I've got 3 questions for you all: 1) What do you think looks better? Hubcaps or no hubcaps? I'll try to take better pictures tomorrow during the day. 2) If I buy aftermarket rims, how much would I be able to sell the hubcaps, wheels and tires? 3) I get free tires for life from the dealership but I have to have original factory equipment. Is it worth buying new rims or should I just keep the ones I have?
It's too bad Toyota's started painting the bare rims gloss black though, as opposed to silver. Like they're trying to further discourage people from removing the covers. Or what I don't know... The whole phenomena of plastic covers over alloy rims motivated us to go to the model with 17" rims, back when. Is Toyota unique among manufacturers, doing this?
That's true. Though I had my Mazda for 10 years and I only needed 2 sets of tires. I might just do that. I prefer the black over silver.
No brainer. I'm an old fart, so I'm not into the blackened-out wheel thing. It looks like somebody jacked your rims or you're driving a government vehicle......to me. However (comma!) I'm not the keeper of automotive trends. One of the GREAT things about being my age is that I can make the function/fashion choice a LOT more easily than I could when I was a kid. How much does it cost to re-tire a Prius? Here's a middle-of-the-road solution: Get rice-rims that are OEM sized. You'll have to pay to swap things back out when you chew through the tires, but if it nets you a free set of tires then you will at least not be out as much as the people that just buy aftermarket rims and throw the OEMs in the attic. Good Luck!
Not all Prius wheels are black. The v3 model has nice silver spoke wheels which look great to my eye when paired with a set of cheap plastic center caps. No idea why Toyota added the full wheel plastic hub caps as they do add a bit of unsprung weight. Also no idea if they add or subtract mileage.
I just took my car for a wash during my lunch break and I got clarification from the service manager. He said aftermarket rims can still qualify for free tires as long as I keep them same size (15"). Won't apply to 16" or 17".
In my best "THE GRADUATE / Mrs. Robinson" voice: "...one word son: aerodynamics..." The hubcaps disrupt airflow far less than do the bare wheel-rims.
Maybe, but, it took the hubcaps off mine and have not noticed any mpg difference. Even if, it looks SO MUCH better! iPad ? HD
Well, I have no explanation for your situation, but I can state there *IS* a reason all the Salt Lake race cars use smoothly-covered wheel covers: aerodynamics! So, what's your driving style: slowly (in city, urban) or fast (freeway, interstate, etc.)?
The vehicles at Salt Lake have a slightly higher speed to apply. I don't think even highway speeds would be great enough to affect the mpg noticeably.
Rough "rule-of-thumb" is that at 5o mph the aero drag hp equals the road load hp (~15-20 hp for newer cars), and climbs as "cube" of speed from there.
They just use 5 years as the life expectancy of tires so they can estimate your average savings. Free tires for life means free tires for life.
