Just noticed the Prius comes with, what looks like aluminum rims with hubcaps must be a weight saving and wind resistance thing What's recommended for winter rims and tires? Will any regular rim do or does it have to be 3/4 of a rim with hubcaps :/? What's common tried tested winter tire that works with Prius?
Michelin ice. No mpg hit. I run them year round and get 50 to 60k on a set. No rims to buy or store. I buy a set in the spring when they are on sale and typically pay 65$ each. Their wet weather traction is amazing compared to the defender lrr tires for half the price.
winter tires all year round with no MPG hit? thats awesome but may not be for me.. I think the other route I may have to figure out what proper winter rims to use and but TPMS's
Can't remember who, but might have been @Mendel Leisk said Corolla steel rims were a perfect match. If it wasn't him he pretty sure to know who does.
This is what I'm using with snow tires, and no tpms: Corolla 15" black steel rims p/n: 42611-02471 With lug nuts p/n: 90942-01007 (utilitarian, open-ended, galvanized) In Canada tpms typically comes installed on new vehicles, but is not mandatory. In the 'States, some States will fail you at a an annual inspection if the tpms light is on, some won't. If you google there's a list in progress regarding which States. Also, I believe in all States, tire shops are obligated to install functional tpms? There may be work-arounds, say if you bring in loose rims, not sure. Also, a 2" ABS pipe end cap makes a serviceable hub cap with this rim, and it's really a good idea to cap it: the Prius hubs are VERY rust-prone, especially on wet/salted roads. The cap fits slightly loose, but I found pushing on a section of bicycle inner tube like a gasket, then the cap, fills the gap and holds it tight.
I kept the gen 3 stock rims and winter tire which is from my totaled gen 3 back in July and they will be on my gen 4 this winter. The tire I used is bridgestone blizzak WS70. Will get another set of TPMS since the old one from gen 3 not compatible with the gen 4.
Ok slightly technical question, for those who had the 17" touring wheels and tires, did you use a 15" steel wheel and tire combination? If so, how did you account for any difference is SLR (Static Load Radius) from dropping down to a 15" steel wheel. If you are using another set of TPMs, do you have to have them reprogrammed each time you swap out tire and wheel combos?
The tyres on the 15" rims will be a higher profile than those on the 17" rims, so the the difference will not be as marked as you might expect.
There's theoretically about a 2% increase in OD, when you go from the 17's to the 15's. Yes, increase. Still, in practice, it gets "lost in the noise": I've watched Garmin Nav vs speedometer correlation, and the offset (speedometer always reads a bit high) seems about the same. That's watching as close as I can without driving off the road, lol.
Interesting. I guess I would have to do more research on this topic because a 15" wheel and tire combo would be a lot cheaper than 17s. AFA the TPMS light, is it just a light, or a chime or a warning message?
Just a small light. It's mostly steady, occasionally blinks. I went with Michelin X-Ice, happy with them. They're good on bare pavement too, feel/sound like a decent all-season.
Up here in Quebec it is the law to have winter tire ; for the last 10 years I have driven AWD car ; i do skiing but the rest is city driving ; I know I will take a it on mpg but trying to figure out is it going to be really bad if I get studded vs no. Studded
There are several Canadian members on here including @Mendel Leisk and @Tideland Prius who may be better placed than me to advise. I've poked them for you in the previous sentence, so stand by for a more useful answer.
Studs can be a bit noisy, and some states (here in USA) only allow studs at certain times of the year. I run summer tyres on OEM 16" rims from late April to late October, and Blizzak snows on 15" steelies the rest of the time, and ignore the NagLight.
I'm not sure about the legality of studded tires, might vary province to province, and as WilDavis says they might only be allowed for some months of the year. They're uncommon around here. I didn't even consider them.
