Hi everyone, New on the forum here. If the credit gods are kind to me, I'll conclude the purchase of a Five, sometime tomorrow. My question might sound stupid to some, but I'm new to the hybrid world and I'm definitely NOT a mechanic... far from it. My question pertains to the eventual purchase of winter tires. Is it necessary to use the 17" alloy wheels that come with the Five and mount & dismount them twice a year? Or is it possible to use plain old wheels & wheel covers for the winter tires? Is there any mechanical reason (I don't know, maybe due to regen breaking or other) that might warrant the use of the original alloy wheels? Thanks Pat
I use good old steelies (mine are of the 16" variety) and without covers as is the style most common (laziness is king) here in Montreal. As noted in this very forum the only thing you'll suffer from is a very unobtrusive "pressure warning" light as the new rims won't come with a set of TPSs (pressure sensors.) I like to think of it as "reduced winter traction" warning. I'm not sure if the weight difference and how it would affect fuel economy but it can't be more than minimal.
Just be aware that the "v" wagon uses Camry size wheels and not the Corolla size that the liftback uses.
It appears there's nothing unique about Prius rims, at least as far as hole patterns, geometry. In our case with the regular liftback, I hit the wall our purchase dealership's parts department. They were telling me the Prius is their "flagship" vehicle, no lowly steel rims are available, and so on. I emailed all the dealerships in the area, and another one came through, saying they thought Corolla rims would work, would need to check it out to be sure. It did work, and they were $70 each. As mentioned above, there's likely a Camry steel rim that'll work for your v. I also got plain, open ended lug nuts, to complete the "look", lol. Also: the reg 3rd gen prius comes with either 15" or 17" wheels. Ours had the 17" stock, but for snows I went with 15", no problem.
