Hello all. I purchased a Prius for the 4th time in less than 3 years now. As my signature shows, we've had an interesting collection. The V I purchased this weekend is replacing my son's 2009 Prius 4 which was sadly totaled last month. 3 years ago I would have told you I'd never buy a Prius. Now I've purchased 4 of them, LOL. I'm really impressed with this 2012 V. The ride seems slightly better than on my 2012 Prius 4. We like all the extra cargo space. He's already looking forward to car camping and upcoming music festivals with this car. The panoramic moon roof is neat, but I can take it or leave it. My son of course loves it. Other than slightly reduced fuel economy compared to our other Prii, I really have only 2 complaints about the V 5: 1) with all the extra tech this car has, why in the world did Toyota put a manual driver's seat in it? (other than power lumbar) That's really odd... 2) The 215 50R 17 tire size is not the best for ride, fuel economy, or replacement cost. (I am soliciting opinions on the Nokian tires over in the V maintenance forum by the way)
We went to Continental PureContact 225/50R17 98V tires and have been very pleased with handling, ride, MPG, and the slightly larger radius trues up the v’s speedo indicated v actual speeds.
Thanks for sharing this Air_Boss. I am close to replacing the 215/50 tires on my parents’ v and am seriously considering this option provided by TireRack and America’s Tire. I am also considering replacing the spare with a 135/80D17 to better match the the taller 225/50 tires. (May need to pull out the black styrofoam cushioning underneath the spare for the taller spare but I did preliminary rudimentary measurement to see if the 135/80D17 would fit).
Couldn't you just grab a set of 16 inch wheels from someone who wanted the visual aspect of the 16s? The low end (I have a 3) versions all had the 16s. Heck offer on CL to swap your wheels for someone else's 16s.
The manual driver seat is my #1 gripe about my wife's Prius v Five/ATP other than its coming up short on safety features and in crash tests. I'm an average proportioned 6-footer and I struggle to get comfortable although it would be even worse if it didn't have the lumbar adjustment.. The 2015 Prius v Four and Five finally got a standard power driver seat. Getting rid of the low rolling resistance tires made the ride tolerable. My thread about that is at BF Goodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S tires transform ride quality | PriusChat I downsized to 16" (steel) wheels and Blizzak WS70 tires for Winter for the better winter tire selection and more compliant ride over rougher winter roads. My wife loves the pano roof and the car in general. She's barely 5 feet tall so it's like a limo for her.
