Tesla Model 3 18-Inch UP-03 Wheel and Winter Tire Package

A Dedicated Winter Set, Not a Seasonal Compromise

Most Tesla Model 3 owners handle winter one of two ways. They run all-seasons year round and accept less grip when it counts, or they pay a shop to dismount summer tires, mount winter tires, rebalance everything, and then do it all again in spring. The first option costs you traction. The second costs you money every year, puts wear on your bead seats, and leaves your good wheels sitting in road salt for five months.

The UP-03 18-Inch Winter Wheel & Tire Package solves both problems at once. You get four forged UP-03 wheels in 18×9 +20, four dedicated winter tires, four TPMS sensors, and mount and balance labor. The set arrives ready to bolt on. When the weather turns, you swap wheels in your own garage in under an hour. When spring arrives, you swap back. No mounting fees, no bead damage, no TPMS relearn drama, and your summer wheels never see a single mile of salted road.

Fits Every Tesla Model 3, Including Cars Delivered on 19-Inch and 20-Inch Wheels

This package fits all Tesla Model 3 years and trims, whether your car came from the factory on 18-inch Aero wheels, 19-inch Sport wheels, or 20-inch Uberturbines. Going down to 18 inches for winter is the right move regardless of what your car wears the rest of the year.

The reason is sidewall. The 245/45R18 winter tire gives you substantially more sidewall than a 20-inch setup, and that sidewall is your first line of defense against the specific damage winter causes. Frost heave, frozen potholes, and the ridges that form where plows have scraped pavement are all impact events. More sidewall means more of that impact gets absorbed by rubber instead of transmitted into the wheel. It also means a more forgiving ride on roads that will not be repaired until spring.

The Most Race-Tested Wheel in the Tesla Aftermarket

The UP-03 is not a winter-specific wheel. It is the wheel that has set records at Pikes Peak, Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow, and Tsukuba, and Unplugged Performance has never received a single report of a bent UP-03 across street, track, or off-road use. That track record is the reason it makes sense as a winter wheel.

The wheel is forged from 6061-T6 aerospace-grade aluminum. Forging compresses the grain structure of the metal rather than pouring it into a mold, which produces a wheel that resists impact rather than cracking under it. The spokes use an I-beam architecture that eliminates flex under cornering and braking loads, and the barrel is knurled to reduce tire slip under hard acceleration. Every size carries a 1,984 lb load rating per wheel.

On a winter set, all of that translates directly. Winter driving is impact driving. The forged construction is the difference between a wheel that shrugs off a frozen pothole and one that needs replacing in February.

Square Fitment for Rotation and Longer Tire Life

This package runs a square 18×9 +20 fitment, meaning identical wheels and tires at all four corners. That lets you rotate front to rear on a normal schedule.

Rotation matters more on a winter set than most owners expect. A Model 3 puts torque down hard, and regenerative braking loads the driven axle every time you lift. Over a few winters, that produces meaningfully uneven wear if the tires never move. Rotating spreads it out, which stretches the life of a set of winter tires across more seasons. Winter tires that last four winters instead of three change the math on the whole package.

Why a Dedicated Winter Tire Beats an All-Season

The compound is the entire argument. All-season tires are formulated to survive summer heat, which means they stiffen as temperatures drop. Below roughly 45 degrees Fahrenheit they begin to lose the flexibility that lets tread blocks conform to the road surface. A winter tire uses a compound engineered to stay pliable in exactly those conditions, and a tread pattern with sipes that bite into snow and channel away slush.

That difference shows up before there is any snow on the ground. On a cold, dry morning in December, a winter tire is already outperforming an all-season, and on a Model 3 with instant torque and regen loading the rear axle, that margin is worth having.

Tire Options for the UP-03 18-Inch Winter Package

Two winter tires are offered, both in 245/45R18, and they solve different problems. Every package includes four UP-03 forged wheels, four winter tires, four TPMS sensors, and mount and balance labor.

Vredestein Wintrac Pro Winter Wheel & Tire Package

Includes:

• 4 UP-03 18×9 +20 forged wheels in Gloss Black, Satin Black, Satin Bronze, or Satin Titanium
• 4 Vredestein Wintrac Pro winter tires in 245/45R18
• 4 TPMS sensors
• Mount and balance labor

Best for: Drivers who want a winter tire that still drives like a performance tire. The Wintrac Pro is an ultra-high-performance winter tire, not a soft touring compound, and it earns strong marks for dry grip, wet braking, and steering response alongside its snow performance. It suits Model 3 owners who spend most of their winter miles on cleared roads with periodic snow, and who do not want the car to feel vague the other 90 percent of the time. Reviewers also consistently rate it well for tread life, which pairs naturally with the rotation this square fitment enables.

Michelin X-Ice Snow Winter Wheel & Tire Package

Includes:

• 4 UP-03 18×9 +20 forged wheels in Gloss Black, Satin Black, Satin Bronze, or Satin Titanium
• 4 Michelin X-Ice Snow winter tires in 245/45R18
• 4 TPMS sensors
• Mount and balance labor

Best for: Drivers who face real ice and sustained deep cold rather than occasional snow. The X-Ice Snow is a studless ice and snow specialist built on a full silica-based compound formulated to stay flexible in severe cold, with a rigid polymer inclusion in the tread that adds bite where a softer compound alone would slip. Michelin cites ice braking distances up to 2.7 meters shorter than a leading competitor. On an 18-inch fitment, which already gives you the most sidewall available for a Model 3, pairing it with the most ice-capable tire in the range produces the most conservative, highest-margin winter setup you can build for the car. Choose this if black ice, packed snow that never fully clears, or weeks below freezing are a normal part of your season.

What the Package Saves You Over Time

A separate winter set looks like an expense in year one and turns into a savings by year three. You stop paying seasonal mount and balance fees on two sets of tires. You stop putting your summer wheels through five months of salt, brine, and curb-side snowbanks. Both sets of tires last longer because neither is being used outside the temperature range it was designed for. And your summer tires spend the winter in a garage instead of hardening and wearing on cold pavement.

Add the forged strength of the UP-03 and the rotation the square fitment allows, and this is a package that pays for itself in avoided costs while giving you a genuinely safer car for five months of the year.