Flat in my driveway - HELP!

There'$ only one thing Toyota li$tens to.

 

I have a spare, yet only pulled out the plug kit for the last 2 or 3 leaks I had.

 

Worth noting: it’s almost mandatory to remove the wheel for plug repair, both to find the puncture and to get the plug installed. You want to straddle the the tire and use your full weight to get both the augur and plug tools to push through. Also, as much as possible keep something in the puncture, and have the plug cord prepped on the needle tool: the less air that escapes the better.

I just use a floor-standing bicycle pump to air them back up, very simple and dependable.

found a tack in one of our sons snow tires a few days back, so this is fresh in my memory:

 

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm thinking that the 19" wheels make for a bit less rolling resistance. This would make them better for EVs (to get to that 300 mile range) and for Prii (to get that MPG).

They also require roads and parking lots to be better, and around where I live, that's just too much to ask.

 

Bigger wheels are almost invariably bad for mpg: they're heavier, and the mass is further from the centre.

We just swapped our 195/65R15 Michelin X-Ice Snow (on ~16 lb 3rd gen with plug-in rims) for the 215/45
R17 Michelin Primacy MXM4 (on ~23 lb OEM 3rd gen rims). You can feel the extra drag, have to push the gas pedal down further and longer.

Yup, better mpg with the snow tires...

 

Toyota kept the tires on the 19" gen5 wheels the same width as the smaller wheel tires. Wider tires have a negative impact on aero, which will help reduce the efficiency losses of the heavier wheels. It also results in an odd tire size, that leads supply issues for those needing replacements. Time should improve that. More so if other models start using it.

Larger overall diameter tire/wheels will allow higher ground clearance. That space can be used for more under floor battery in an EV. Though I think it is more about aesthetics.

 

For the stock wheels, I don't think the wheel/tires overall dimensions (outside diameter, width) are the same. The stock tire size is 195 for 15, 17, and 19" wheels If you've gone to a larger tire size, like the 215 all bets are off.

The difference with the different wheel sizes are made up for in the aspect ratios. (195/65R15 in the Gen 2/3/4 vs P195/60R17 or 195/50R19 for the Gen 5). The actual tire diameter isn't any bigger, nor the tread/road contact any wider. It's just with the 19" wheels, there's a lot less tire to wheel and tire give when you hit a bump/curb/pothole. This would make them stiffer/less flexible. This would make for tighter handling, and probably less rolling resistance for the most part. Maybe way down there's just a little more mass/inertia to get moving/stopped too.

 

They are nearly always heavier when the wheels get bigger. Same with the tires as shorter sidewalls will be thicker to reduce flexing. That added weight is unsprung, which is the worse weight to add to a car. Throw weight into the trunk, and it takes more energy to speed up, slow down or turn. That also applies to weight added to the wheel, but the wheel also moves up and down with bumps and uneven pavement. that is a change in direction the wheel is traveling that also sucks energy from the system.

So weight added to the wheel hurts more than if added to the body of the car. The new Prius XLE/Limited have lower EPA ratings than the LE, and it is nearly all because the wheels are heavier. This would be seen with more models that have different wheel sizes if US regulations required testing for reach wheel combo.

 

Do you mind clarifying the issues with it being an AWD? Do you mean driving an AWD with a spare tire will set-off traction control? This would be a temporary issue, right? Thanks!

 

Yes, it's dependent on the car's programmed deviations. There is a tire rotation sensor on each wheel/axle. A tire that's not the same size as the rest is going to rotate at a different speed as the rest. The traction control computer interprets this as wheel/tire slip. As long as the tire rotation doesn't deviate too far, it won't set-off the traction control.
If the difference is too great, the traction control computer will kick in and make the car virtually undrivable and difficult to control.

 

Erroneous assumption there? The temp tires tend to be very close to stock tire OD.

 

Depends on the car. Some I've seen on the road had noticeable tilts from the spare.
Subaru spare instructions for many models called for pulling the AWD fuse while the spare was on. Electric AWD might tolerate greater front to rear differences.

 

Tire comparison website would show specific variation. With my Gen 3 I set the temp spare atop a stock 15” tire/wheel, aligned one side with carpenter square, and checking the other side found about 1/8” less OD.

 

Had to shave the new tire on an early model Volvo XC90 to get the traction control computer to behave. The customer was a bit perturbed, because I told him to replace all 4 tires, instead of being cheap and replacing the bad one. When everything was all said and done, he could've had 4 brand new tires for the same price of the repair.

 

Great that you had a shaver available...

Sometimes a full box of four is the right answer, but every now and then the shaver is the saver.

The new kicks we just put on our c are glorious. Silent and very well behaved.

 

Nope, had to job it out - that's why the repair cost was so high. He brought it in thinking there was a problem with the traction control system.

 

Well he wasn't wrong. Some idiot was abusing it with mismatched tires.

 

I see your point, but those 19 look so nice....

 

Therer's this cool little switch that deactivates the traction control.....