VIN# 17K vs VIN# 74K & Cyber vs Core wheels

[Liberty1]

After nearly 40K miles - which included at least a dozen return trips from Florida to Canada and back - I traded in my 2024 Foundation Series AWD with Cyber wheels against a new 2025 AWD with Core wheels. Foundation Series was VIN 17XXX, the new one is VIN 74XXX. There are some very noticeable differences that may be of interest:

Tires/wheels: The most noticeable difference is the tires/wheels. Night and day reduction in sound, vibration, smoothness of ride. I don't particularly like the look of the (Core) all-season/ATR tires, but given that I do so many highway miles, the smoother ride is definitely a massive improvement. I have not yet driven enough to note any difference is range, but I expect that that will improve significantly as well. I remain a little concerned about cold weather performance, but I may solve that with snow tires or, more sensibly, avoiding Canada. (I'm Canadian, I'm allowed to say that.)

Reduction in wind noise: There is a very noticeable improvement (reduction) in wind noise on the highway. I'm not sure what they did to the front end panel gaps, but there appears to be better handling of air flow and consequent reduction in noise.

Quieter steering: The actuator/motor for the steering is substantially quieter. Very noticeable improvement in parking lots and at low speed. (Not that that bothered me before.)

Doors: The doors are even more solid feeling and close with even greater 'thunk'. They appear to be better fitted (even though I would never have thought the old ones were not).

Tailgate: Counter balance better so closing is much lighter.

Interior: Not an entirely fair comparison, because my old one had 40K miles on it, but the interior rattles and seat squeaks that were present in the old truck are not in this one. Feels as though there is better interior fit - even from my memory of the 2024 when it was new.

Summary: Tesla is getting even better at building the Cybertruck. It was great to start and it's even greater now.

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[Florida]

Great insight! I find it very interesting the incremental changes Tesla makes to improve the fit and finish of their product.

 

[BeFamousVideo]

After nearly 40K miles - which included at least a dozen return trips from Florida to Canada and back - I traded in my 2024 Foundation Series AWD with Cyber wheels against a new 2025 AWD with Core wheels. Foundation Series was VIN 17XXX, the new one is VIN 74XXX. There are some very noticeable differences that may be of interest:

Tires/wheels: The most noticeable difference is the tires/wheels. Night and day reduction in sound, vibration, smoothness of ride. I don't particularly like the look of the (Core) all-season/ATR tires, but given that I do so many highway miles, the smoother ride is definitely a massive improvement. I have not yet driven enough to note any difference is range, but I expect that that will improve significantly as well. I remain a little concerned about cold weather performance, but I may solve that with snow tires or, more sensibly, avoiding Canada. (I'm Canadian, I'm allowed to say that.)

Reduction in wind noise: There is a very noticeable improvement (reduction) in wind noise on the highway. I'm not sure what they did to the front end panel gaps, but there appears to be better handling of air flow and consequent reduction in noise.

Quieter steering: The actuator/motor for the steering is substantially quieter. Very noticeable improvement in parking lots and at low speed. (Not that that bothered me before.)

Doors: The doors are even more solid feeling and close with even greater 'thunk'. They appear to be better fitted (even though I would never have thought the old ones were not).

Tailgate: Counter balance better so closing is much lighter.

Interior: Not an entirely fair comparison, because my old one had 40K miles on it, but the interior rattles and seat squeaks that were present in the old truck are not in this one. Feels as though there is better interior fit - even from my memory of the 2024 when it was new.

Summary: Tesla is getting even better at building the Cybertruck. It was great to start and it's even greater now.

Very interesting differences. To truly know if my CT is different would obviously require me driving a newer one. My vin is under 10,000. So probably a very early build and its a beast so I hoped that there was maybe a little extra love during assembly. Your assessment of tire noise is interesting. I do like the AT tires and can't imagine not replacing with same. But unlike you I don't get to drive much. My truck has zero interior squeaks and I really don't notice any wind noise but maybe there is IDK. The doors do have an awesome thunk sound when they close and are uniquely precise. The doors barely need to be pushed to close completely. Thanks for your post.

 

[Fugue]

I went from core wheels to the winter tire package. There's a noticeable difference in noise, but I got used to it quickly. For me it's worth the tradeoff to be always ready for mud and snow.

 

[TS_Buffalo]

I made a similar swap from a 4,000 VIN Foundation Series to a 73,000 VIN AWD and I confirm all the same improvements you mentioned. I hadn't realized the vibrating, shaking driver's side door and mirror and accompanying weird drum sound when you closed the door weren't just the way all CyberTrucks were until I got my new truck. Much better "thunk" sound and no more vibrating and shaking at freeway speeds on the new one.

From a hardware perspective, I was happy to see that the new CT included the improved wireless charger component that greatly improved wireless charging (I had this part swapped in my old model and saw a big reduction in overheating while charging my phone).

I thought they would have made it standard on the new models to include the tonneau slat change that is supposed to reduce water intrusion into the bed, but my new model still has the first slat with the holes in it like the early models.

I wasn't sure if I would miss the white interior panels but the grey actually look better and I don't miss the cellulite lumpy looking white panels after all.

They got rid of the metal slats in the lower storage area in the center of the front row in favor of all plastic black. Supposed to help with less creaking noises I guess but I didn't notice any noise coming from there personally.

Wish they had stuck with metal balls instead of switching to plastic on the steering wheel, but I've heard people complained that the metal parts got too hot in the summer.

The finish on the stainless steel panels is much improved, much more consistent. My early model had weird splotches on different spots and the panels all had razor sharp edges that I had to sand down or risk slicing fingers. All that is fixed on the new model.

All-in-all, huge improvements.

 

[Liberty1]

I made a similar swap from a 4,000 VIN Foundation Series to a 73,000 VIN AWD and I confirm all the same improvements you mentioned. I hadn't realized the vibrating, shaking driver's side door and mirror and accompanying weird drum sound when you closed the door weren't just the way all CyberTrucks were until I got my new truck. Much better "thunk" sound and no more vibrating and shaking at freeway speeds on the new one.

From a hardware perspective, I was happy to see that the new CT included the improved wireless charger component that greatly improved wireless charging (I had this part swapped in my old model and saw a big reduction in overheating while charging my phone).

I thought they would have made it standard on the new models to include the tonneau slat change that is supposed to reduce water intrusion into the bed, but my new model still has the first slat with the holes in it like the early models.

I wasn't sure if I would miss the white interior panels but the grey actually look better and I don't miss the cellulite lumpy looking white panels after all.

They got rid of the metal slats in the lower storage area in the center of the front row in favor of all plastic black. Supposed to help with less creaking noises I guess but I didn't notice any noise coming from there personally.

Wish they had stuck with metal balls instead of switching to plastic on the steering wheel, but I've heard people complained that the metal parts got too hot in the summer.

The finish on the stainless steel panels is much improved, much more consistent. My early model had weird splotches on different spots and the panels all had razor sharp edges that I had to sand down or risk slicing fingers. All that is fixed on the new model.

All-in-all, huge improvements.

I have noticed all of these additional things, too (except my phone charger still sucks!). Thanks for making the list more comprehensive. I also opted for the tactical grey interior and I do prefer it -- although the white is also a beauty.

One additional observation: I have noted from snooping on other people's trucks that the wheel covers on the Core wheels seem to more easily scrape the rims when being installed/removed. Since I am regularly inflating and deflating tires because of radical differences in temperature (Canada vs Florida over a 2 day drive), I removed the wheel covers and bought some inexpensive lug covers. I know this is an issue with the Cyber wheel covers, too, but they don't seem to be quite as bad.

 

[TS_Buffalo]

I installed the aero covers on my Cyber wheels once I received them (didn't come originally with my FS model) and kept them on full time until one got ripped off in a car wash. In the process one of the clips that hold the aero cover on broke so I decided to just take them all off and noticed pretty bad wear on the wheels. The locations where the aero covers clipped on were worn down to the metal. So it does happen on the cyber wheels as well. I also noticed the same thing in the past with the model y and model 3.

On this new CT I've opted to just never put the aero covers on the Core wheels ... mostly because I think the covers are ugly, but also to prevent damage to the finish of the wheels.

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