With or Without Wheel Covers? High Res Comparo Photos

Yep, I would expect you will soon be able to get them already chromed from Wheelcovercity.com
Write to them and ask how long it will be before they bring out a chrome 2010 wheel cover.

 

Can you get chromed spinners to fit the Prius?

 

I was thinking about spray painting my hubcaps a metalic grey color, for if or when I decide to use them again. Not sure I've ever seen a can of "black chrome" spray paint, but I have seen chrome spray paint.

 

Let's get real here shall we !

Plastic wheel covers are there to hide what is underneath and not for "increasing aerodynamics" as Toyota suggests.

As I cannot afford a T4 or T4Spirit and I REALLY want to own a Gen3 Prius I am being put off making the buy just because these ugly PLASTIC covers cheapen what is otherwise an extremely beautiful car.

If I can simply remove these covers and bin them so as to reveal the mag-alloy wheels below, what was the point in sticking these awful things on the car in the first place ?

Regards....

Papaumau

 

Why when 'what is underneath' doesn't need hiding?

As what's underneath is a decent wheel, there MUST be some reason for covering them with a cover. Others have suggested they exist to protect the wheels which ,being mag-alloy, are easily damaged.

 

Yes, we've heard from posters who've claimed a significant mpg hit with the wheel covers off (especially when driving at highway speeds). Just because there are also posters who only take short trips and don't see a difference doesn't mean they're there for no reason.

 

ah... the GenII and genII both look better in person with the covers on... i see hundreds of prii daily.. some with and some without covers... they always look smaller and "naked" without the covers.

kinda like someone was too lazy to put them back on.. it looks that odd... i used to run without them too.. till i picked up my 17 inch rims.

mpg dropped like a rock.. but.. eh.. it's a really good ride.. specially with the 225s on rear..

 

removing them decreased my mpg 2 to 3 consistantly when i had them off... so.. constant 45 went down to about 42... with my new wheels it's more like 40mpg.. if i have a heavy foot, it's high 30s.. ( and i live in cali.. there is no "cold weather" hits here.... haha)

 

Ok guys and gals if taking the plastic, ( yuk ), wheelcovers off DOES decrease mileage markedly, ( which I don't believe, even if the Toyota chief says so ), why the hell did they not just market the T3 gen III Prius with aerodynamically-efficient 15" alloys, ( similar to the 16" ones on the T4 ), instead of what seems to be "unfinished" and "inferior" alloys and covering them up with plastic, ( yuk again ).

Other than for the so-called aerodynamic qualities of the plastic covers I see no other reason for Toyota to do this than simply make more money out of an inferior product.

I am surprised that you Americans are falling for this gag !

 

Maybe for the same reason they're putting those plastic, (yuk), fog blanks on the II-IV trims?

 

Here's my guess on why Toyota used wheel covers: Compromise between weight and drag coeff.

The sparse alloy wheel design (under the covers) was used to save on weight of the wheels. However, that sparse, spokey design increases the drag coeff so Toyota partially covered up the wheel with plastic covers. They still need to leave some gaps in there for cooling of the brake rotors.
Alternatively, alloy wheels that look like the wheels with covers would weigh more than the current wheel.

 

What alokeprasad said, but...

Mother Toyota provided full wheel covers on the Gen II, 2004-2009, and
those wheels did not have the "spokey" construction. The wheel covers
closely conform to the shape of both the 6-spoke "standard" wheel,
and the 7-spoke Touring wheel.

So, what's up with that?

I am unanimous in my opinion that the wheel covers are there to
prevent unsightly, and expensive at resale, "curb rash" on the painted
alloy rims.

 

Then why don't they do this on all Toyota and Lexus vehicles with alloy wheels?

Or maybe they do .. I don't know. I'm mostly a Honda guy (except for my Prius 3Gen).

 

I would love to see someone paint the plastic covers to match the body paint color.

 

Lexus is a luxury brand and the wheels are supposed to be good looking enough. So a Lexus customer would not put up with it.

I haven't kept up with Toyota but I think their less expensive offerings are steel wheel with plastic covers. But those cars don't have to have high mpg. They don't have to make 50 mpg like a Prius and they compete with others on price. I think a lot of things were done to get that magic 50 mpg number.

 

I'm not aware of anyone painting the plastic wheel covers.

I know for a fact that at least two members have taken the bull by
the tail, stared the issue in the face -- -- and powder coated their
rims the same as the car's body color:
* misslexi did the rims in white.
* I've done mine in Barcelona red.

It costs ~ $600, but powder coating is a very tough finish as compared
to paint.

It would be a whole lot cheaper to paint the wheel covers, probably
~$100. two places you can get Toyota OEM matching paint in spray
cans or pints are:
* PaintScratch Touch-Up Paint.
* Dr. ColorChip
(Don't forget the plastic specific primer and clear top coat.)

So why not be the first to paint your wheel covers. If you want to go
slow, buy an extra cover and paint it first -- I've already seen a few
threads on folks selling Gen III covers.

 

I'm agreeing with you and disputing the others. You know, ditto, what Tideland said, etc.

What do you mean by this? Thought the T-Spirit has the same 17" alloys as the V and it's the same shape/design as the wheel covers.