How do I get them off? I want to see what they look like in real life. I'm afraid to break them too so I haven't tried pulling on them very hard
just grab a hold of those bad boys from the inner part a just pull em. then chuck em in the garage to collect dust. :wink:
I like the look of the plastic rims, so I'm leaving them on. Besides, they must have some practical use; otherwise, why would Toyota go through the trouble of designing and manufacturing them? The Prius wheels are also hybrids- part aluminum, part plastic.
Yeah, well, in another thread, someone mentioned how the rims would protect the wheels if you struck something like a curb. That was a good rationale for me to leave them where they are. :wink:
What I heard at a dealer training event back when this car was launched in Oct '03 was that it served 3 purposes: 1. Rim protection - trim rings are cheaper to replace than entire rims for minor glancing collisions with curbs, objects, etc. 2. Aerodynamics - the shape of the wheel helps contribute to the low drag coefficent. 3. Weight reduction - in order to keep the shape mentioned above, but to save unsprung, rotating weight, they opted for plastic instead of going with a solid alloy wheel. A lighter wheel accelerates and decelerates more easily, especially when the weight is not at the outer perimeter of the rim.
I just want to see what they look like when I take them off. I didn't know if there was a special way to take them on or off and I just wanted to make sure because I didn't want to damage them
They did pull off. I think I'm going to leave them off for aesthetics. By taking them off, the negative space of the wheels is larger. This creates the illusion that the wheels are larger. This creates greater balance between the cars and the wheels and improves overall aesthetic appeal. When I parked next to my art class, they thought the wheels looked small (with halos on). I even read a post on a forum with a poster that thought the wheels were 13 inches.. Anyways, the overall picture is more pleasing to the eye :-D
take a look! [Broken External Image]:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/flareak/S4010040.jpg [Broken External Image]:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/flareak/S4010039.jpg
I took mine off months ago and agree that the wheels look better without them. I have noticed that the wheels seem to have a self cleaning aspect. the groove that is hidden by the rims seems to collect all the road dirt so that just a quick swipe cleans it out. More Toyota engineering?
