16" Wheels

Take a look at:
http://www.toyota-europe.com/showroom/prius/specs.asp

They show the wheel size as 195/55R16 for the European Prius along with the rest of the specs.

 

European and Japanese Prius has 16'' (195/55R16 ) wheels as STANDARD:

[Broken External Image]:http://homepage.mac.com/boagh125/.Public/PriusWheels.jpg

[Broken External Image]:http://homepage.mac.com/boagh125/.Public/PriusWheels1.jpg

I assume, it shouldn't be a problem. Just check if these wheels are compatible with drum brakes at the rear, as here in Europe we have disk brakes front and rear.

 

I wonder how much this switch would throw off the mileage, since one 16" wheel revolution would then take you further than one 15".

Now I wonder how much further

Peace

 

Miata tire size calculator says only .1% too fast (at 59.9, you'd be going 60).

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

Does anyone have a US source for these wheels? Can I use the standard Prius tires, or should I get lower profile tires? Cost?

 

You'd have to replace the tires. These are 16" Rims and the US tires are 15". That's why people are asking about the change in diameter

Europe = 16" Rims with 195/55R16 tires.

US = 15" Rims with 185/65R15 tires.

The actual circumference is pretty darned close, so you wouldn't have to adjust the computer unless you wanted to.

While trolling around the setting screens the other day I did find a place that you can apparently adjust for tire size, but I didn't explore it.

You can go to tirerack.com and they list both 15" and 16" replacement rims for the '04

They're usually pretty good so I'd assume they've researched the offset and are only recommending ones that would have sufficient clearance, while not sticking 6" out of the wheel wells, hehe.

http://www.tirerack.com/upgrade_garage/Whe...04&autoModClar=

What I'm curious about is weight. If I were going to do it I'd want to make sure the rig didn't weigh significantly more than the current setup. But, no one's weighed a wheel yet it seems.

 

Nothing to do with the wheels.
The way consumption is calculated (standard cycles etc.) differs a lot between US and Europe or Japan. You cannot convert it and compare apples to apples.

 

And now that you've been documented, we'll be keeping tabs - if we find out you've changed tires, there will be a Toyota Certified Wrist Slapper at your door within the hour!

 

For those of us who are not engineering students: What's the advantage of 16 in wheels over the standard 15in? If the added diameter only adds up to 0.1% increase as mentioned in one of these posts, is there enough increase in tread contact to make any appreciable difference?
I have no plans to change wheel sizes; am just curious. Seems like there is an inordinate number of tweeker geekers out there who are convinced that Toyota only got it about 96% right when they built the car. No offense meant; I'm merely amused and not passing judgement.
HUMU

 

More metal less rubber = Better lateral acceleration (turns) less energy lost to heat in tire smearing, less rubber to dispose of/consume. Sometimes the new combo will also be lighter. Some people like the look of more metal and less rubber.
If done correctly the speedometer will still be accurate. The key is keeping the overall outside diameter of the rubber the same as stock.
8)

 

Wouldn't smaller rims mean less unsprung weight (weight not on springs) Which would equate to lower rolling resistance/inertia, meaning better mileage. Larger rims in general will help increase top speed, or make small potholes feel even smaller, but they are mostly there for looks. Smaller rims and wheels should provide better acceleration and overall MPG. Hope that helps.

 

Not entirely true... larger rims don't really dictate how your car will behave over potholes. If you have large 17" rims, and low profile tires, you'll feel every pothole, and possibly lose tires when you smack them at a good speed.

Most SUVs with larger rims use more rubber than cars with large rims.

 

Not at all true. Any advantage you have at higher speed will translate down to lower speeds. It won't be as dramatic, but you'll still have an improvement.

 

> Not at all true.

If you have proof that overwhelming, please provide it.

I certainly don't believe that claim. It contradicts the observations I've made with both bike & rollerblade wheel sizes... both of which are very sensitive to radius changes.

 

I think it's up to you to prove it here. I know, for certain, that if you go and compare track times and grip numbers on the same car with different tires, they go up for the bigger wheels. Easiest way to see it is to look at the various Jetta variants with 15, 16, and 17 wheels. The 17 will out perform the other variants in the slalom, and provides more lateral grip.

 

> out perform

What does that mean? Numbers please.

Also, how does that apply to Prius? Perhaps the switch from 14" to 15" was the big improvement. 16" could suffer from deminishing returns, where there is almost no handling benefit with that extra inch.

And of course, starting from a dead-stop is easier with a smaller radius. So MPG suffers in stop & slow traffic with bigger tires.