Prius 2010 compatible 15 inch steel wheels for Winter Tires ??

I used the Skoda Octavia 1 steel rims as winter option. The center hole is slightly bigger, but not a problem to center via carefull tighting of wheel nuts. I used the older nut set from Honda car. Used tires are 195/65/15" - quite good diameter match to 215/45/17". Before this, I asked the local Toyota, as no original steel rims avail. for PIII. They recommended 16" steelies, pz419-g0690-za and 195/60/16 tires

 

Gislaved Nord Frost 3..great swedish tire

 

Can anyone tell me whether the nuts on the standard Prius wheels will work with steel wheels? I installed a steel wheel this evening, and it does not look right. It looks as if the wheel is steady in place, but the washers are useless. See the photo.

The white stuff is a result of stretching the contrasts so that you can see better on the photo.

 

Their are fine. The lugs were design to work with both mags and steels (your spare is a steel wheel).

You might consider some cheapo hubcaps to cover them. I might do that myself if I can find some decent looking ones.

 

wouldn't hubcaps trap in the dirt and salt (depending if your region uses salts) snow pack would probably destroy it just as fast...

 

Why buy new steelies when you can get OEM 15" alloys off of ebay for a bit more money?

I got the 6 spoke version of the Gen 2 Prius. I like them better than the Gen 3 w/o the hubcap. Message me and I'll point you to the ebay retailer I got mine from.

 

Now you post this

Have my black steels and tires sitting and wait at local Honda dealer
SIL is the service writer there and got me a deal on snows

 

When I got my multifit steelies from Discount Tire, I ended up getting another set of lug nuts. I can't remember if I had conical and I got acorn or the other way around. Regardless, my mechanic and I felt the seat wasn't sufficient with the ones originally on the vehicle. I have the 17" wheels, though, if that makes a difference.

 

I visited the dealer yesterday. He said:
1- I should replace the nuts with ones that have a better contact surface with the wheels.
2- If I dont replace the nuts, it will damage them (rust due to salt) in the long term.
3- The washers not being of any use, they will be noisy when the car is moving.

I think arguments 1 and 2 dont hold because:
1- The nuts he said I should use for replacement had the same amount of contact surface with the wheel than the nuts used for the alloy wheels.
2- If I had chosen to keep the alloy wheels and just mount winter tires on them, the nuts would have been exposed to the salt anyway.

I have a bit of doubts regarding argument #3. Do any of you have experience with nut washers being noisy when installed on steel wheels?

 

None. If there was, I wouldn't be able to hear them over the roar of the studs.

p.s. I think your assessment on point 1 and 2 are spot on.

 

I finally swapped my snow tires on today. As mentioned previously, I bought some 15" Gen 2 alloys off of ebay. They are of the 6 spoke design. I can confirm that they fit the 2010 Prius V beautifully. There is no offset problem, hubcentric, and center caps are interchangeable.

 

Thanks all for the info. We're scheduled to pick up our NEW 2010 Touring package Prius (sim to V in the States? Has the 17" rims), this weekend, and just looking out the window I see the North Shore mountains have a fresh dusting of snow, about 1/3 of the way down...

15" gen II alloys sounds particularly promising: I would much prefer to be purchasing 195/65-15 snows.

Hey, my new avatar looks good! Not in our hands yet, still in the showroom...

 

Thanks. We picked it up last night. Got to bed around midnight. Awake at 4:30am, to erhh... check out a few things. Have the fever

 

Picked up a gen 3 version IV two weeks ago and am looking at a possible snowy winter. I traded in a Gen 2 and installed snow tires on it every Dec. and pulled them off usually in March. So as not to change rims/tires twice annually, I purchased a set of steel wheels of the same size from Discount tires and had the snow tires installed on them, They came with another set of nuts and all worked very well the winter tires were Michelin Ice X and seemed to be very good tires in all the winters I used them. To make it all look better, I also have a set of hub caps for the steel wheels.

Now, I was wondering if I could install the same rims/tires on my new Gen 3 and just ignore the tire pressure warning light for the winter (or maybe turn it off somehow). Apparently from the above I should have no problems putting these wheels on for the winter. Am I correct?

This car is a heck of a lot more complicated that the good old gen 2.

 

Even my Toyota dealer told me I can install winter tires WITHOUT the sensors. I just have to sign a waver document for them releasing them of any liabilities due to this choice of mine.

 

You are correct. I just took my rims and tires (then mounted on another set of rims) and asked the shop to mount my Nokians on the Prius 15" rims. TMPS issue did not come up as they have no clue what car I will be using them on. Then I DIY'ed the swap last week so I never got the run-around and liability issue that other members have reported.

Having said that, there is an advantage to swapping rims yourself: If you take the wheel off every once in a little while, you don't let the wheel cease onto the hub.

 

I bought a set of older but like new take off Subaru Impreza WRX 15" x 6" Steel Wheels 6'' wide 5x100 Lug Pattern I'm hoping these will work for snow wheels for my Wintercat XT P185/65/15. Anyone using something like these for snow wheels?

 

One that does work, worked for us, is 15" Corolla steel rim, part no: 42611-0247. Actually just put them on again, last weekend. And while the alloy nuts will work, they stand out, don't look right. I'm using utilitarian open ended lug nuts, part no: 90942-01007. If you want covers it might be p/n: 42621-AB110.

Not sure, but I believe this is all for 2005 and up Corolla.