BTW - on the oil type for the new Prius. It is 0W16...See pic below. Pic was taken from one of the walkthrough videos.
There's just nothing in any common tire available in North America in narrower than a 205 for 17, or a 225 for 19. The 205-225 difference would presumably explain MPG issues one is likely to encounter with a 19, but narrower than 205 in the 17 would strike me as really problematic for both handling and tire choice, and something of a dealbreaker in buying the car. Hope this gets cleared up. Also a fair bit depends on the diameter of the wheel; if it's 26.something inches as I've seen suggested elsewhere, a 215/55R17 would be a fairly mainstream fit but the 205/55R17 might be on the small side diameter wise and there doesn't seem to be a 205/60R17. And the 205/50R17 that I suspect would fit OK on a current Prius or anything else designed for 25 inch diameter wheel/tire combinations will be too small on this new one.
I want the trim with the larger screen. That means I have to get the Prius with the ridiculous and unnecessary 19" tires. Why, Toyota? I drive the 2017 Prius 3 with 15" tires. It drives great. I have driven in snow countless times. It's never been a problem unless it's a blizzard and, even then, you can drive if the streets are plowed. I don't like the extra weight on 19' tires and the likely increased road noise.
If Toyota wanted stupid tire sizes they should have stuck with exactly the i3 size, It’s a massive kick in the nuts using what will be a $300 tire and hardly available
They are larger diameter than the current Prius tires, which could actually help with efficiency. They are the same width as the current car, so snow handling shouldn't have changed much. The i3 size is unique. Sounds like the size on the new Prius is popular in Japan.
This is my understanding as well - I find it hard to believe Toyota would have used this size if it was a (significant) hit on efficiency. The only concern is availability and possible cost if there are limited options, but I would think that Toyota would have explored / planned for this with tire manufacturers in a major market like the US (and by extension, Canada...)… Right? Right??
I don't like really low-profile tires like on the 19" wheels. Surely ride comfort suffers, plus the wheel wells looked overstuffed with wheel. Haven't seen a photo of the 17" wheels yet, but in the Gen 5's wheel wells they might end up looking a bit understuffed like the 15" wheels on the present Gen 4. Maybe 18" wheels would do the trick—better looking and more ride comfort. Any thoughts?
Comparing the new tyres with the old: 195/50R19 = 97.5mm sidewall 215/45R17 = 96.75mm sidewall 195/60R17 = 117.0mm sidewall 195/65R15 = 126.75mm sidewall It'll definitely have a stiffer ride with less cushion but that can always be adjusted with the spring and damper settings.
Could you explain how the 17" tire has a smaller sidewall than than 19" one? Are the tire diameters different? What good reason is there for having different diameter tires?
Yes. Well, nominal size, ie 17” vs 19”, yes. Outside Diameter, they’re reasonably close to each other. Have to be, for ride height, odometer, speedometer, “gearing”, and so on.
@Tideland Prius had a typo, the 17in rim aspect ratio is 60 or 65. The overall diameter is 27in for the combo; 0.3in larger than the 19in. With the tire sizing system, getting the same overall diameter is difficult if just changing the aspect.
I thought it’s 195/60R17 and 195/50R19?? @Mendel Leisk and @CamryDriver have good posts explaining it. I was comparing the new tyre specification to the Gen 4 specifications. Honestly, I think they went for looks for the 19” but also didn’t want to give up fuel efficiency which is why they kept the 195mm width tyres rather than widen it to something like a 225 or 235mm width tyre that is typical of a 19”.
I, and apparently @Prashanta , took your post format to be grouping the wheel sizes together by model year, not small or large equipped wheel sizes of each gen together. Current car has 15" and 17" wheel sizes. The new has 17" and 19". The 17" overlap requires paying closer attention to the tire size to differentiate which car is being discussed. The new Prius tires are 2 inches larger in diameter than the old one's. That was likely chosen for efficiency. Larger rims are nearly always about style. Maybe that tire size is more common in Japan. Wider tires would hurt efficiency, but there could be clearance issues too. NA might get a wider tire, if the 195 size is an issue. The 19in wheel might be too narrow for 225 to 235 tires for those thinking of swapping.
Too, maybe we need to wait for official 5th gen tire specs. If these are the correct sizes, there's a not insignificant 1/2" difference in the OD's (Outside Diameters): 195/50R19: 26.7" 195/60R17: 26.2" OD's determined using this calculator: Tire Size Calculator
