I want to replace my donut with a full size wheel

A full size tire might not fit properly in the back, it will prop up the hatch floor

 

Tire pressure boosted by 10 PSI dramatically improves handling and responsiveness... I've been keeping an eye on craig's list and local junk yards for a matching wheel so I don't have to have a donut wheel any more, but thus far no luck on a reasonable price.

On long road trips, I keep a brand new ecopia without the wheel that I bought for a great price on Simple Tire in the back of the car. If you take out the black plastic storage bin a tire without a wheel will barely fit in the area just above the spare tire slot.. Perhaps a tire w/wheel would fit in this spot if the tire was deflated?

 

I can't say if it will fit the space, but I'd be looking for a wheel from a Toyota Matrix or Pontiac Vibe.

 

You'll need a 15x6" wheel, 45mm offset, 5x100 bolt pattern, 54.1 mm center bore, to be an exact match. Pretty much all Toyota wheels on similar sized cars of the same era have the 5x100 bolt pattern, and 15x6 is an extremely common tire size. It's likely however they have a slightly different offset. Anything within 10mm though would be fine for a spare.

Toyota Prius 2005 - Wheel & Tire Sizes, PCD, Offset and Rims specs - Wheel-Size.com

A full size wheel will not fit in the spare tire wheel well. I've tried and there's definitely no way to make it fit.

You can often find Prius wheels on craigslist for less than $75 for one or a 15" 5x100 steelie for ~$30. YMMV.

 

I think you're looking at more than just a 'lifted' spare cover unfortunately. I don't think a full size wheel will really fit in there at all. I'd get out a tape measure and measure your wheels and the actual amount of space in the wheel well.

 

If you let air out of the tire and remove the plastic storage tray it just barely fits higher up above the donut wheel well, once its front and back sides are squished down a bit

 

I personally wouldn't do this, though it's probably okay if the tire gets taken out and rotated with the rest of the tires every 6 months. The reason being that the rubber in the tire will begin to take the form of whatever shape it is left in for a long time. If you store a car for more than 6 months without putting it on jack stands, the tires can get flat-spotted (basically no longer properly round) for this reason, even when properly inflated. I don't see how a tire jammed into a wheel well would behave differently, especially if there for a few years.

 

Before mini-spares became predominant, deflated and compressed full-size spares along with a can of air were the norm in cars with limited trunk space. My 1982 Camaro LT had one back in the day.

 

Yes, agreed... If you're just driving around town you don't need to do this, you just put the fake wheel / donut on and put on your 5th wheel once you get home. But every couple months I drive ~2,000 miles round trip visit to elderly parents in two different parts in California. In that instance I have a couple brand new ecopia's I bought last fall that haven't been mounted yet, so I shove one of those into that space. That way the tire is only squished in there on the trip down and the trip home. A day or two tops each way. And if I get a flat on the road trip, I put the donut on, head to the newest tire shop and $20-$30 later to mount and balance the tire, I'm on my way... It's also a great way to maximize the life span of the existing tires during dry Summer months. SimpleTire - Every Tire. Free Shipping. Fast Delivery. RISK-FREE GUARANTEE! prices are a game changer. And the local mechanic who mounts and balances for $20 if I only bring the tire and wheel in is a big help too!

 

I haven't read this right through, but if nobody's mentioned it: just remove jack up a corner, remove one of the regular wheels, and drop it into the temp spare space, to check fit. I've done this with third gen and yes: it does cause the deck to ride up.

This is one rim that'll likely work, it's what I'm using with snow tires (on 3rd gen):

Corolla steel rim, part no: 42611-02471 (2003-2008 corolla or matrix, CE, LS, S)