Tesla Model S 19-Inch UP-03 Wheel and Winter Tire Package

Winter Is Harder on a Model S Than on Anything Else

The Model S is the hardest case in the lineup. It weighs well over 4,500 pounds, it carries that weight low and long, and in Plaid form it delivers more torque than almost anything on the road. Every one of those characteristics makes winter more demanding.

Weight means longer stopping distances and more momentum to manage once grip is lost. Torque means the ability to overwhelm a tire’s grip almost instantly, and unlike a combustion car there is no ramp-up to warn you. Long wheelbase and low ride height mean the car does not appreciate deep snow or the ruts that form in it. And most Model S cars, particularly Plaids, come on 21-inch wheels with very little sidewall between the rim and pavement that will be at its worst for five straight months.

The UP-03 19-Inch Wheel and Winter Tire Package addresses all of it in one purchase.

Why 19 Inches Is the Right Winter Answer for a Model S

Dropping from a factory 21-inch setup to this 19×9.5 ET35 fitment on a 255/45ZR19 winter tire changes the car substantially.

The sidewall gain is the headline. A 255/45R19 has significantly more sidewall than the low-profile 21-inch tires the car likely wears now, and that sidewall does two jobs. It absorbs the impacts that define winter roads, protecting the wheel from frost-heaved pavement and potholes that open overnight. And it softens the ride considerably on surfaces that will not see a repair crew until spring.

The overall diameter stays close to factory, so the car’s speedometer, odometer, and range estimation remain accurate, and the stability systems continue working from the wheel speed data they expect.

There is also a grip argument. A narrower, taller tire concentrates the car’s substantial weight over a smaller contact patch, which helps it cut down through snow toward pavement rather than floating on top of it. On a car as heavy as a Model S, that pressure works in your favor.

A Squared Fitment on a Model S, Which Is Not Standard

Most Model S wheel setups are staggered, with wider wheels at the rear. It looks right and suits a rear-biased performance car, but it means the front and rear tires can never be swapped.

This package runs a squared 19×9.5 ET35 fitment, with identical wheels and tires at all four corners. That makes front-to-rear rotation possible.

On a Model S the value of that is unusually high. The car is heavy and, in dual-motor and Plaid form, applies enormous torque through both axles with aggressive regenerative braking loading them on every lift. Winter tires, with their softer compounds and heavily siped tread, wear faster under that loading than summer rubber would. Without rotation, a set of Model S winter tires can be finished well before their tread depth suggests. Squared fitment plus regular rotation is what turns a three-season set into a four-season set, and on 255-width winter tires that is a substantial saving.

The Most Race-Tested Wheel in the Tesla Aftermarket

The UP-03 has set records at Pikes Peak, Laguna Seca, Buttonwillow Raceway, and Tsukuba Circuit, and across street, track, and off-road use Unplugged Performance has never received a single report of a bent UP-03.

The wheel is forged from 6061-T6 aerospace-grade aluminum, a process that compresses and aligns the metal’s grain structure to resist impact rather than crack under it. The spokes use an I-beam architecture to eliminate flex under cornering and braking loads, which on a car of this weight and power is a genuine engineering requirement rather than a marketing detail. The barrel is knurled to prevent tire slip under hard acceleration, which matters more on a Plaid than on almost anything else built. Every size carries a 1,984 lb load rating per wheel.

Winter driving and track driving stress a wheel in the same way: sudden, high-magnitude loads into a wheel that is already carrying weight. A design proven at Pikes Peak has nothing to fear from a February pothole.

Tire Options for the UP-03 19-Inch Wheel and Winter Tire Package

Both tires come in 255/45ZR19. Every package includes four UP-03 forged wheels, four tires, four TPMS sensors, and mount and balance labor.

Michelin X-Ice Snow Wheel and Winter Tire Package

Includes:

• 4 UP-03 19×9.5 ET35 forged wheels in Gloss Black, Satin Black, Satin Bronze, or Satin Titanium
• 4 Michelin X-Ice Snow winter tires in 255/45ZR19
• 4 TPMS sensors
• Mount and balance labor

Best for: Model S owners dealing with ice, packed snow, and sustained subfreezing temperatures. The X-Ice Snow is a studless ice and snow specialist built on a full silica-based compound that stays flexible in severe cold, with a rigid polymer inclusion in the tread for additional grip, and Michelin cites ice braking distances up to 2.7 meters shorter than a leading competitor. On a vehicle this heavy, braking distance is the specification that matters most, and this is the tire that shortens it on the worst surfaces.

Vredestein Wintrac Pro Wheel and Winter Tire Package

Includes:

• 4 UP-03 19×9.5 ET35 forged wheels in Gloss Black, Satin Black, Satin Bronze, or Satin Titanium
• 4 Vredestein Wintrac Pro winter tires in 255/45ZR19
• 4 TPMS sensors
• Mount and balance labor

Best for: Model S owners whose winters mean cold, rain, and periodic snow rather than months of ice, and who want the car to still feel like a Model S. The Wintrac Pro is an ultra-high-performance winter tire rated for speeds up to 300 km/h, and it holds dry grip, wet braking, and steering precision at a level most winter tires cannot approach. For a car that covers long highway distances in winter, that composure at speed is worth a great deal.

Pirelli P Zero Winter Staggered Wheel and Winter Tire Package

Includes:

• 4 UP-05 forged wheels, 19×9.5 ET35 front and 19×10.5 ET35 rear, in Gloss Black, Satin Black, Satin Bronze, or Satin Titanium
• 2 Pirelli P Zero Winter front tires in 255/45R19
• 2 Pirelli P Zero Winter rear tires in 285/40R19, T0 Tesla specification
• 4 TPMS sensors
• Mount and balance labor

Best for:
Owners who want the factory staggered stance without the factory cast wheel. This package matches Tesla’s own Model S 19-inch winter specification exactly: 9.5-inch front and 10.5-inch rear widths, 255/45R19 and 285/40R19, on the Pirelli P Zero Winter. It is the fitment Tesla engineers chose for a Model S in snow, built on a forged 6061-T6 wheel instead of the OEM piece, and offered in four finishes rather than one.

The P Zero Winter is Pirelli’s performance winter tire for premium and prestige vehicles, 3PMSF rated for severe snow service, and the 285/40R19 rear carries the T0 Tesla homologation. That rear width puts substantially more rubber under the axle doing the most work, which on a Plaid is the axle that will ask the most of it.

The trade is worth stating plainly. A staggered setup cannot rotate front to rear, so the rears wear faster and you will replace them sooner than a squared set. Choose this if the stance and the rear traction matter more to you than tire life. If you would rather stretch a set of winter tires across an extra season, take one of the squared packages above.

The Ownership Math

A Model S with 21-inch wheels running all-season or summer tires through winter is expensive in ways that do not show up on one invoice. Low-profile tires on frost-heaved pavement damage wheels. Salt and brine attack finishes for five months. A tire compound outside its designed temperature range wears faster and grips worse simultaneously.

A dedicated winter set on its own forged wheels ends all three. Your 21-inch wheels spend winter indoors. Your summer tires do not harden on cold pavement. Your winter tires operate only in the conditions they were built for, and squared fitment lets you rotate them so they last.

Layer on a forged wheel with a 1,984 lb load rating and a record of never bending, and you have a winter setup that suits the most demanding car in the lineup.