Hello! Brand-New here. Mods ahead, Questions Currently!

Hello everybody!

I've been lurking here for a while now as I researched and pushed-the-button on getting my own Prius, and this seems like a great community dedicated to getting the most out of this amazing car!

I've now had a US-market 2016 Prius 4 ATP/PCP for a bit over a week, and I'm relieved and delighted that the car has been exceeding my (and my wife's) hopes across the board in terms of handling, acceleration, braking, sound level, interior/ride comfort, and audio quality, to say nothing of the mileage and technology. YAY! Nice to join you all.

Now On To the Mods:

It is unfortunate that in the US it's not possible to purchase a Prius with both a sunroof and the Touring package's 17" wheels & foglights.*** I love sunroofs, and decided I'd just get my own lightweight 17" wheels and tires next spring (I'm going to be mounting winter tires on the original 15's) and I figured installing OEM foglights ($) wouldn't require frightening amounts of modification, where hopefully even a dealership (vs aftermarket customizing shop) could do it for me.

I've been saving up questions, and I can open new specific threads that include links to previous posts & threads on these, but FWIW this is what I'm hoping to find out from the prius-hive-mind here:

1. Has anybody (in the US market) successfully installed the OEM fogs?
   
   
2. Might it be possible to put more effective than OEM aftermarket (PIAA etc) LED fogs in the little lower grill area instead? If this was possible without compromising cooling/active shutters etc it would be excellent to have some nice bright super-yellow LED's aimed (to not annoy others) low and a bit wide to complement the low beams and for visibility.
   
   
3. What is the difference in the suspension between the touring and non-touring cars, or in other words, what am I missing by only upgrading the wheels/tires?
   
   
4. I'm really disappointed (from a safety, not just aesthetics perspective) that there's no turn signal repeater/side-mirror turn signal for this vehicle in the US--what is done in markets where they are mandatory like in the EU/Asia)? Can other-market OEM signal mirrors be retrofitted to a US market car in a non-ridiculous manner? I would love to remedy this situation...and I'm wondering if it would be cheaper/less complex than EU-OEM turn signal mirror installation to instead put a repeater in the fender around/in place of where it says "hybrid" currently.

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Thanks for reading all that, and I look forward to figuring all this stuff out with you all!

***If I understand the situation correctly, for the US market, having the larger 17" wheels and the sunroof (and the foglights?) all on the same car may have dropped the official MPG ratings below whatever was acceptable for Toyota for marketing/regulatory purposes?

 

1. Has anybody (in the US market) successfully installed the OEM fogs?

Yes, on the the thread about foglights (can't post link to thread yet, sorry) member "CHC" reports that he's had it installed by an aftermarket shop:

"...ordered a set of OEM foglights from Cool Toyota in Franklin,TN based on a previous post in this thread. About $200.00 each.Theparts guy there assumed the version 3 I have was prewired. Not the case, btw. My 3 has ATP and sun roof. My dealership suggested a place, an after market installer they use and for $150.00 they installed the lights. They had on hand a small unobtrusive switch with a blue LED that fits perfectly with the interior for Gen 4. The switch is directly to the right of the hood release button. I returned the $40.00 Toyota toggle switch Cool sold me and the additional $90.00 OEM stalk switch which would have amounted to a lot more work and installation cost. I am located in Western Michigan. I think this is a viable solution for your fog light concerns. The fog lights look fantastic on the Midnight black of my car."​