# Base wheels w/o aero wheel covers



## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

UPDDATE:

In the comments of this video in the Model 3 photo gallery is a post from a moderator on reddit, explaining why this video was removed from reddit:
_I removed the video until the OP /u/youyouxue (who has a history of illegally obtaining pics/videos) answers whether he had permission to take the video. Since its at night and he has a history of issues (and isnt answering basic questions), I'm thinking he did that to someone else's car. That includes dropping that thing on the ground and causing scratches. Unless he provides proof that he had permission, he is getting a permanent ban. Edit: User has mod-mailed the team alleging an employee gave him permission while he stopped by to charge up, but also admitted employee was under NDA and could get in trouble. Because of NDA the employee cannot give him legal permission. To be honest, I don't believe the convenient story based on user's history and the video itself. The mods have discussed in detail, and determined that a 30 day ban is appropriate for /u/youyouxue._​
Looking at the video more closely:

The car is parked in a lot - you can see the white line denoting a parking space
It is night time.
He records the video with one hand, and removes the wheel with another hand.
If he really had the owner's permission, why wasn't the owner holding the camera?
He drops the cover on the ground when he gets it off, likely scraping an edge.
So, the information presented by that user is very well likely to be bogus. Therefore, don't trust what I've posted here. The original post appears below.
_________________________________________________________________________

In the comments of his youtube video showing how to take off the aero wheel covers, youyouxue comments:

_Centre cap is on the aero cap (watch video again), you take it off and stick it into the centre of the alloy rim. Lug nut/bolt covers come with the car, and can be seen at the link in the description._​
So, good news! No need to buy anything else, Tesla includes everything you need to finish off the look of the wheels when you take off the aero covers.

As some expected, the center part with the Tesla logo is simply popped out of the cover and placed onto the wheel itself.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

garsh said:


> In the comments of his youtube video showing how to take off the aero wheel covers, youyouxue comments:
> 
> _Centre cap is on the aero cap (watch video again), you take it off and stick it into the centre of the alloy rim. Lug nut/bolt covers come with the car, and can be seen at the link in the description._​
> So, good news! No need to buy anything else, Tesla includes everything you need to finish off the look of the wheels when you take off the aero covers.
> ...


Certainly light years better looking that with the hubcaps  on


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## Topher (May 11, 2016)

Brilliant marketing move. They get better MPGe rating by having the aero-caps on. People who remove them get a complete finished appearance which many seem to prefer over the aero-caps. When people complain that they aren't getting EPA mileage, Tesla can ask, "did you remove the aero-caps on your wheels?" People who want range can keep/put them on.

Thank you kindly.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Topher said:


> Brilliant marketing move. They get better MPGe rating by having the aero-caps on. People who remove them get a complete finished appearance which many seem to prefer over the aero-caps. When people complain that they aren't getting EPA mileage, Tesla can ask, "did you remove the aero-caps on your wheels?" People who want range can keep/put them on.
> 
> Thank you kindly.


however, it would appear the EPA numbers were not calculating the Aero wheels, so they should instead add onto the rated range.


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## Derik (Jul 26, 2017)

I do a lot of freeway driving.. So I'm guessing the UWC are going to stay on for me. Although it is always nice to have the option to remove them.


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## Derik (Jul 26, 2017)

MelindaV said:


> however, it would appear the EPA numbers were not calculating the Aero wheels, so they should instead add onto the rated range.


Hope you are correct! I'm not holding my breath until real owners start providing some data.


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## MelindaV (Apr 2, 2016)

Derik said:


> Hope you are correct! I'm not holding my breath until real owners start providing some data.


we have seen stickers from both Sport wheel and Aero wheel cars with the same mileage numbers listed. It is much more likely they under promised on the aero mileage than over on the sport.


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## Topher (May 11, 2016)

MelindaV said:


> it would appear the EPA numbers were not calculating the Aero wheel


I missed that, where was it?



MelindaV said:


> we have seen stickers from both Sport wheel and Aero wheel cars with the same mileage numbers listed.


I don't think they are required to list different EPA MPGe for each possible configuration.



MelindaV said:


> It is much more likely they under promised on the aero mileage than over on the sport.


Is it? Sounds reasonable, and like something Tesla would do, but it isn't what they did with the Model S, is it? Ordering the sport wheels for that brings up the caveat that it will reduce range by X%.

Thank you kindly.


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## OneSixtyToOne (Apr 17, 2017)

Does the EPA testing procedure even account for wind resistance? (which is where the Aero advantage comes from)

I thought manufacturers run all fuel economy tests on chassis dynamometers indoors in a controlled environment.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

OneSixtyToOne said:


> Does the EPA testing procedure even account for wind resistance? (which is where the Aero advantage comes from)
> 
> I thought manufacturers run all fuel economy tests on chassis dynamometers indoors in a controlled environment.


They do, with various "resistance coefficients" set on the dynamometer to simulate drag. I'm not sure how they come up with the correct coefficients to use.


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## Guest (Sep 15, 2017)

Efficiency/range numbers come with absolute factory configuration with no optional customizations.
Black vehicle, no premium package and no premium wheels.
Second range for black long range vehicle, no premium and no premium wheels.
Later on same thing for AWD models. 
If wheels covers are mounted from the factory (which they definitely are) then EPA
test is done with those.
Same applies to crash tests on the most part. Though optional safety stuff can also be rated.


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## John (Apr 16, 2016)

Yeah, but the thing about EPA numbers is that they test on a stationary dyno, then multiply by factors to get the final EPA city and highway estimates.

Tesla has been known to be conservative in its estimates, and the forums are full of speculation that Model S LR gets 338 miles of range, but Tesla submitted 310 to reflect better on Model S. Supposedly Model 3 uses the lowest multiplier (0.7) than any Tesla yet. The EPA allows a company to UNDER estimate if they want to. More anti-selling?


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## John (Apr 16, 2016)

Also, don't you have to buy the lug nut covers from Tesla? ($28 total, I heard.)
But maybe third parties sell them, too...


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## OneSixtyToOne (Apr 17, 2017)

garsh said:


> They do, with various "resistance coefficients" set on the dynamometer to simulate drag. I'm not sure how they come up with the correct coefficients to use.


SWAG*
Strategic Wild Ass Guess


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

John said:


> Also, don't you have to buy the lug nut covers from Tesla? ($28 total, I heard.)


Do you have a citation?
Like I said, youyouxue said the covers were included with his Model 3.


> But maybe third parties sell them, too...


Ebay has about a thousand sellers offering lug nut covers.


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## Frank99 (Aug 3, 2017)

garsh said:


> They do, with various "resistance coefficients" set on the dynamometer to simulate drag. I'm not sure how they come up with the correct coefficients to use.


Through what's called a "coast-down" test. They accelerate the car to speed (65 mph, IIRC), shift to neutral, then precisely measure the deceleration as the car coasts down to 20 mph on a flat road. After a number of runs in both directions, they fit the data to a cubic equation (drag = A*V + B*V^2 + C*V^3). This then goes into the dyno to correct for the lack of aerodynamic drag.


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## Topher (May 11, 2016)

OneSixtyToOne said:


> SWAG*


Presumably they have had that thing in a wind tunnel many times by this point.

Thank you kindly.


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## John (Apr 16, 2016)

garsh said:


> Do you have a citation?
> Like I said, youyouxue said the covers were included with his Model 3.
> Ebay has about a thousand sellers offering lug nut covers.


Youyouxue doesn't have a Model 3, though. His post got banned on Reddit because they assumed he pried an employee's hubcap off in the dead of night (and dropped it on the ground in the process)...


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## AdamHolmes (Mar 31, 2017)

John said:


> Youyouxue doesn't have a Model 3, though. His post got banned on Reddit because they assumed he pried an employee's hubcap off in the dead of night (and dropped it on the ground in the process)...


I knew when I saw that name on the YouTube channel it looked familiar. I remember there was some drama on reddit of him borderline stalking people and trespassing on Telsas property


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## OneSixtyToOne (Apr 17, 2017)

Frank99 said:


> Through what's called a "coast-down" test. They accelerate the car to speed (65 mph, IIRC), shift to neutral, then precisely measure the deceleration as the car coasts down to 20 mph on a flat road. After a number of runs in both directions, they fit the data to a cubic equation (drag = A*V + B*V^2 + C*V^3). This then goes into the dyno to correct for the lack of aerodynamic drag.


Check out the big brain on @Frank99


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

In the comments of this video in the Model 3 photo gallery is a post from a moderator on reddit, explaining why this video was removed from reddit:
_I removed the video until the OP /u/youyouxue (who has a history of illegally obtaining pics/videos) answers whether he had permission to take the video. Since its at night and he has a history of issues (and isnt answering basic questions), I'm thinking he did that to someone else's car. That includes dropping that thing on the ground and causing scratches. Unless he provides proof that he had permission, he is getting a permanent ban. Edit: User has mod-mailed the team alleging an employee gave him permission while he stopped by to charge up, but also admitted employee was under NDA and could get in trouble. Because of NDA the employee cannot give him legal permission. To be honest, I don't believe the convenient story based on user's history and the video itself. The mods have discussed in detail, and determined that a 30 day ban is appropriate for /u/youyouxue._​
Looking at the video more closely:

The car is parked in a lot - you can see the white line denoting a parking space
It is night time.
He records the video with one hand, and removes the wheel with another hand.
If he really had the owner's permission, why wasn't the owner holding the camera?
He drops the cover on the ground when he gets it off, likely scraping an edge.
So, the information presented by that user is very well likely to be bogus.


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## Gabzqc (Oct 15, 2016)

garsh said:


> UPDDATE:
> 
> In the comments of this video in the Model 3 photo gallery is a post from a moderator on reddit, explaining why this video was removed from reddit:
> _I removed the video until the OP /u/youyouxue (who has a history of illegally obtaining pics/videos) answers whether he had permission to take the video. Since its at night and he has a history of issues (and isnt answering basic questions), I'm thinking he did that to someone else's car. That includes dropping that thing on the ground and causing scratches. Unless he provides proof that he had permission, he is getting a permanent ban. Edit: User has mod-mailed the team alleging an employee gave him permission while he stopped by to charge up, but also admitted employee was under NDA and could get in trouble. Because of NDA the employee cannot give him legal permission. To be honest, I don't believe the convenient story based on user's history and the video itself. The mods have discussed in detail, and determined that a 30 day ban is appropriate for /u/youyouxue._​
> ...


Now this makes me wonder how much a full set of Model 3 hubcaps would go for sale on the black market... and worry someone might steal them off my car pretty easily!


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## /billy (Aug 7, 2017)

I bought cheapy aftermarket hubcaps for my first car as a kid, and one came off somehow. Another one was taken temporarily by another kid in the neighborhood as a joke and then he put it back a week later. I'll be laughing if I see a m3 in 5 years with 3 hubcaps on. I'm definitely using tesla hubcaps for just road trips..............I think the wheels themselves would look better if they were unpainted though (all natural).


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