2017 Four Touring I’m looking to get a set of winter tires and rims but not sure what to get. I’ve done a little search in here but from post to post the differences are pretty wide ranging. Also see a lot more posts for older gen vehicles. FYI I drive Uber/Lyft so need something that is going to be the safest possible. Current tires 17x7 5-100 225/45r17 Criteria: - TPMS must be functional with no dash errors. - Studless Recommendations from several tire places so far have been to step down to a 16x7 w/ 205/55r16(going off of memory could have been 215/55r16, idk) Michelin X-Ice XI3 I’ve read in several places that it’s more ideal to run a lighter weight rim over running steel. I understand it will cost more for anything other than a generic steel rim. What do you all suggest?
It definitely comes down to tradeoffs. If I lived in Portland, I would go for Michelin X-Ice's as others have recommended. They have great winter performance, are widely available, are a good value, and have a 40,000 mile warranty. Blizzak WS80s are also good, but don't seem to last as long (I had the WS70s, the previous model and they did wear very fast despite the fact I never used them in spring or fall). If you want even better winter performance, there are studless Nokian winter tires that outperform them in the snow, but you'll most likely pay more for them. Unless you find a deal, not worth the little bit of extra performance for the cost unless you really live in harsh winter conditions (eg. Alaska). The weight of the wheel will have little impact on snow handling driving. The tire width and depth will. Generally for maximum winter grip, you want wheels that are an inch or two smaller than factory and 10-30mm less wide, but are approximately the same overall diameter. This is because you want as much tire depth as possible to flex over snow/ice imperfections and thinner width tires, which apply more pressure per area to dig down into slush/ice/packed snow/etc. Reference: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=126 Note: In very deep snow, wider than factory tires is actually better, but in snow that's deep enough for the bigger tires to really be an advantage, your bumper won't be clearing the snow in a Prius anyway, so you wouldn't be going anywhere regardless. Michelin X-Ice 195/65R15 might be your best bet.
Typo: "225" should be "215"? That's an Uber/Lyft stipulation? That's a pain, and will be expensive, both initially, and ongoing: every time you swap you will need either the dealership to intervine with Techstream (at $75 ~ $125 per pop), or really knowledge up, and invest in some not trivial equipment for DIY. Why on earth would they not recommend 195/65R15? Doesn't seem like very good places. Yes. Funny thing: the Corolla rims I'm using seem neck-and-neck with the stock 15" alloy rims, for weight. They are definitely a lot lighter than my third gen 17" porkers, as my back can attest. These are the rims: Corolla steel rim, part no: 42611-02471 (2003-2008 corolla or matrix, CE, LS, S)
They recommended the 16"s because the Four Touring has 17" rims. And the components behind the rim appear to be a little bigger than what is offered in the models with 15" rims.
This was also stated at the dealership by the parts guys. That if I wanted to have separate rims, to purchase a 16" rim due to the size of tires currently on the vehicle, as there could be clearance issues with some 15" rims. just going off of what was stated.
There's no problem going from a stock 17" rim to 15" on 3rd gen; I'd suspect similar conditions apply on 4th gen, ie: the brakes, wheel hubs, anything near the wheels, is identical.
