Installed G35 wheels

[knightarmor]

I'm surprised you went with 235's, those are too large and too wide to begin with. Did you weigh the factory 16's and compare that to the 17" setup? I found that weight was the biggest factor for me improving from going from the factory Leaf 17" wheel to the G35 17" wheels. If you can weigh the factory 16"s (wheel/tire combo) and post up that would be great!

I didn't see too much of a reduction in range even with my winter tires on the 17's, I did maintain the 215/50-17 size though.

I'd also be interested to know what brand tires you purchased, if they were cheapo tires those are usually pretty heavy.

 

[garsh]

According to the wiki, the OEM 16" wheel/tire combo weighs 39 lbs. I measured my 17" fronts as 49 lbs, and the rears as 50 lbs. The rear tires I bought weigh 28.7 lbs, so the 8" wide rims must be ~21 lbs. I couldn't find specs online for the front tires (Capitol UHP)

I measured the circumference of the new tires at 81". The fronts & rears match (within a quarter inch), so I don't think my problems with the stability control are due to mismatched tire circumference. I measured a new set of OEM 205/55R16 as 77", so that's a 5.2% increase in circumference.

Taking that circumference difference into account, the 3.8 miles/kWh reported by the leaf is actually (3.8 * 1.052 =) 4.0 miles/kWh. Still a 20% drop in efficiency.

The 235 tire size appears perfect for these wheels - they don't appear to be too wide at all. I can see the large increase weight being a contributing factor to my efficiency drop. I imagine the huge increase in contact patch is the main factor though.

I've decided to try sticking with this new set for a month. That should be about 1000 miles of commuting. We'll see if the efficiency improves at all by the end.

 

[Mrelectric]

Taking that circumference difference into account, the 3.8 miles/kWh reported by the leaf is actually (3.8 * 1.052 =) 4.0 miles/kWh. Still a 20% drop in efficiency.

.

20% loss in efficiency is hard to swallow yet having cool looking wheels is one of the core nessecities of modern society. If you want nice big rims and efficiency too what about tires and wheels like the new BMW i3. They are very tall and narrow, maybe 20" and less than 200mm wide.

 

[garsh]

I finished plasti-dipping the wheels. My wife thought the flat-black looked a little too "gangster", so I added two light coats of silver metalizer to make them look a little more like gunmetal-grey. The wheels almost look like they're made of granite now.

To solve the problem with the centercaps not fitting on the front, I covered that hole with a piece of paper before applying the plasti-dip. It actually worked pretty well. We'll see if it holds up ok. I can't see why not.

Click on picture for a larger version:

 

[garsh]

If you want nice big rims and efficiency too what about tires and wheels like the new BMW i3. They are very tall and narrow

Not the style I like. As an older fella, I prefer the tires to not be that thin. I like nice wide wheels with a good helping of rubber.

But as you say, if I want that look, I need to pay the price in range. I'll try to keep track of the efficiency and see if it gets any better.

 

[garsh]

To solve the problem with the centercaps not fitting on the front, I covered that hole with a piece of paper before applying the plasti-dip. It actually worked pretty well. We'll see if it holds up ok. I can't see why not.

So, the plasti-dip didn't really "glue" them to the rest of the wheel like I thought it would. I lost one of them.

I purchased two 1.5" knockout seals from Home Depot. I'll use a ball-peen hammer to hammer a little dome shape into it so that it clears the protruding shaft. Once I finish plasti-dipping it I'll see if they'll work better. I can't see why not.

 

[garsh]

I'm noticing a bit of torque steer with the new wheels.
If I'm cruising down the highway, and then punch the accelerator, it pulls to the right.
I don't remember this happening with the old wheels, but it could be selective memory.

 

[philipscoggins]

So, did you end up keeping them?

Efficency improve any?

I think with a 60 mile commute you won't be able to keep these wheels on for too long. I have a 72 mile round trip commute & have to level 1 charge at work now, especially now that I'm using heat in the morning. 52,000 miles, almost 2 year old LEAF. I average 5.2 m/kWh in summer, down to upper 4's now that its cooling down.

Your wheels do look very cool though.

 

[Nubo]

I finished plasti-dipping the wheels. My wife thought the flat-black looked a little too "gangster", so I added two light coats of silver metalizer to make them look a little more like gunmetal-grey. The wheels almost look like they're made of granite now.

To solve the problem with the centercaps not fitting on the front, I covered that hole with a piece of paper before applying the plasti-dip. It actually worked pretty well. We'll see if it holds up ok. I can't see why not.

I plasti-dipped my wheels early on and just removed it last week when returning the lease. The coating was still in great shape. And it only took a few minutes per wheel to peel off most of the plasti-dip. What remained was inside the lug holes, and that was easily removed with a bit of naphtha (lighter fluid) on a cloth. The wheels were absolutely pristine.

 

[garsh]

So, did you end up keeping them?
Efficency improve any?

Yes, I'm keeping them. Efficiency doesn't seem to have improved any, even after a few thousand miles. But I have L2 charging at work, and I can L1 charge at home, so I won't be left stranded.

I plasti-dipped my wheels early on and just removed it last week when returning the lease. The coating was still in great shape. And it only took a few minutes per wheel to peel off most of the plasti-dip. What remained was inside the lug holes, and that was easily removed with a bit of naphtha (lighter fluid) on a cloth. The wheels were absolutely pristine.

I think I'm going to have to redo my wheels. I have a good bit of roughness in my finish, and I found out later that it's due to putting on the coats too lightly from too far away. The result is that dirt clings to the finish easier, making them look dirty almost all of the time. But like you said, it's easy to take off, and not too expensive to put on again.

What I might end up doing is buying some smaller & lighter tires. The wheels themselves weigh about the same as the 16" OEM. So with a set of LRR tires I bet the mileage hit wouldn't be nearly as bad.

 

[garsh]

We had two days of really nice weather, so I did a couple of 55mph runs on the way home to compare against previous runs on the old tires. The new tires now have 2000-3000 miles on them, so they finally seem to be sufficiently broken in.

Actual distance traveled (as determined by Google Maps): 29.6 miles. The car now reports fewer, due to the larger tire circumference.

Reported: 62°, 28.4 miles, 4.2 miles/kWh, 86 GIDs
Adjusted: 29.6 miles -> 4.4 miles/kWh

Reported: 67°, 28.4 miles, 4.3 miles/kWh 84 GIDs
Adjusted: 29.6 miles -> 4.5 miles/kWh

Previous runs w. old tires:
83°, 29.7 miles, 4.7 miles/kWh, 84 GIDs
81°, 29.5 miles, 4.3 miles/kWh, 88 GIDs (slightly damp roads)
81°, 29.8 miles, 4.8 miles/kWh (didn't record GIDs)
So things are actually looking a lot better. More like a 10% drop in range.

 

[Perrin21]

You should give Oz Superlegerra (Superlight) or Ultralegerra (Ultralight) wheels a try. Id bet you could go up to an 18in with a low rolling resistance tyre on the leaf without an impact on range.

 

[knightarmor]

The Ultralegerra's are not that light, I have them for my race car in 17" and my old 17" and 18" 5Zigen FN01R-C's were lighter. But I still like the OZ's.

Winter has finally arrived!