Is There ANY good thing about "Touring" 16" Wheels and Tires?

All Toyotas with standard tire sizes read mph fast by design to ensure the reading is not low. If you read the mph using a scanner or obd2 device it is more accurate.

The two stock sizes are within 0.1% of each other based on diameter and circumference. Mph accuracy is essentially the same.

Width increases and sidewall decreases providing a harsher ride.




You could get higher profile 16” tires like the P205/60R16 a Prius v uses. Assuming they clear the wheel well. Diameter and circumference increases by 5%. This lowers mph reading. Sidewall increases 2.3% improving ride.
You do have a bigger heavier and wider tire with more rubber on the road. Handling and weight carrying ability improves.

 

On a Gen 2 Touring model, moving from a 195/55 to a 205/55 will make your speedometer dead accurate.

 

The 185/65 15 I wasn't paying attention a minute ago I think that's 24.6 or something like that diameter I'm running 225 65 15s on my lifted Prius that's a 26-in diameter that's 2 in larger approximately or 1 point something It looks two on the car and to be honest with you my gas mileage went down for the first few tanks I was pumping 37 mi to the gallon It's crept back up to 40 before the tire change I was getting about 42 on this 07 Prius with 250,000 mi on it so for raised 40 mm height Prius with these big tires on it that's not really bad to me especially being able to get in and out of the car a lot easier The 16s aren't going to cut your gas mileage You might be losing a little sidewall of your tire because of the profile which makes for a stiffer possible ride with some people think that's a good thing but other than that you're maintaining the same outer diameter with the 15 16 and the 17-in wheels on the Persona all of those tires and wheel packages can interchange there within a few tenths of an inch overall diameter so there's no real effect

 

With 15" wheels I find the Ecopia's at 35 front, 33 rear to be both noisy and pretty stiff. I'm not sure how a car can have a suspension that transmits sharp jolts from the road so well, yet is mushy in terms of handling, but somehow the Prius manages it. Making the ride worse than it already is would be a nonstarter for me. Also I think low profile tires look really stupid on a car, in the extreme, like somebody put old fashioned wagon wheels on the vehicle. Never seen a study to support this, but the common opinion is that the rims with low profile tires are more prone to damage from road defects, like potholes.