Blizzard Pearl or Classic Silver Metallic Owners: Input Wanted!

I have a Blizzard Pearl 2011 and the only time I have any real problem keeping it clean is in the winter.

 

Defiantly.
For me its the most aesthetically pleasing, by far.

And since you aren't as far north as me you probably won't have to deal with as much weather related nonsense.
I noticed very little in the summer. The interior gets a little dirty with the color being so light but with some general care it isn't a problem.

 

Aesthetics aside, white is the safest color in all lighting conditions (including fog).

Silver against an overcast sky ....almost disappears.

I wonder if there will be a way around the "fleet only" restriction for
plain white......??

 

My experience is the the Gen 3 silver looks white in low light conditions.

 

Hi Energy,

My comment is based on testing that Mercedes Benz did a long time ago.

They found that white is always most visible simply because it reflects the most light.


Cheers

 

I'm biased to my color.............but like the electric me said, just buy the color you want. What I really like about the 2010-2015 models is the lines...........it just looks cool sitting still!!

 

Classic Silver is classic!

 

I think the Silver looks sportier, more futuristic.... and the Blizzard Pearl looks more luxurious.

I was also torn by these two colors on the PiP... I was leaning toward preferring the silver, but I found the right deal on a BP one, and I'm very happy with it. I think I would have been very happy with the Silver, though, too.

Godzuki, your car, with those wheel, looks fantastic! Any noticeable hit to EV range/MPG? Those are from a CT200h, right?

 

Love my BP. I had silver before. Both good colors.

 

Seaglass Pearl also doesn't show dirt. I was shocked when I washed Pearl S last week how dirty she was.

 

If I had 2 do it again.....which I just did I'd get BP again

 

I bought Blizzard Pearl largely over its high reflectivity; the rationale being it would reflect sunlight to take some load off of the A/C in summer and also because it was easier to see at night. But I'd likely NOT buy Blizzard Pearl again for 2 reasons: 1: its price premium over standard paint has climbed from the $220. on my 2011 to $395. and 2: If you need body or touchup work done, the triple coat Blizzard Pearl is often hard for the shop to mix and surely adds some more to the bill. Frankly. I'd be more likely to get the classic silver metallic next time.

 

Funny you mention this. I had my car serviced last weekend and went out to the service drive to get it. I stood there waiting for a few minutes, then finally realized my car had already been brought out and I had been looking at it for a few minutes. From the distance I stood from the car I thought it was a white car...nope....it was my silver. heh heh

 

Thanks minnyprius yes, the rims are from the CT200h, and I swapped the Toyota logo'd center caps from the stock 15-in PiP rims to the Lexus rims so that the PiP still appears to be 100% factory stock.

The stock tire size for a Prius with 17in rims is 215/45-17. I'm rolling on 205/50-17s. And there is a hit to the MPGs, I'd say about 3-7 mpgs depending on conditions.

 

@Godzuki Which 205/50R17 did you go with? I've been toying with that off-and-on. Looks good, and the ride a little softer.

I wonder if I could convince Costco to do that though? If not, go elsewhere I guess.

 

Not a chance......if it wasn't a factory option.....Costco won't have any part of it for lilability reasons

 

BP looks good, but aside from the initial premium cost, any repainting for repairs comes at an increased cost as well. Matching painted panels becomes more difficult as well.

 

I went with Continental ControlContact Sport A/S tires through America's Tires. When I requested the 205/50s, the sales rep's main concern was with clearance, and they initially fitted a front tire to make sure there would be no rubbing against the inner wheel well (I already knew that the tire size would work because others on this forum have already done so). The 205/50s are just slightly larger in circumference than the standard 195/65-15s, and the odometer actually reads more accurately (with the 205/50s the odo shows about +1 mph over actual speed vs. +2mph over actual speed with the stock 195/65s).

As far as ride, the Continental tire has a load range rating of "XL" (extra load), whereas the factory OEM tires had an "SL" (standard load) rating. Tires with an XL load range have stiffer side walls to carry heavier loads. Therefore, the ride on a 205/50 XL rated tire can be stiffer with respect to a 215/45 17 SL rated tire even though the 205/50 tire has more sidewall height. I additionally have my psi set pretty high (45psi front, 43 psi rear) - max psi for this tire is 51 psi.

I've heard that Costco sticks only to original factory tire sizes as sfv41901 states above.