Off with the ring! -- Trim Ring Poll

Hi Cyberprius,

I say why have naked rings, rather than naked wheels. When one can wrap the rings in shiny aluminum flashing!

 

My fugly rings are long gone, and my neighbor ripped his off as soon as he saw mine sans rings.

I doubt that there is any perceptible MPG loss due to there removal.

 

donee,

have you found any improvement in MPG with that foil wrap, versus rings only? could reduce turbulence around the wheels, I suppose.

mitch

 

What protection? They just hide dirt.

 

Mine are off, but when I finally get the time to mate them with the 'moon' disks, they'll go back on. Not that anyone will see them. :nono:

 

On the Standard Prius, the trim ring should stay on. The wheel beneath it is ugly without the ring because the wheel's indentation and lip are clearly designed to accept the ring. Without the ring, the wheel looks like it's missing something -- not unlike a plain painted steel wheel that's missing a hub cap.

However, on the Touring Edition Prius, the wheel cover should be removed. The wheel beneath it looks complete and better without it.

EDIT: IMO, the poll should be simplified to "Looks Better On" or "Looks Better Off".

 

I think even the standard (non-touring) wheels look better without the plastic ring. Plus, they trap dirt underneath.

I pulled mine off the first week I had the car.

I think they may be a homing device for aliens. That is the only logical explanation of why they would be on the wheels in the first place. :cell:

 

Hi Mitch,

Have not done the aero-drag test yet. Have not figured out how to do the test! And winter is somewhat variable in temperature, humidity and road conditions. By ear, which is fraught with hopeful delusion, they seem to result in less aero noise.

But, they also help with corrosion of the brake rotors. Which with the winter we are having here makes them a worthwhile modification. There is still corrosion on some Monday mornings, but the rough braking noise is gone after a few miles of normal driving. Previously, I would need to do Hobbit's neutral braking repeatedly to keep the rotors smoothly braking, on any weekend with precipitation.

The metal is .009" flashing, which is much thicker and stronger than kitchen foil. They have gone through allot of snow driving, and highway driving next to trucks without any damage. Yes, one could kick a big dent in them easily. But the light weight is advantage to reduce unsprung weight, and keep additional angular moment to a minimun.

 

I hadn't seen a picture of what it looks like with them off before, but now that I have, I am seriously thinking about removing them. I can't imagine that they actually affect the gas mileage to any noticeable degree.

 

You did not include a choice for those of us who used the rings to mount moon disk hubcaps.

Mostyl mine are off, since I put the hubcaps on only for shows and photos.

 

The rim underneath the trim ring on the '04-'05 Prius looks great BUT due to the spokes stopping prematurely and not going to the edge of the rim it makes the whole wheel appear smaller in diameter compared to the wheel with the trim ring on. I do agree that the wheel looks better without the ring but I'm not sure I can get used to the rim looking smaller. 15" rims are hard enough for me to stomach (I used to have 17"s on this car) let alone making the 15" appear smaller.

So I cannot answer the poll as I am as yet undecided. I hate the look of more sidewall and that's the impression I get with the rings off.

 

Every time I see a Prius with the trim rings still on, I have an uncontrollable urge to go pull them off. :evil:

 

Ditto.

 

This has to be the best thing that a woman has said about me in YEARS! Crap! And I didn't even get you anything for Valentine's day.

 

Double ditto! I didn't even make it the two miles home from the dealership before I had mine off. And the emblems didn't make it until dinner time.

Folks often talk about how a car maker couldn't do this one little thing better because even if it only cost them 5c, if you multiply that by 10,000,000 cars, it is significant. Well, how much could they save if they didn't put all this crap on the cars that isn't needed or wanted by so many? But hey - we've got THREE switches in the vanity lights behind the visors. That's a good place to spend extra money! Oooh, I'm rambling. I'm still a bit loopy from the OP.

 

We talked about the trim rings, but DH decided that they were staying on...

 

Mine stay on to protect (sort of) the rim edge from curb, and these are paid for anyway.

 

Good god man! Stop driving immediately you have a terrifically unsafe situation here. The spokes should always reach the edge of the rim.

 

One ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them ...

Oops..got carried away by the ring thing...