Help me pick the spare tire for my 2012 PIP.

i don't blame you, i won't travel far without the spare either. make sure you test it before travelling, all the best!

 

Hi ya Roger !!

So you have a spare you want to sell ? I know I'm pretty close to you

What do you have and how much ? You can leave me a message here, email, or give me a call when you have a free moment.

Ken

 

Wow, I had no idea! The alloy wheel the body shop replaced on my car went for $380, and the tire for about $120, so for an extra $50, I would go for the "Wheel McCoy." OTOH, I chose a junkyard donut from a '10 Prius. Checking to see if the tire and my damaged wheel will hold air long term before I get rid of the donut.

 

Ken, I was thinking of you guys local here in Simi, but as I replied to bisco, I want to be sure my road wheel and tire are going to hold air long term, so I will let you know. You get first crack at it.

 

the existing ones should be fine, the gen III spare does not come with lug nuts. jack up the car and test everything now, rather than in a ditch in east bumshoot in the middle of the night!

 

Agreed. Better to be prepared. And the lug nuts will fit if it is the proper temporary spare.

 

Did anyone get a cover for their donut? I bought a 2010 Prius donut at a local dismantler (Apple dismantler in Wilmington off 710) in LA for $50. I would like to put it behind the drivers seat (I haul more stuff than people). Any suggestions for a cover? I thought I might look at wreath covers also but those would be thin- but I just really need to cover it not carry it.

 

I don't carry mine locally around town. When I travel any distance, I place it in the hatch. I use a heavy duty plastic garbage bag, with a piece of cut out cardboard on each side of the wheel (inside the bag).. Most of the time, I'm not more than ten miles from home.

 

pretty sure someone here got a cover from ebay or amazon. might have been andy, it was awhile back.

 

Yes but the cover was for a full tire not a donut. They sell them for RV's.

 

According to my observations, manufacturers choose temporary spare wheel from standard size rim (usually 15, 16 or 17") and standard size narrow tires (usually tread width of 115, 125 or 135 mm) and an aspect ratio to give a theoretical radius smaller but as close as possible to the running wheel used (usually not more than 3% smaller).
The PIP stock wheel is 195/65 R15 which gives a theoretical radius of 195*0.65+7.5*25.4=317.3 mm.

Now let's see:
The temporary spare recommended in the FAQ is T135/80 D16 or theoretical radius of 135*0.8+8*25.4=311.2 mm or 2% smaller, so it is a good fit.
The T135/70 R16 mentioned by the OP calculates to 297.7 mm radius or 6% smaller which is too small.

In my area it is hard to find a temporary spare as the Prius (gen3) and the corolla are coming with full spare and the gen2 Prius spare is too small.
I did manage to make a combination of 16" rim (from gen2 Prius) and a 125/90 R16 donut tire by Hankook (from a Ford Mondeo) both in a big salvage yard. It gave me a spare with 315.7 mm radius! perfect fit.

Note to Europeans:
The new Auris has the same size wheels as the PIP and a temporary spare, however, its bolt holes pattern is 5x114.3 while the PIP has 5x100, so it cannot serve the PIP!

 

does the stock full size spare fit in the well under the deck in the liftback?

 

Yes (in Europe at least...) My previous 2010 Prius came with a full size spare (alloy).

 

that's pretty cool, i'm not sure if they fit over here.

 

IIRC, the GenII road wheel was too big to fit in the spare well, and that was why the factory included a tie down strap with which you could anchor one to the rear deck if you had to use the donut spare. Not sure about the GenIII.

 

I did get a cover for the spare Donut I purchased for $50- to fit behind the drivers seat- it is not meant to be hauled by the handles but it is RED (grin). Used a cheap wreath cover bag with handles (hold the tire by the tire not the handles) purpose here was to keep my seats clean.

 

You need a cover large enough for the standard road wheel so the dirty, wet, punctured tyre may be stored until it is repaired.

In the UK PiP the spare 'doughnut' (mine came from a scrapyard for £20 and is totally unused) fits vertically in the slot just in front of the rear bumper (fender) where the charging cable is normally stored, the cable fits as well. Not too convenient but stops it sliding around and you can get at it when the boot (trunk) is stacked.

 

I'm using a full size spare now, tied down using the included strap and permanent rings in the cargo area. I did the same with the donut spare before that. The compartment at the back, combined with the hatch closed over the vertically standing donut spare may be enough to hold it, but I wouldn't want to take the chance that it might come loose in an accident. As you may have seen in another post, a few months ago I got pushed sideways down the freeway for about two hundred feet, thinking the whole time I was going to roll and get crushed by the double-trailer semi that hit me. I sure wouldn't have wanted something as heavy as a spare tire bouncing around the cabin like an unguided missile. I rarely have a passenger behind the driver, so that space is available to me also. But with no tie-down anchors, I don't want to chance it. Just my humble opinion, of course.

 

great idea, thanks!