I am running my snow tires on my stock steel wheels and wanted a second set of wheels for the summer. I was not willing to compromise on weight or rolling resistance. I also did not want the TPMS warning light to stay on. From what I was able to gather from plenty of Googling, is that this is a bit of a tall order. First the wheels: Like others, I went for the 15 x 6.5 Konig Feathers. At 11.9 lbs this is a nice savings over the 15.5 lbs of the stock wheel. Lowering unsprung weight is good for handling and reducing rotating mass is good for MPG. I have heard quoted that each pound removed in rotating mass is the equivalent of 3lbs from the weight of the car. The trick here is the question of tire width. I did not want to give back the gains of the lighter wheel by using a wider tire with its associated increased weight and higher rolling resistance. The response was mixed on whether a 175 would work with a 6.5 inch wide wheel. Once I saw the wheels, I was even more concerned that the fitment would look ridiculous. I figured I'd try it anyway and am glad I did. This looks perfectly normal. Not terribly sporty, but 100% functional. The next challenge was the TPMS system. Seems a shame to finally have a brand new car, only to put up with an annoying warning light. Replacement toyota sensors cost well more that what I paid for the wheels. I used the Orange Electronics t-30 programmer tool (eBay $264) and a set of their OEC-2 315Mhz universal TMPS sensors (ebay $36) . I was able to assign the same ID as my stock sensors to these new sensors. When winter time comes, I can just switch wheels and the car wont no the difference. No trips to the dealership. No annoying light. It was a bit of an investment in tools, but TPMS's are now just a fact of life, so I anticipate i'll get use in the future. Another tool that is useful is the ATEQ quickset tool ($149 eBay). If you know the IDs of your new sensors, this tool can update the car to know which set of sensors to use. It is made specifically for people who have two sets of wheels. If you are relying on this tool you need to be sure that your new sensors are activated and that you know the IDs . Many of the cheap aftermarket sensors appear to be blank and require a tool to program them. I learned this all the hard way. Anyway, here are a few pics. I really can not see any concerns whatsoever with a 175 wide tire on a 6.5" wheel.
I could not agree more about the lowering. That is the next mod. The upside is that this should also increase MPG a bit.
As a follow-up, my wife saw her record MPG for her 13 mile commute to work since I did the wheel upgrade: 99.8 MPG. Prior to the wheels her best run was 90 mpg for the trip. On the day she did 99.8 for the home route, she managed 66.5 for the (cold) trip in. Not bad.
