Hubcaps Removal how much MPG lost?

These Prius hubcaps are miraculous. Boeing put them on the 787 Dreamliner and it doubled the fuel efficiency and solved the battery problem.

 

I removed mine before I fueled up the first time. I really haven't lost any sleep over it, nor any fuel mileage. The car performs better than the EPA fuel mileage estimates. So, with that being said... I've waisted too much time writing this post.

 

But if you removed them before you fuel up the first time how do you know you didn't lose fuel economy? Just saying.

 

I guess I'll never know. I will tell you this. When the car was less than a month old, I embarked on a 2300 mile road trip and managed a 52.4 MPG average. I guess it was the absents of the wheel cover weight that afforded me that excellent fuel mileage. LOL

 

The -dealer- didn't put them on properly when they prepped the car.
I couldn't check the air pressure or fill the tyres with air with them on.
They are heavy.
They are now hanging on the garage wall, looking fine. The car also looks fine without them. And it works just fine.
And I challenge anyone to -prove- that they affect the mileage in the real world! Sure they do on the "moving road" dyno. That's NOT the real world!

 

Glad to see no one seeing a big mpg hit after removing the wheel covers. I lost 10,000 miles life from the left rear tire last summer. I had a mudball stuck between the wheel cover and wheel, causing enough imbalance to severly cup the tire. I live two miles down a gravel road, so I have no choice but to drive muddy roads on occasion. I removed the wheel covers and find it much easier to keep mud washed out of the wheels with the hollow tuning fork spokes. No place for a mudball to hide behind one of the spokes. besides IMO, the wheels look better than the wheel covers. I also removed the "spats" at the front of the rear wheel opening. I suspect gravel stones beat on them enough to loosen the bolts and one fell off. Removing them eliminated a pocket that kept wet salty mud in contact with the front wheelwell sheetmetal. Do not want to encourage early body rusting and will give up a bit of economy to protect it.
I have lost aprox 3 mpg, but I suspect most of that is from changing to the less than ideal Goodyear fuel max LRR tires.

 

i just got a 2011 prius with both right side hub caps missing. I was trying to decide whether to buy 2 or remove 2 and after reading this think i will remove them. Unless theres proof of a couple mpg difference at speed, i cant see paying money for extra unsprung weight. Except for occasional trips most of my driving is 30 to 60mph with my avg well below 50mph. After reading and with no Cd data, i am not convinced they are not mostly cosmetic, especially if most of your driving is not 60mph and above.

 

Leave 'em off. The car looks fine without them and your speeds are low anyhow.

Mike

 

Get four real hubcaps (the ones the GIII comes with are -wheel- covers) for the GII. That's what Pearl S is wearing. They cover the hub - which rusts. They snap in place.

 

One theory posted on this site is that the plastic wheel covers protect the alloy rims from curb rash. That I can believe.
I removed the wheel covers on my gen 3 when I ruined a tire because of them. I live two miles down a gravel road, so am forced to drive muddy roads sometimes. I had big problems with mud balls building up between the wheel cover and wheel causing imbalance. Imbalance on the RR was bad enough and took long enough for me to find it, that I severly cupped the RR tire and lost about 1/3 of it's life.
I removed the covers, like the look of the wheels better, and find it much easier to keep the wheels free of mud with the split "tuning fork" spokes. A simple garden hose wash from the outside does a good job.

 

Don't know - don't care!

 

Looks darn nice

Mike

 

if ur cheap like me u can make center hub covers for cheapz, since no hub caps leaves the center open...... they are not as nice toyota's by far, but only cost 3 bucks so i am more than happy

3 buck alloy wheel center caps! | PriusChat

 

I lost one of my plastic covers. I decided to take the other 3 off and get center caps. BTW 1.5 inch electrical box knock out covers are the perfect size ($0.98 each.) Bend the tabs out and insert. BTW a 1.5 inch knock out cover is bigger than 1.5 inches. I saw a post here about them and wondered how a 1.5 inch cover would cover a 2.25 inch hole. :-/. Now I just need to buy some stickers and I'm good to go. Whatever I lose in efficiency will be made up by not having to buy another plastic cover.

 

Considering that the upper portion of the wheel is traveling at twice the speed of the car, there could be a small difference in MPG.

However, I don't think it's measurable in any way during normal driving, where practically any other variation (driving patterns, road, temp, traffic, lights) will have a much larger effect for the test points than the wheel.

You'd probably see a minute difference in a controlled lab environment, such as in a treadmill in a wind tunnel.

 

i do about 95% freeway driving and have not seen any difference in my MPG. I drive about 120 miles a day.

 

Really????

 

Except for the fact that the covers actuary rub the wheel and damage it.

 

I did that and one more thing: sold used ones on ebay. Net gain to compensate for the "lost" MPG that I never noticed.