New owner... Few questions?

+1.
Especially on the fuel.

Greetings and welcome aboard!
:welcome:

 

Blueranger, use 87 octane, like the guy said.

As for the wheels, the 15 inch and 17 inch are interchangeable across the models (II to V). Factory offset for the 17s is 45. A lower offset will push out the wheels a few millimeters but you will be OK. Try to chose a wheel/tire setup with as low weight as possible and opt for low rolling resistance tires.

Did you know that the 15 inch wheel covers can be removed, revealing a rather nice set of full alloys? You can get the Toyota center caps from any dealer at about $15 each or online.

Good luck!

 

Bob's right....good point.

Once you yank off the plastic wheel covers (Toyota put them on to gain a point or two with fuel economy) You'll see a set of alloy wheels that you'll like either better or worse, depending on your tastes. It's not much to get excited about for me, but they'll be easier to keep clean with the covers off.
You'll then have a choice of getting some OEM center caps with the Toyota "crossed bunghole emblem" or..... you can go to the Lowe's electrical section and get some $2 electrical box knockout covers. I believe HD has the same thing....but they're stamped with 1.5" IIRC. Bend the tabs out a little.....and they'll fit into the center holes rather nicely. Or.....you can look on eBay for some $20 covers.

It's not much....but it doesn't cost much either.

Good Luck with the car!

 

People on this site have reported good results with lower octanes than 87 at higher altitudes. I would start with the lowest octane that is available where you live, and only increase if you experience knocking.

 

Thanks for the insight about the removable wheel covers. I've had my new Prius about a week now and the one thing that has irked me a bit is the somewhat cheap looking plastic wheel covers. I'm curious to see what the alloys underneath look like.

 

Regarding warming up: as written above, no warming up is necessary - turn on and drive. But... if you turn on and drive really slowly for the first 50 secs, and then for another 50secs drive just slightly faster, the overall fuel consumption will improve.

Why? the Prius warms-up the engine not to save fuel, but to keep CO2 low. Therefore the engine will not be able to provide any real power to the wheels, unless you press the gas pedal "strongly". During these first 2 mins therefore, all of the pushing comes from the electric motor, that is from the battery (that gets also charged by the petrol engine during warm-up).
The 2 mins will be shorter if the engine is already warm and you are not starting from a completely cold start. The start up time of 2 mins can be longer if you start in colder temperatures and if the windshield defogger is on or a high A/C temp is set, especially during winter.

Hence, the slower you drive in this time frame, the more battery charge is saved and the more overall fuel consumption will benefit (used current needs to be replenished by burning fuel, later during the trip).

If your local regulations allow it - you could theoretically start the Prius and let it sit, for the first 2 minutes, or until the petrol engine does not stop. Then, start driving normally.

To know if the Prius is warm? stop at a traffic light/stop/intersection after the first 2 minutes or so, and if the petrol engine stops, the Prius is warm "enough".

There is an article describing in *full* detail the warm-up procedure of the Prius - quite a read. You can read it here.

 

They're alright. Look a little small for the car with tall tire sidewalls.

Grab 2 adjacent 'spokes' of plastic covers and give a good yank. They'll come off.

 

That's the impression I get: that the engine is just running to warm up, and that with a light touch on the gas all the motivation is from the electric motor. I wish the car had a tachometer, to bear this out. Just going by ear, rpm seem to hold at a constant fast-idle, regardless of wether I'm pressing the gas pedal or not.