as ive said before , get rid of those ugly things. set yourself free!!!! so you can say with glee and abandon "FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST THANK GOSH IM FREE AT LAST!. you will feel much better unless you a rotten parker. in tha case you better keep them on.
I read with great interest the article on removing the trim-rings. And viewed the pics. I take serious issue with the author. He uses two fingers. I find that one finger, hooked with a 20 degree bend at the distal knuckle and a 38 degree bend at the medial knuckle, while keeping the proximal knuckle straight, or within 7 degrees of straight, administered to the ring at any space other than the one containing the valve-stem, and then subjected to a pull of approximately 14.379 foot-pounds of pressure, will remove said offending bit of hideous plastic (not to mention it being wasteful of oil, a resource in short supply and one which we are diligently striving to preserve by purchasing Prii) whereupon it should be recycled or saved for posterity in the unlikely event that an idiotic subsequent purchaser of the vehicle would want the infernal things. That is all, carry on.
This doesn't count for Tourings. My poor rim AND plastic cover got 'rashed' up pretty bad after 1 week of ownership. Boo!
for several month's I drove without the wheel trim rings, and grew tired of the look without them. Right now I have them back on, will probably swap them off and on when I get tired of either look. I would like to get some 16's or 17 rims, but the decrease in mpg isn't something Im crazy about.
If you remove the plastic covers from the 16" wheels, you might want to purchase (from your friendly Toyota dealer) the chrome plated plastic emblems to cover the hub hole in the 16" wheel. It's the same "hub cap" the 15" wheels use. Oh, and it really is a hub cap, as that's all it covers.
That is why I took my 17s off and put the stockers back on. The MPG difference is quite large even for a lightweight rim.
According to the Toyota USA website, it's an package-related decorative option. The Package #1 does not include trim rings. This seems to have started in the US when they added the "stripped down" model last year. So it really is basically the equivalent of a pin-stripe, attractive to some, but not really that useful. I don't think I've ever seen one at a dealer without the trim rings, so perhaps it's added at port before delivery by default? Every once in a while I find myself in the mood to take them off, but always end up putting them back on. To me, because the spokes don't go all the way to the edge, I think it makes the 15" rims seem even smaller compared to the bulbous profile of the Prius. Toyota Prius - 2008 Models: Prius & Touring Or see attachment.
How about a PlaySkool ring beautification painting/sticker contest? It can be subtle or outrageous. I was actually thinking about painting the part of the rim, the same color as the car, magnetic grey. In fact, my son is going to take a photo of the car and do some PhotoShopping of the trim rings to find the most aesthetic version. On the other hand, the suggestions by many here to toss them in the trash is a good one. I sure agree that the alloy wheels underneath are particularly good looking.
Thanks. This site was exactly what I needed. I've been trying to figure out what plastic cover keeps being mentioned, since it looked chrome. (yeah, that's why I wear glasses)
