winter tires for prius c

Just got it last week. Summer's are P175/65R15. I go to canadian tire and out of stock. I'm there, what about a 185, he says yeah we got that in stock. Got a quote and left. Lovely half hour lineup there this time of year. The worst.

Looking around online sounds like this p185/65R15 is 10mm wider. Was trying to check some speedometer comparison site but there was extra info I didn't know about the rim. What i'm wondering about is why would a wider tire the same inches diamater cause a speed difference? Wouldn't that only be if you're changing sizes, not width?

Then ya got this extra width, not sure if it'll be 5mm towards the fender. Was looking at that, it's very tight as is and it'd be like those idiots who put mag wheels on cars that rub against the fenders. lol. I've just had it with doing things wrong and i don't know if i should go get the runaround elsewhere looking for this oddball p175. I like the tread on those canadian tire goodyear nordic. Had them on my other couple priuses and they're great in snow. I don't trust these other shenanigan brands that don't have very much tread thickness. I want that brand but they're out of stock. I don't know, didn't have time to chat with the guy, the bloody phones were constantly ringing and getting ignored the whole time I was there. It's like, can ya get me the right size tires in those nordic's even though you're out of stock? I don't know, the lady behind me looked like she wanted to slaughter me with this "getting a quote" and asking some questions, so i got out of there.

Always gotta do it "on the cheap" and do it wrong.

Not getting studs this time.. i don't know, that driving around before the snow and after the snow with studs.. i don't know.. just gonna try it without them. Any comments if I should get studs? I had them before and not sure if it's worth it. I'm on the road 8 hours every night.

 

Going to look around but I'll get them in the proper P175/65R15 size. I don't know why a p185 wider width would affect the speedometer. It's not a larger diameter. Was looking at that front wheel and almost no room to the fender edge, so not going to mess around with p185.

 

Went to different places and it's a crazy time because the autopac car insurance now does monthly payments for winter tires. So any place you go there's lineups. Before that you'd get way too many people driving around with summer tires and the claims would be bad.

The first place i went to was sturgeon tire across the street. Figure, less people for car fixing, just tires.. They're good when I have flats, they last thru -40. Looking up tires and wheels, the guy's damn book didn't even have the prius c. I had a paper with the wheel type specs. Think they'd have to order the tire type, and fumbling trying to figure out the wheel type. I'm there, if i thought i was gonna have a problem going with p185 instead of 175, these assclowns could screw things right up. Quote for oddball tire brand was like 1050 or something after tax. These lovely guys who one time forgot to tighten the lugs when i had winter tires put on, on a saturday. Noticed an odd rattling noise a little while later. yeah that was lovely. I'll stick with these guys for patching flats and that's it.

Went to kal tire, way too busy there because they fix cars as well. These damn places, phones are constantly ringing the whole time you're there and gotta wait half an hour before even talking to someone. would have been 900 bucks for their cheapest winter tires and wheels after tax.. but take a few weeks to order and put together and then who knows how long before you can get them put on. Never going there again. I did see those Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 they look nice.

Wasn't too far from the toyota dealer I got the car from, so went there, see what they got. Always half a dozen or more people constantly waiting at the counter no matter when you go. Every mechanic bay is always full plus cars in their way. While I'm waiting noticed this placard about michelin x ice saying:

"The MICHELIN® X-Ice® Xi3™ tire stops up to 10% shorter on ice and lasts up to two times longer than leading competitors."

Braking claim based on commissioned third-party ice braking test results versus Toyo® Observe GSI-5, Goodyear® Ultra Grip® Ice WRT, Bridgestone® Blizzak™ WS70™, Nokian® Hakkapeliitta R, tire size 205/55R16.

Longevity claim based on commissioned third-party tread wear test results versus Bridgestone® Blizzak™ WS70™, Nokian® Hakkapeliitta R, tire size 205/55R16.

I'm there.. oh yeah. So then I get a quote and their winter tire packages only have those X-ice with toyota steel wheels. Install, mount, and balance. The 15 inch package for camry, corolla, matrix, prius, yaris, sienna.. is $950, then plus tax, throw on another 150 there plus who knows what kinds of extra fees there always is with tires. So that's 1100 bucks.. a bit much. Wouldn't be able to get them put on till middle of december, a month from now. They are so friggen backed up there it's insulting. I once waited around 4 hours for an oil change appointment and always take the shuttle now.

Figure, ok i'll go check at another canadian tire from the other one i was at the other day, not too fram from there. Smaller store and less busy area then the other one. Going down some side street with less traffic.. Snowed the past couple nights. Just driving around I was approaching a 4 way stop and if there was a car in front of me I would have slammed into it real good. Within a couple seconds I'm there, brakes weren't doing much, put it into B, nope not gonna stop. Pull the parking brake while holding in the knob so it doesn't click lock. Stopped a car length past the sign. Go to the canadian tire automotive section, wow that lineup was a dozen plus, people. Worse than that other location. Got the hell out of there.

Stop by Fountain tire. Figure oh just tires should be less busy. They had people waiting in there, phones constantly ringing the whole time. One time you heard the guy ignore it and said to the customer, i'll get back to them on the phone in half an hour. Stacks of autopac billing paperwork orders in front of them. Wait 20 minutes to talk to the guy. Looks up for prius-c. He's there, odd tire type. He didn't even bother with the, oh it'll be however long to order them, he just said, we don't got any, we can't help ya out.

I'm there, i might not be able to get winter tires! This is nuts!

I then go back to the canadian tire I was at the other day where I got the quote from after half an hour wait. Not too bad this time, only 20 minutes. Same not pleased with his life, dude as before, i'm there, ok i wanna get them in the proper size. He's there, didn't we do this before. should have seen his "not impressed you're wasting my valuable time" look on his face. I'm there no the quote was for a p185 instead of the proper p175. I'm there, i wanna get the proper 175 this time.. think you said you only had the michelin x-ice in stock, eh.. Yeah i noticed you got the placard there saying it's better than others. No comment from the robot dude. You can get a $70 mail in rebate with these. should have seen that guy zip thru screens wow. This guy knows his way around those menus. So yeah i got all that and after tax something like $840. Same tires as the dealer. I'm there, right on. So they'll give me a call probably tomorrow when they're ready and i'll see how long i sit in that waiting area.. Wouldn't be surprised if it's a good chunk of the day. Lucky to get tires for this oddball car before i wreck it. lol

 

Canadian tire calls says my tires are ready. I says when can i get them put on. Says oh you'd have to leave the car with us it'll be 2-3 days. I'm there, I can't because I gotta use it for work every night. Says there's a couple dozen cars in the queue. You'd have to wait till things slow down if you want it done in the same day. So i'm there, i'll just go pick them up and get them put on at sturgeon tire. Was allright $804.

I go to sturgeon, they get it up on the hoist then he says, it's against our policy to install tires with no tmps if the car has it. If there's an accident autopac would say you were going around with your light on. Meanwhile my other winter tires the past years was put on there and would just go with the tmps all winter. Any other place is booked solid, read in the paper there was 10,000 people who are getting the winter tire payment thing lately. The dealer, that's a month before you can even get an appointment.

So now i gotta think of some flat parking lot and it'd be like changing 4 flat tires. Can't do it in my parking spot because it's inclined a bit.

oh yeah there no forms for the michelin rebate. Think i read at the dealer you could do it online, i'll have to look into that later. Not sure what kind of info I'd need for that.

 

I got the winter tires on. Using those napa lugs with one locking one from before that wouldn't loosen like the stock regular prius lugs on canadian tire rims. Those rims look a lot like the summer toyota. Are they the same kind?

As i'm cranking a lug it did like when you turn the gas cap. Bad skipping noise. If you'd try and tighten does it somemore. Don't wannarank it too hard. Looked at the other lugs to see how far the bolt would stick out and same thickness. Maybe it was rust? These lugs were fairly rusted.

When I got here remembered I had 4 extra from before. Tried going around tightening them and wasn't doing that click thing if you'd keep turning. Was that because the lug thread was messed up? Maybe if i jack it up again it'd click.

Also, taking off the factory summer lugs, they're not on there very tight. When I'm tightening them i don't crank them too hard but they've got them on with not too much pressure to loosen. Gonna keep an eye on them and check every day to see if they loosen. Then ya got that locking lug thing. If somebody had a big vice grip they could easily take those damn things off. Isn't the outer part supposed to turn or something. Maybe they're rusted.

Went and washed the summer wheels and tires and dried them, put them away. Before I used to just put 'em away. Yeah, those winter wheels would get rusted a bit. Put the tires in storage.

Remember oh yeah let's go check if that tmps light goes on. Start it up, the car before it would flash then stay solid. No light at all. It's like they don't have tmps. Meanwhile there's a set button for it with the icon above the brake area. The model I got I think it's version 2. There's a regular key, not touch stereo and 60/40 seats. Does that model have tmps? And then later in the future if i go back to sturgeon they'll say this car's supposed to have tmps we can't touch it. So if i get a flat they probably won't put it on and maybe won't even fix it.

 

oh yeah.. nevermind the old fashioned snail mail in rebate. Did it online.. Give 'em the invoice number and drop down menu of which store. Scan the receipt attach that. i'll see if the $70 cheque's in the mail, in 6 to 8 weeks.. oh yeah. lol.

Case closed.. now i hope my wheels don't fall off. lol