RALLY/TIME ATTACK PRIUS II

Nice info on the throttle ground. Its kinda mystifying determining what standard engine mods will carry over to the Prius. I read that the intake may not do anything because the computer will just compensate and throw a code. How is the intake working for you?

I would think the standard prius would make a dece rally car, or as good as a FWD can be anyway. You could strip it, try and move the Prius V brakes over. Someone awesome at programig and tuning could replace the batteries with a battery just big enough to get through a race, and save lots of weight. Not to mention the benefits of electric engine power delivery when coming out of a tight turn.

 

cool, love the lowering springs on the v (lowercase v for the Prius v). I'm waiting for it to be available. my wife's v needs it bad.

 

I know this may seem straight forward for most...but can you enlighten me a lil more as to this mod and the purpose?

Thanks!

 

First modification was to remove the horrid hub caps and flip/remove the blue emblem backings.




Hello. Can you explain how you got rid of the blue? Thanks.

 

Much like the electronic throttle controllers that are available...many used in JDM cars...just cheaper?

 

Thanks for posting this thread! Is there any negative effects of removing/running without center caps on the wheels?

 

"First modification was to remove the horrid hub caps" Really? And leave a gaping hole? That's better? Why not paint them black or the color of your car? Plasti-dip them!

Leaving them off just invites crud and moisture getting in there, which isn't a big sin, but could contaminate the mating surfaces (and require wiping off),when you remove the wheel.

The other mods are of interest. Wish someone was measuring the performance results of mods.

 

Thank you for posting a quick response! I was wondering because a wheel style I was looking at on tirerack says it needs centering rings, but also notes you can not use the center caps with the centering rings. I do not want to cause any damage to the hub for a lb of weight...

 

Rings are not necessary if you follow a careful , slow tightening procedure of criss_crossed tightening like you should do anyway. Only offset and 5x114 pattern is critical.
Caps are available that will fit, I believe.
I think having a Five means you have alloy wheels? I do. If so, you will need lug nuts. They come with that somewhat odd style of nut combined with a flat thrust washer that most wheels don't use.

 

I would go as light as your pocketbook will allow. These are on sale, have a 40mm offset and weigh only 15 pounds! .O.Z. Alleggerita HLT Gold Painted
Stock hub bore is 62mm. 123 matches on Ebay for 62mm center caps.

 

What's the appropriate inner diameter of a hub-centric ring for the v? 62.1mm?

 

I would say 60mm for the alloy wheel. This is the alloy wheel that comes on at least the 2013 v Five.
Earlier, I mispoke. I measured the ID (inner diameter), of the wheel hub at the outermost area (where the cap fit into). The wheel actually centers on a 60mm portion of the hub and the wheel center cap clips slip over a small raised area that is 60mm. The rest of the ID of the hub is relieved to 62mm. I hope this is not confusing.
Does this mean that a cap size is called 60mm or 62mm? I do not know. They are available in both sizes. Perhaps someone else will know. Again, the cap rests in an initial 62mm bore (ID), but snaps into and over an internal 60mm raised land. On the other end, the ID is 60mm where it fits on the spindle.

 

Thanks for all the good info and measurements!!! (I am honestly utterly confused about the cap size. I guess I could consider the Enkei wheels that are also 17 x 8. I am trying to go as light as possible, but I also like the 8 in wide wheels. (I'm hoping the car will fit 245/45 17 tires. I don't suppose you'd know? I'm not sure if past experience will be true for this case, but I bought Kosei wheels in the past for a BMW 3 series, the center of the wheel fits over the hub, and there was no place to put caps, but in that specific case I did not need centering rings, the wheels were hubcentric. The center of the wheel was too thin that it just fit around the hub. The hub was sticking out a little bit. Does that make sense?) I wonder how accurate tirerack measurements on weight are, because the Kosei K1-TS 15.4 lbs, is just 0.2 lb lighter than the Enkei Racing RPF1 15.6 lbs. I went to the Kosei website that I think I found and it lists them at 6.7 kg, which is 14.77 lbs. Enkei lists their wheel at 16.05 lbs.

One thing I noted about the OZ wheels is that there is a different weight sometimes depending on the color. I find this somewhat strange, but I don't really know how the paint is applied I guess.

 

I've done some really dumb things to cars, just because I could. Mostly, I was young and ignorant...
Whereas the bigger wheels and tires might look "bad", they will be bad and hurt your overall performance. The only instance I could see them being beneficial would be high-speed cornering. That can be addressed with better tires and suspension.
Remember that bigger wheels and tires will be heavier. It will take more energy to get them rolling, more to make them stop turning, and they cause more strain on the suspension.
Rather than go bigger, go better. I have drifted a Prius III through turn after turn on a coastal highway, with the stability control warning alarm going nuts. This was on the stock tires. It would have been nice if it had stuck a little better.
What I am suggesting is wheels with less offset, so they give you a wider stance, and better tires. I don't know if 16's will work, but they would be lighter still and also lower the car. You can also keep the weight low (and the car lower), by choosing a 35 or 40 sidewall tire. The only downside would be a minimally harsher ride and the speedometer will be off. You could get more than 1.5" lowering.
Don't worry about a few ounces of difference in wheels. Get what you like; I think that's more important. We aren't racing here, are we?
For me, I am first interested in handling performance... that doesn't impact the mileage. Looks are easy to come by.
EDIT: DOH! I just realized that mileage will suffer by using smaller OD tires. Don't know how much, but it could be a few MPG's.