21" wheels and living in a big city with bad roads

masmole

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It's a given that 21" wheels are lovely and really makes the car, whether Mission E, RS Spyders, or blades.

For this reason alone, I know many of you have thrown caution to wind and went with 21" wheels despite living and driving daily in an urban setting with very bad roads, lots of potholes, and cruel winters.

Are there any 21" wheel Taycan owners who drive the 21" all year in such hostile roads? Please share what city, how long you've been doing it, how lucky or unlucky you've been so far, and would you do it again or considering going down to 20".

I had 21" wheels in my former RS7 and though that only had 295 versus the Taycan's 305s, I still had very bad luck picking up nails, screws, and damaged tires from hard hits on potholes and road hazards, resulting in having to purchase 5 new tires in only the 2 years I ran the 21". I currently have have the 21" Spyders spec'd in my GTS order but not entirely convinced I want to go down that road again, and considering changing it to the less attractive 20" Turbo S Aero wheels. I live in Chicago. Roads are awful where I frequently drive through. But those black RS Spyders are so beautiful though... so maybe worth it? :)
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whan

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It seems there are a number of folks here who have damaged their 21s (beyond just curb rash) from potholes, but haven't heard of anyone who has damaged the 20s. I'm in the same boat and for peace of mind am going to go with the 20s, particularly for a DD. Significant upside to range as well. There are also some decent looking aftermarket 20" options that you can switch to later if you tire of the Turbo S Aeros
 

wurzitup

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I have only had my car almost 3 months with the Mission E's and 21s, but have some observations.
I just did a 500 mile round trip this past weekend on very poor, potholed, coastal roads that people are very familiar with being poor. I live in Northern California on relatively poor highways roads with some moderate potholes and highway expansion joints.

This being said- I find the ride with the 21's very very comfortable, and have had no issues yet with wheel damage. I keep my eyes peeled very closely while driving so as to avoid potholes, and have had few big "cringe-worthy" hits, but thankfully no tire or wheel damage yet. I did opt to purchase the wheel and tire insurance for this reason.

My thought is- if you hit a pretty big pothole, you are going to damage either a 21, or a 20 wheel and tire, and if you are exceptionally careful, you can mitigate the risk. Obviously, the risk is higher with the 21s than the 20,

At the end of the day for me- I really don't like the look of the 20's, and the fantastic look of the Mission E's I'm willing to accept the increased risk of damage. I love the look of them, and get constant compliments on the wheels in particular.

Hope this helps your decision making.
 

NoobTaycan

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Watching this thread, Boston here so have considered going with 20s for the same reasons. Currently have an order in for a GTS ST w/ 21 RS Spyders (no allocation yet, so who knows when it'll actually get here *shrug*)
 

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+1

Freeze date 16 days out. Going back and forth with this concern. Heart says 21s, brain says 20s. The roads here in NY are atrocious.
 


whan

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The Mission E wheel is beautiful, but my brain won out in the end. Between the range hit, significant price increase w/ PCSB, possible slight ride quality loss, and pothole risk (our cars are as heavy as a BMW X5) was hard to justify doing the 21 for looks (and I'm going to lower my car+spacers).

If Mission E didn't require PCSB and there wasn't as big a range hit, I'd probably have spec'd them and dealt with the pothole risk and other downsides.

In the end I was also convinced by @Raek 's pictures of his lowered and spacer'd Taycan on the 20" Turbo Aero which I thought looked great

https://www.taycanforum.com/forum/threads/a-bit-of-a-drop-lowering-links-and-some-spacers.2758/
 

zzy45

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This was my biggest mental debate with my GTS build.

I was constantly thinking about it, posted a question here asking fellow members. I even texted my SA one night and asked him to add the RS wheel but 20 minutes later texted again recalling that inquiry.

It was NOT A EASY DECISION! But I decided to stay with the standard.

Honestly there are pro and con for both routes. Now the spec is locked and the car is awaiting production, I am just a happy camper waiting for it to get built.

Just sharing my 2c.
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philbur

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only mistake i made in my build was the 21s! had all of them straightened (only one was really bad - rear left).. i will be buying 19's for winters. i love the look, but its a big heavy car - just wish the design on the 19 was awesome. maybe ill go 20, but want 19 winters.
 

AlexG

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21. Looks > Potholes which you can avoid
We recently moved to a semi-rural area with many potholed roads, and have already had a bubble on my rental EQC (which is extremely heavy). I am going with 20s (I have a ST GTS and Turbo on order, but the Turbo got allocated first so going with that) because apart from not wanting tiny sidewalls ruining ride, range, risking damage, and making me stick to main roads and missing out on the fun country lanes - I just don't agree the 21s look any better. This may be controversial here but in my opinion they can make you look like a dealer and the car cartoonish. The mission e on some colours look awful - IMHO! On the GTS, specifically, I just don't get the strong opinions on this site that the Spyder 21s look amazing and the standard 20s rubbish. The 20s look awesome to my eye, and the 21s a bit "aftermarket" given the skinny rubber and proximity to the wheelarch - and in fact Porsche use a mixture of both in their PR pics. Each to their own, but just wanted to point out not everyone prefers the biggest wheels available aesthetically. Otherwise you end up here:
Porsche Taycan 21" wheels and living in a big city with bad roads 1648120845706
 
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AlexG

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From Porsche's landing page - I do like the Spyders, but the 20s are no less attractive to my eye, and arguably better suited to an EV and just better looking
Porsche Taycan 21" wheels and living in a big city with bad roads 1648119959117
 
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gusone

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We recently moved to a semi-rural area with many potholed roads, and have already had a bubble on my rental EQC (which is extremely heavy). I am going with 20s (I have a ST GTS and Turbo on order, but the Turbo got allocated first so going with that) because apart from not wanting tiny sidewalls ruining ride, range, risking damage, and making me stick to main roads and missing out on the fun country lanes - I just don't agree the 21s look any better. This may be controversial here but in my opinion they can make you look like a dealer and the car cartoonish. The mission e on some colours look awful - IMHO! On the GTS, specifically, I just don't get the strong opinions on this site that the Spyder 21s look amazing and the standard 20s rubbish. The 20s look awesome to my eye, and the 21s a bit "aftermarket" given the skinny rubber and proximity to the wheelarch - and in fact Porsche use a mixture of both in their PR pics. Each to their own, but just wanted to point out not everyone prefers the biggest wheels available aesthetically. Otherwise you end up here:
1648120845706.png
Best 21s imho

Porsche Taycan 21" wheels and living in a big city with bad roads IMG_20220314_123102
 

ciaranob

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Houston here - at 2300 miles mostly city driving - truly horrendous side roads in our general neighborhood but the same over a lot of Houston - however, a little to my surprise, 21"s have been excellent. Had 19"'s on my M4 that felt harsher (but of course entirely diff suspension) - for me the 21's just look too good not to have on this car but as always a very personal decision.

Porsche Taycan 21" wheels and living in a big city with bad roads IMG_5239
 
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raharris

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21s and then take the Porsche wheel and tire insurance?

I’m in Ohio, not great roads but only got 1500 miles so far - so to early to report much. I didn’t take the insurance, hoping I won’t regret that based on comments here…
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