There may never be many good wheel selections for the C :-( Stock Size: 15 x 5.0

I'm running 15x6.5 w/185/65/15 Goodyear assurance and I've been getting consistent reading as good as the stock size. Plenty of choices out there,and the wheels I mounted weigh less than the stock steel wheel and tire by 4 lbs each.

 

you guys forget that the old Work Equips come in that small of a size.. they even have a 14x5

 

15" Wheel weights - Mechanical Database

http://mechdb.com/index.php/Wheel_weights

 

The SSR Type C may be a good choice if cost is no object. 15 x 5.5, 42mm offset, 9.6 lbs. Locally I can order them from a racing supply shop for $385ea. Light and strong does not come cheap...

 

I had SSR Competitions on other cars I've owned. I agree that they are light and well made, though there have been reports of them being relatively soft and easily prone to damage. I had no problems with them in my experience and used them despite the warnings that they would not hold up to hard street use.

If cost were no object, I would be using Volk CE28N wheels. IMHO, a good compromise would be the Enkie RPF1. I went with the least expensive option (for me) and used Konig Helium CE28N knockoffs for the c.

 

So 6.5 size rims wont work with the stock tires?

SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 ?

 

that depends on who you ask.

 

Alreadt posted this in another thread but trying to get people to contact ENKEI to show interest in them to develop wheels for a Hybrid, they are light, cheap and good.

ENKEI rims are super light weight, they currently have 15x7 rims that weight 9.5lbs so im sure if they cut it down to 15x6 they could get weights bellow 9lbs. Plus they are good quailty forged rims, they are pretty cheap, most of there rims in 15 size are under or arround $200 each. Volks are expensive, imported straight from japan.



RPF1 9.5 LBS a rim, just an example of how light they make rims. its 7 inches wide, if they cut it down to 5, 5.5, or 6 it would be golden. (id say 5 to match the stock size of the rims and it would be like 8lbs)
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...ll&sort=Weight

If we can get enough of us hybrid owners to message them to show interest im sure they would have a greater chance of looking into it.

 

do you have a link that can be used to contact them?

 

They really dont have a good way to contact them by email. So i sent an email to them at [email protected], and a facebook MSG. they active on facebook with new releases and photos from customers.

One more thing, i have a set of these in 18 inch size, they are amazing when i use to go to the track with my Car. Only bad thing is i bent one, not bad was able to repair. due to a 3 inch pothole at 85MPH, dont think OEM would of held up either.

Phone Contact info:
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Enkei International Inc.
Location: 4900 Alliance Gateway Freeway, Fort Worth, Texas 76177 U.S.A.
Phone: 1-817-490-5600
Foundation July 1, 1984
Operation Sales of Enkei-brand production.


Enkei America Inc.
Location: 2900 West Inwood Drive Columbus, Indiana 47201 U.S.A.
Phone: 1-812-373-7000
Foundation September 30, 1985
Operation Manufacturing and sales of aluminum wheels for automobiles.


Enkei Florida Inc.
Location: 1401 Wheels Road Jacksonville, Florida 32218 U.S.A.
Phone: 1-904-741-1991
Foundation October 10, 1997
Operation Manufacturing and sales of aluminum wheels for automobiles.

 

the "problem" is that 15x7 4x100 is a miata size. most of the desirable wheels will be made in 6.5 or 7 but rarely in 5, 5.5 or 6....

 

It would be great if the RPF1 didn't look 2 sizes smaller than it actually is. The goofy design makes a 17" look like a 15". I would consider running the super light 15" if it didn't look smaller than a 14" wheel. Bleh

 

Would These work? - SSR type F's
The ones im thinking about getting are the 16 x 6.5 but they have a 45 MM offset.. Is that going to be a problem?

 

I actually have not bought the car yet, but will be buying a a Prius C One Blue Streak Metallic.

And I am wondering a couple things as narrower tires might be fine for many of you that don't have to deal with a daily commute on probably one of the worst roads, which is Highway 17 in the Bay Area. So even if it cuts my MPG I am inclined to go with the best grip tire/wheel combo possible.

So can LRR tires really be as good as regular ones these days? How much MPG would it cost me if I go with better grip non-LRR tires?

Thinking about even going to 205/50R15, would this cause worse handling on the car? I looking to get the best handling/grip, specially for when it rains on Highway 17.

I am hoping to stay above 45MPG average as that would still cut my current gas bill per month by $100, which could go towards the car payment.

Right now I have a 2004 Corolla with 195/65R15 and have slide out several times in the rain. I know it doesn't have an traction control and such that new cars all have, so that probably makes a huge difference, specially in the rain.

Also I am wondering what would be best for vibration at higher speed as I know in my Corolla even on smooth parts of the 880 I get lots of vibration doing 75-80mph. Drove my Mom's 2007 Civic Hybrid the other day and had none of that vibration. Not sure of the the specs of the tires, but do know it has the 16 inch pancake rims. Just to test I at one point was going 90mph and the car still felt super stable with almost no vibration. Driving over 17 it was a bit damp and around the turns I was having no problems doing 55-60mph around them.

Funny it actually did better on MPG then the normal city driving my does with it. Which is just bad overall since Honda did a ECU upgrade she can barely get 30MPG around town. I got 32.3MPG on my normal highway commute. Before they upgraded the ECU firmware I drove it for a week on my commute and was getting 33.5MPG with driving it the worst possible way for Fuel Economy. Either way that isn't much better than my corolla that I average 31MPG with a heavy foot on a hilly, curvy commute.

 

Quality LRR tires are great. There is absolutely no need for ultra-high performance tires unless you plan on racing or driving like a nutcase on the road. The Bay Area does not get bad enough weather to require the use of specialty tires.

I would suggest keeping the OE sized tire. The tire you listed would have a shorter sidewall which may cancel any extra softness you gain from going wider and it will reduce fuel economy AND cause the speedo to become even more inaccurate such that when the speedo reads 65mph you will probably be traveling 60-61mph.

If you want more tread on the road I can totally understand that and as long as you are willing to take the MPG hit then I see no reason not to do it. Your OE tire (175/65/15) has a diameter of 24" and a revolutions per mile of 869. Try to keep your new tire somewhere around those figures.

 

LOL, I am that nutcase on the road. Though I know mine and my cars limit and haven't had an accident after my first few years of driving in High School. So that is 10+ years of crazy driving that is accident free.

The only thing I did do recently was around the Fish Hook in Santa Cruz. I have actually done it twice in the last year both times it was raining. Don't know why after they made it two lanes they didn't also make it smooth while they were there that turn is the bumpiest one in the bay area. So anyways I was coming around it at about 50mph both times and the bumps caused my front wheels to loose traction, which made me end up stopped backwards on the fish hook. No one around me and wasn't even close to the wall, so turned around and wen on my way. The second time though made me realize I need to certainly slow down around that turn to about 40mph when it is wet.

I did get a ticket recently only because I wasn't following my rules of how to speed without getting one.

 

delete, duplicate

 

So, I'm confused, is the stock steel rim a 15x5 or 15x6?