Model S Plaid Wheels & Tires on a Lucid Air?

[dditzchi]

I have a 2024 Lucid Air Pure with the all-season tires 245/45-19. My boss has a set of summer tires & wheels from his 2021 TESLA MODEL S PLAID 255/45-19F 285/40-19R that are available from a car he no longer owns. The Plaid setup is staggered. Do you know if these will fit? Has anyone tried? On previous posts it looks like the bolt pattern is the same and some say 18" won't clear the calipers.

Background - I am coming from a 2021 Polestar 2 long range, dual motor. That thing could really launch and felt very confident in corners. The Pure on the 19" tires drives like an "old man car" as my wife calls it. I am looking for a cost-effective option on my Pure which is a lease, so I don't want to spend a bunch of money and I live in Chicago, so I will need the all-season tires half of the year. My boss will make me a good deal on his set of wheels and tires he can't use. I also read that Lucid service will only put on their brand of wheels if I take it there. Also, they need to calibrate the car if the tire size changes. I change wheels 2x a year on my other vehicles, and I have no problem with doing that myself.

For comparison
- Lucid Air Pure 245/45-19 OR 245/40R20
- Tesla Model S Plaid 255/45-19F 285/40-19R
- Saphire = 265/35-20F 295/30-21R

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Pragmatic]

I don't know about the Plaid but Model S wheels (19 pre-2016 base) will not clear the brake calipers (2023 Pure AWD) without spacers.

 

[hmp10]

I believe the Air and the Model S have the same bolt patterns, but @Pragmatic raises an interesting point about brake clearance. Since your'e talking different tread widths (40mm more on the rear is pretty significant), you also need to check wheel widths, offsets, and fender clearance.

 

[dditzchi]

I have a long trip coming up in the next few weeks. After that, I guess I will just try mounting one of the rear wheels and see if it fits. Thanks for your comments!

 

[Steveinarizona]

The Pure on the 19" tires drives like an "old man car" as my wife calls it.

Interesting view. I checked Car & Driver and they have reviewed the current Lucid RWD Pure and the 2022 Polestar long range 2 motor vehicle. C & D showed the Polestar doing 0-60 in 4.1 second while the Lucid did 4.3. C & D Showed the Polestar doing 100 mph in 10.5 seconds and the Lucid at 10.8 seconds.

So on stats they are pretty similar. There is no similar objective test for handling. My guess is that your wife thinks the entire vehicle is an "old man's car", not just the acceleration. I have a buddy who just got a RWD Pure and he has caused more than a few neck pains by demonstrating the acceleration. So making it marginally faster may not do anything for your spouse.

On the other hand, I am jealous that you have a spouse who wants more power ( a female Tim Taylor?).

 

[Pragmatic]

Same bolt pattern, same offset, same width, but caliper does not clear. It may if shimmer. I'm not going to try it in the heat. Come September I will see if I can make it work. I have some Tesla wheels with Snow tires that I'd like to use.

 

[dditzchi]

Interesting view. I checked Car & Driver and they have reviewed the current Lucid RWD Pure and the 2022 Polestar long range 2 motor vehicle. C & D showed the Polestar doing 0-60 in 4.1 second while the Lucid did 4.3. C & D Showed the Polestar doing 100 mph in 10.5 seconds and the Lucid at 10.8 seconds.

Yes, on paper they are very similar. I never even tested the acceleration on the 3 test drives I took with the Pure before purchase. I assumed it wouldn't be any real difference. The Polestar 2 was firm compared to the Lucid, even with the Lucid on Sprint mode. The traction control and torque vectoring on the Polestar 2 were unbelievable. You just point the car in any direction, hold your foot down and keep steering. It was amazing on dry, wet or snow. My buddy with the Rivian still felt it was "slow" and so did my boss with the Plaid. I have driven both of their cars. The Rivian was noisy, and the Plaid was violently fast. Launching the Plaid felt like you got rear ended by a dump truck. I am still amazed by the power that could put down to the pavement. From an engineering standpoint, it is almost unbelievable. Although I have generally loved the Model S since I first drove one in 2015, the Plaid is just dumb in so many ways by hiding the horn, not having great brakes, removing the turn indicators, going to a yoke design, etc. There were so many poor choices in that design, IMO.

So on stats they are pretty similar. There is no similar objective test for handling. My guess is that your wife thinks the entire vehicle is an "old man's car", not just the acceleration. I have a buddy who just got a RWD Pure and he has caused more than a few neck pains by demonstrating the acceleration. So making it marginally faster may not do anything for your spouse.

On the other hand, I am jealous that you have a spouse who wants more power ( a female Tim Taylor?).

My wife's "old man car" description was the low, wide comfortable and chrome comparison and not driving dynamics. She said that after the first Pure demo car was in black with lots of bright accents, and it looked like a Lincoln to her. She was never in the Polestar on a launch and even when I got onto expressways I was only halfway on the power. She would vomit for sure if I launched her in any EV.

But that said, this is my daily driver and if it's as simple as swapping wheels and tires to get more performance then I am all for it. Finding Telsa wheels and tires is a lot easier than Lucid.

 

[dditzchi]

Same bolt pattern, same offset, same width, but caliper does not clear. It may if shimmer. I'm not going to try it in the heat. Come September I will see if I can make it work. I have some Tesla wheels with Snow tires that I'd like to use.

Thanks! Sounds like its a no go.

 

[Pragmatic]

Thanks! Sounds like its a no go.

Not necessarily. These were base (pre-2016) wheels. Plaid is very different. I just would not get some without trying on both front and rear (neither fit, both missed by millimeters)

 

[dditzchi]

Not necessarily. These were base (pre-2016) wheels. Plaid is very different. I just would not get some without trying on both front and rear (neither fit, both missed by millimeters)

I talked to my boss and I am just going to try them out in a few weeks after my trip. I will post my findings so we all can learn. I can try before I buy, so no worries there.

 

[Pragmatic]

After bolting on make sure they can spin freely and not rub on the caliper. I was able to bolt on to both the front and rear but neither end would freely rotate.

 

[Steveinarizona]

My wife's "old man car" description was the low, wide comfortable and chrome comparison and not driving dynamics. She said that after the first Pure demo car was in black with lots of bright accents, and it looked like a Lincoln to her. She was never in the Polestar on a launch and even when I got onto expressways I was only halfway on the power. She would vomit for sure if I launched her in any EV.

That I understand. I felt the same way about all the Lucid's with the glass canopy and the silver colored trim running over the doors and down the back. That is one of the reasons I had reserved a Pure. The newer Lucids I have been seeing in the Scottsdale showroom look much sleeker in darker colors (e.g., Zenith Red) without the trim.

PS I am an "old man".

 

[dditzchi]

After bolting on make sure they can spin freely and not rub on the caliper. I was able to bolt on to both the front and rear but neither end would freely rotate.

Yep. Makes sense. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Professor Y Cars]

I talked to my boss and I am just going to try them out in a few weeks after my trip. I will post my findings so we all can learn. I can try before I buy, so no worries there.

Did you end up trying the Plaid S wheels to see if they fit?

 

[dditzchi]

I went there yesterday to pick up the wheels and tires but it turned out to be just tires. The front tires would fit on the Lucid 19” wheels so I grabbed those. The rear tires need new wheels so I passed on those. Now I am on the hunt for two more summer tires and I will swap just the rubber on the Lucid wheels in the spring.

 

[dditzchi]

This is the difference in the tread pattern from the stock 19” Pirelli all season tires versus the summer tires (unmounted).