Opinions please, Hybrid vs Efficient ICE Car. Is it worth the investment?

The 215/45r17 on OEM rims impact mpg for a variety of reasons. First off, and my back tells me all about it every time I'm putting ours back on: the 17" rims are PORKERS, weighing in at about 24+ pounds per, vs maybe 16 pounds for the OEM 15" rims.

Then, the 17" tires are heavier, maybe 3~4 pounds per.

Then, with both the rims and tires, the weight is further out from the centre, so more centrifugal force to start them rolling.

And also, the tire is wider, bigger contact patch, more friction, more air resistance. Well a bit lol.

And tire choices are different than in 15", no Michelin Energy Savers for example. FWIW, my short list in 17" is Michelin Primacy HXM4, for now.

 

For me, I bought the Prius not only to lower my gas costs, but to keep from having to buy fuel pumps, water pumps, AC pumps, computer replacements, brake discs, brake pads.............in otherwords, all the little "annoying" repairs that come up at 30, 40 and 50 thousand miles (or within the first 3 years of making payments) with conventional cars. Don't get me wrong, I still want to get my hands on a hobby car (and I probably will again some day), but I no longer want my main source of transportation to be my main source of aggravation. So, with that being said, please look at how often a Prius needs to have a major brake job within 4 years of ownership versus other non hybrid vehicles. Most people here in Priuschat within the first 4 years just needed to lubricate the caliper bolts, which is minimal. In my other non hybrid, non Toyota cars, I had to replace "defective" brake discs at 40 thousand miles!! I currently am just under 25k and as usual, my Toyota Prius is rolling just fine. Basically, to answer your question, it is a personal decision. I wish you the best in yours.

 

If you drive 75-80mph, having 17" rims/tires, and still get 48.8mpg calculated on the tank, you are doing very very very well! I get 50-52mpg calculated recent months (warm and dryer weather) but it's mainly due to the bay area gridlock commute, my average speed is only 25-27mph dash indicated. On weekends drive to work near speed limits 62-65mph is when my gas mileage suffers and trip A average mpg being pulled down. I probably get similar to yours at 48mpg if I have a full tank at freeway speed.

 

I think you will do just fine by that tire size (but sure LRR tires will be great); I will be looking into 215/50R17 tires once my 215/45 are done/worn. I previously had read a post about correcting the true speed by using a taller diameter size to offset the 2-3% difference or calling it the revs/mile standard or something like that. Bob Wilson had written up using tire size for that effect but doing a search couldn't find me the correct post.

 

My 2 cents: stick with stock 215/45R17, or 205/50R15 which is actually slightly closer in OD of 195/65R15, the stock 15" size. Adjusting tire OD to match the (mandated) speedo error seems a fools mission: throws off the odo.

 

With 215/45R17 tires my speedometer at 65 MPH, my GPS is showing 63. Going with a taller OD tires like 215/50R17 will be at true speed display by speedometer.

BTW, with the 2.5% increased in distance travel with this tire size, for every 100,000 miles shown on the Odometer, actual distance driven would be 102,500 miles, which means 5 full tanks of gasoline free. I should had done it right off the bat when my car was brand new (LOl I was only kidding, don't throw bottles at me.)

 

Good to hear.

What are the tires again?

 

A gentleman recently posted info about tire trade offs, Low Rolling Resistance vs. Wet Traction, Cornering Ability, Braking etc. Sorry I don't remember the post (old memory here!), but what I did get from his post was that you give up braking ability/traction when you go with LRR tires; this has been my experience with my Honda Insight Coupe: great mileage, poor stopping/tracking with LRRs; big loss in mileage (10 miles+) and much better stopping/tracking with "normal" tires.


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If they're not giving you any trouble yeah: wear 'em out!