the jump in wheel size—and I'm wondering what I'm trading off from a driving standpoint. I'm fine w/ the look on all 3 rim options.

• On the plus side, I know the larger wheels will increase grip and traction and handling, and shorten braking distance. From another thread, they're shown to perform better in wet road conditions too.
• On the minus side, they reduce range (~406mi → ~360 EPA estimates), should wear out more quickly, are more susceptible to ripping with potholes, and will cost more to replace.

What I'm wondering are things like road noise and ride quality, which should also be negatives on the larger tires but could be mitigated w/ the systems the car has. Any impressions or comparisons?

While I can't compare directly to the smaller wheels since I've never been in a Gravity with the smaller wheels, I can say the 22/23's have almost no road noise and the ride quality and handling are great!

 

[indigo6]

Highway ride quality on the 22/23s is actually pretty good imo. I think the entire car is a little stiff on surface streets with poor pavement quality, but it’s not punishingly stiff.

I also test drove the 21/22s before I took delivery and I didn’t feel like the 22/23s were much worse. Those were at like 46 psi when I drove that car though. I have not driven the 20/21s yet so I can’t comment there.

 

[DrK]

A comment but no answers to the posed question. For decades lived inside Chicago, 5 mile drive house to school or house to work. Weather and side streets had everything from temperate to freezing weather and clear pavement to snow cleared to snow banks and or ice. My BMW had winter tires and summer 3 season tires. The winter were Nokian all season but snowflake rated. My 7 series OEM Tires were awful to undriveable in winter but with the Nokian I had better traction than my all season tires on BOTH 4WDS -a Suburban and a LX470 .

Anyone splurging on the largest wheels should promise themselves to buy a cold weather set or garage the car.

And here is a salute to Lucid for choosing Nokian. I turned many many onto Nokian which at that time could be decent in the widely varied road conditions in much of the north and west of the US and had the snowflake indicating decent ice and snow performance, better than typical all season tires and having better dry and wet cold road performance than most pure winter tires.

 

[TahoeMichael]

A comment but no answers to the posed question. For decades lived inside Chicago, 5 mile drive house to school or house to work. Weather and side streets had everything from temperate to freezing weather and clear pavement to snow cleared to snow banks and or ice. My BMW had winter tires and summer 3 season tires. The winter were Nokian all season but snowflake rated. My 7 series OEM Tires were awful to undriveable in winter but with the Nokian I had better traction than my all season tires on BOTH 4WDS -a Suburban and a LX470 .

Anyone splurging on the largest wheels should promise themselves to buy a cold weather set or garage the car.

And here is a salute to Lucid for choosing Nokian. I turned many many onto Nokian which at that time could be decent in the widely varied road conditions in much of the north and west of the US and had the snowflake indicating decent ice and snow performance, better than typical all season tires and having better dry and wet cold road performance than most pure winter tires.

I live in the mountains in California, and we get real snow. But warm whether is found driving an hour East or West, so all seasons are better than dedicated winter tires. I have 3PMSF (aka snowflake) tires mounted on my car all year round, as I don't have a lot of room to store a spare set. Plus I'm probably too lazy to get them changed twice a year. Cross Climate 2 have been my recent choice, but I know Nokian has an excellent reputation, and I'm eagerly waiting to see the winter tire options from Lucid for the Gravity.

 

[iThinkEV]

my 22/23 combo drives very well. Take a hit on the range, but at that range, I need to stop and take a bio-break anyway. not sure I can last longer than 300 miles of driving per sitting.
it's very quiet (surprisingly), and handles very well around corners. I love fast cars, drive the Gravity like I stole it. No issues.
Will definitely hurt my pocket when it comes to tire replacements. And I love the looks of the 22/23 wheels as well. Good aesthetics, great handling, quiet and comfortable during long cruises in comfort mode.

Prior to the Gravity combo, the largest wheels I had were 22" on my 2019 RRS Autobiography. I get quite a bit of road noise, but could also be because of the SC V8.


-iThinkEV-

 

[allenmhc]

Thanks all for all your impressions. I decided to go for it—I'm hoping to take delivery of the car by this weekend. Thanks again!

 

[Ron_Burgundy]

While I can't compare directly to the smaller wheels since I've never been in a Gravity with the smaller wheels, I can say the 22/23's have almost no road noise and the ride quality and handling are great!

And they look amazing when slammed down to the lowest suspension setting!