Wheel Spacers installed with 19” Aero Wheels

[Cabonzhp]

Given my little experience on this forum, I suppose I should preface this post by saying that this is definitely not Lucid approved and this is done at your own risk. Though I have 5 figures of posting on several different forums throughout the years, I’ve never faced the kind of admin responses that I’ve seen here.

That being said, here is a wheel spacer setup I’ve been running on my Air Pure for about 4 months, 4k miles.

Since our wheel bolt pattern and hub diameter is the same as the Model S, I purchased several sets of wheel spacers meant for a Model S. The issue on our cars is the length of the wheel studs. They are too long to use the ‘bolt on with new stud’ type spacer as the factory studs will hit the wheel, but they are too short to be able to add any meaningful spacer and still engage the lugs.

My simple solution was 4 piece 15mm spacer set for Model S on Amazon (won’t post the link, but they’re 55.99) and a 20 piece set of Metric 14x1.5 1.75 inch length ET (extended thread) lug nuts (33.25 on Amazon). The ET lug nuts reach through the lug holes in the wheels to provide additional thread engagement. I was extremely skeptical for a while but this solution has been perfect for me and wheel fitment is nice and flush. Not a night and day difference, but addressed a small gripe I had.

Again, not an endorsement.

Before:

After:

 

[Leftlane]

Looks nice!

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Sorry. I'm being dense here. Is the objective to have the wheels extend a little further beyond the body?

 

[mikecronis]

I had put 1/2" spacers on my 1999 Pontiac SLP Firehawk for the rears because I couldn't fit 315 width. I find you'll get a little understeer but overall a better RWD experience and the car will be less twitchy. I'm curious how the dynamics change it! You could likely put a wider rear 19" tire.

 

[mxp]

Looks super amazing @Cabonzhp ; Do you mind to PM me the amazon links? Thanks in advance!

 

[Sid432]

Any significant effect on range? What’s your lifetime efficiency looks like?

 

[borski]

Though I have 5 figures of posting on several different forums throughout the years, I’ve never faced the kind of admin responses that I’ve seen here.

No idea what this means. There's nothing wrong with this post.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[mikecronis]

Any significant effect on range? What’s your lifetime efficiency looks like?

So because the wheels are more outward, there might be a need to perform a rear-alignment after a day or so. If you don't get wider rears, there will be very small amount of range change due to the axel being a combined 28mm longer for more rotational effort. Wider rears would be likely heavier unsprung weight so again, range loss.

There's some sassy math there I'm sure. I suspect less than 1% or 2% less range at-most if I'm going to "dead-reckon" it with one eye closed.. yeah, I'd say 1%.

Your lateral g-forces might improve by 0.02, but again there's rotational mass and weight there to calculate, but it will be noticeable by "the seat of your pants".

 

[mikecronis]

Sorry. I'm being dense here. Is the objective to have the wheels extend a little further beyond the body?

Better lateral-g forces in handling feel, creating a little less body-roll, and more straight-line feel with a bit more requirement to turn-in. Some 4-square tire setups have a little road-wander and this eliminates that and creates more oversteer effort but more rear-end stability. Wider tires also help this even more and would assist in better take-off launches as weight is transferred to the rear primarily in a launch. More width of rubber = more grip (at a cost of more unsprung weight).

Honestly, I haven't found my DE-P needs it, somehow; not any of this. It's dialed-in tight and correct, which is why I want to give Peter Rowlinson a Bugs Bunny 1940's kiss (almost).

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Thanks! I'm guessing that @Cabonzhp's Pure has standard width tires in the photos. How wide a tire do you think would be an improvement in this set-up, and would they only be in the rear?

 

[Gravitas]

Given my little experience on this forum, I suppose I should preface this post by saying that this is definitely not Lucid approved and this is done at your own risk. Though I have 5 figures of posting on several different forums throughout the years, I’ve never faced the kind of admin responses that I’ve seen here.

That being said, here is a wheel spacer setup I’ve been running on my Air Pure for about 4 months, 4k miles.

Since our wheel bolt pattern and hub diameter is the same as the Model S, I purchased several sets of wheel spacers meant for a Model S. The issue on our cars is the length of the wheel studs. They are too long to use the ‘bolt on with new stud’ type spacer as the factory studs will hit the wheel, but they are too short to be able to add any meaningful spacer and still engage the lugs.

My simple solution was 4 piece 15mm spacer set for Model S on Amazon (won’t post the link, but they’re 55.99) and a 20 piece set of Metric 14x1.5 1.75 inch length ET (extended thread) lug nuts (33.25 on Amazon). The ET lug nuts reach through the lug holes in the wheels to provide additional thread engagement. I was extremely skeptical for a while but this solution has been perfect for me and wheel fitment is nice and flush. Not a night and day difference, but addressed a small gripe I had.

Again, not an endorsement.

Before:
View attachment 26274

After:
View attachment 26275

Much better stance!!! More pictures please.
I've always installed wheel spacers on my cars.

 

[Wolfman]

We have widened the stance of many of our cars and it is primarily for looks, but we usually couple that with lowering the cars. It usually makes the car look better and the Air with 19" wheels are a bit too inset.
No alignment is needed unless lowering comes into play. The unsprung weight increases by a few pounds with a bit of range reduction, but it will be minimal at best...

That said, it looks like the rear wheels stick out a bit (hard to tell from the angle), if so that's an issue and should be corrected. Wheels should be flush at most with the fender lip.
Spacers can be purchased in many diameters (H&R is a good choice).

 

[mikecronis]

We have widened the stance of many of our cars and it is primarily for looks, but we usually couple that with lowering the cars. It usually makes the car look better and the Air with 19" wheels are a bit too inset.
No alignment is needed unless lowering comes into play. The unsprung weight increases by a few pounds with a bit of range reduction, but it will be minimal at best...

That said, it looks like the rear wheels stick out a bit (hard to tell from the angle), if so that's an issue and should be corrected. Wheels should be flush at most with the fender lip.
Spacers can be purchased in many diameters (H&R is a good choice).

My 2 cents, and I politely disagree:

I believe in this instance a rear-alignment after the vehicle weight "settles-in" after 100 miles or so is required.
The added width of the rear axle changes the design and dynamic of the car's handling (rear kick-out "in-turns") significantly.
Generally, spirited drivers add spacers primarily so they can stick "bigger meat" tire width in the rear because they don't fit otherwise, which adds more unsprung weight and road friction, but as a trade-off, better launches and rear grip of lateral g-force acceleration. 0-60 time (or 0-100 mph) and lateral-g's are my primary components for buying a car.

A exceptional lateral-g value might be

• 1.00 to 1.20 or greater is currently considered "legendary" (Corvette Z06, ZL1 Camaro, Porsche 911 GT3)
• 0.90 is my thumbs-up of "good" lateral g-forces. (Nissan GTR, Lotus Elise SC, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Porsche 911 GT2, Lucid Air Dream Performance)
• 0.80 is fair to poor lateral g-forces. (Cadillac Eldorado, Dodge Neon ACR, Ford Taurus SHO, Honda Accord Touring, Mazda Miata NA)
• 0.70 is very poor lateral g-forces. (Mercedes C220, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Tacoma, Dodge RAM, Buick Roadmaster)
• 0.60 is legendarily bad. (Dodge Caravan minivan, Ford Expedition, Ford F150 XL Supercab, GMC Sierra Club Cab 1500, Cadillac Fleetwood, Range Rover, Jeep Wrangler, Gen 1/2 Toyota Prius, Chevy EV-1, BlueBird School Bus)

A 0.10 change is a significant and noticeable improvement.

Top 100 "Grip Kings" - fastest cars around skidpad 2025 - FastestLaps.com

"Grip Kings" - fastest cars around skidpad

fastestlaps.com

If you drive in a straight line, you may not notice any of this; oppositely if you track or autocross, you'll feel like you have a new car.

 

[Wolfman]

One can discuss theory of course but I look at the last 20 years of adding spacers and driving the cars without additional alignment.

A couple things to keep in mind. Most use spacer to widen the stance only. Adding more rubber usually coincides with different and wider rims.

Many will lower the cars at the same time as a higher riding car with a wider stance can look silly.
When lowering the car a bit (usually 1-1.5 inches) there is an option to alignment it but it isn’t required. There will be a light negative camber (a good thing) and increased tire wear (a bad thing).

For performance cars, few care about the tires as the performance rubber lifespan rarely exceeds 15k miles or a track day or two

Modding cars is pretty standard on ICE cars but quite rare on EV’s. Even aftermarket wheels are a rarity. The most I have seen on Model S Plaids which are easy to lower with their air suspension.

Personally I think a Lucid Air looks best with 21” wheels but are more efficient on 19” (which we have) but the stance needs the fix the OP has done.
Apart from the Sapphire, the Airs are too high and would look better when lowered by at least 1.5 inches.
But I have had the car bottom out on dips even at factory height in smooth setting so the suspension would need some work (springs/damper settings).

 

[Cabonzhp]

I do agree the Air is a bit too high and my previous cars have all been quite aggressively lowered, but given it’s a lease and I don’t want to affect the comfort or ground clearance when I’m already scraping the front lip, plus wife disapproval factor, this one will stay on stock suspension.

Previously working at a well known BMW aftermarket shop I’ve done many many suspension and spacer setups and alignments and spacers definitely don’t affect the static alignment of a car

 

[Cabonzhp]

Additional pictures. The rear is virtually exactly flush. The front is very slightly sunk in still but I likely wouldn’t steep the size up

 

[terrycs]

Nicely done!

 

[Wolfman]

Additional pictures. The rear is virtually exactly flush. The front is very slightly sunk in still but I likely wouldn’t steep the size up View attachment 26295View attachment 26296View attachment 26297View attachment 26298

This looks proper! The rear is definitely spot on.