Looked thru the older threads but couldn't find the answer to this. What's the dis/advantage to changing tire sizes other than appearance...? Better mileage...? Ride...? Need tires soon, and would like to get some info about this.... Thanx much....Charlie.
Check http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...esistance-replacement-tires-current-list.html And read all the pages. If you have 15" rims the choices are many. I'd target 845 RPM and pick a tire you like for traction if you drive less than 6000 miles a year. Go for LRR tires if you drive more than 6000. You can see more discussion about that in http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...0-yokohama-avid-envigor-gas-milease-drop.html and http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-fuel-economy/98592-new-tire-tests-tirerack-com.html
I second the above post Tire size is less important than revolutions per mile assuming you stick with a tire that fits your wheel. Because the Prius has a unique power split system instead of a traditional fixed gear transmission I wouldn't bother with playing with tire sizes to try and increase fuel mileage*. *In traditional fixed transmission systems people often change tire sizes to reduce or increase final gear ratios for various purposes like increasing mpg by lowering RPM at particular speeds or for racing situations.
And to be clear, you can't change the -overall diameter- of the wheel/tire combo much anyway. There just isn't the room in the wheel-wells for it. You -can- increase the wheel size and decrease the tire height (go from 15" wheel with 70 series tire to 17" wheel with 55 series tire for example). It will ride rougher and be noisier. I would like to increase the tire size just to get a bit more rubber on the road and a higher load rating for the tire. But I went stock this fall. There just weren't the choices with the same revs. per km. So I got Nokian WRGIIs. They have a higher load rating with the same size.
I know this is an older thread but I couldn't find a better spot to put up this question, which deals with possible tire size change. My 2010 Prius currently uses 195/65R-15 tires with likely less than 10K service left. I'm about to scrap an older Toyota which has nearly new 215/60R-15 tires. I found a website - I think it was "1010Tire" that seems to suggest that I could use the 215/60 in place of the 195/65 but I'm concerned that there might be wheel well clearance issues (or anything that might be Prius-specific and that could compromise the application to the vehicle. Anyone have any thoughts/experiences?
That's actually closer in O.D. than the optional 215/45R17 size, about 99.2%, compared to stock. The 17" size is 98.6%. Not sure if it'd be ok with the stock rim width. Personally, I wouldn't do it, would rather try to sell those tires, stay with stock.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. I found a lot of posts about specific tire sizes other than the ones I've got and a lot more about specific tires (brand, model). Thanks for your input. I know you've got a wealth of experience with Prius. I've had mine four or so months now, completely pleased since the dealer replacement of the intake manifold.
