What wheels are on your Prius

I added this to my car today. They are the MB Motorsport Boost wheel in the 15" x6.5" with a 45mm offset. I had the OEM tires mounted since they only have 1000 miles on them.

 

I'll be taking delivery of an '06 Seaside #8 in early January.

1. Has anyone replaced the stock tires on an '06? If so, is there any special handling required to maintain tire pressure monitor functionality? To those lucky enough to have an '06 already, is this mentioned in the manual?

2. Will bigger wheels improve snow/winter performance?

 

Confirming that the 2006 only has the "idiot light" TPM system. I prefer when it shows the actual tire pressure... but this is better than nothing. The sensors are built into the valve stems.

/Jim

 

This is to confirm that the Prius DOES have a sensor valve in each wheel. I just downloaded the info from Toyota Techinfo. In order to keep the TPMS functionality you would have to remove the sensors from the factory wheels and have them installed into your new wheels. Keeping the sensors in the original corner tehy came fromisn't critical as that will be reset later. Then once that is done and they are mounted, you would then perform the system reset as described in the manual. You would have to do the system reset after rotating the tires also, so that says sensor locatin is not imperative.

I printed out the removal and installation procedure and printed it out. I may take the wheels to Toyota to have this done, or I may just have my local garage do it.

 

Do they caution about using larger wheels or having too much air pressure?

 

No, under the reset procedure it lists changing tire size as one of reasons you would have to reset. As far as I'm concerned, that means it's OK with Toyota, and that the system will still function. I think the system uses reative pressure, and once it's set, then it's a certain amount of change that would set off the warning. I imagine the pressure capacity of hte valve is far greater than any pressure you are likely to use in a Prius tire.

 

Doc, does the manual indicate whether anything special needs to be done when changing just the tires? Are there any sensor parts in the valve stem as some have suggested?

 

Check my post here. Page 2, post #13.

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=13491&st=10

 

Thanks. If I'm not changing wheels, but just changing tires, do you think any special handling will be required? I just want to let the tire people know what they need to do so that TPMS is still working.

 

On other cars the TPM transmitter is located in each wheel at the base of the valve stem and is usually flush with the aluminum wheel. I have seen many of these damaged or destroyed when tire shops dismount the tire from the wheel that are unaware that there is a TPM present.

PLEASE make sure that you tell these tire shops that your car HAS A TPM installed on each wheel BEFORE they start on your car!! This should decrease the likelihood of damage occurring.

Good luck...

Brian
BT Tech
305-652-3115

 

Small note about damaging the TPMS:

I had an Inifiniti FX with OEM 20" wheels that had a true TPMS(actual real-time PSI reading). When I had my first nail in the tire, I took it to a local tire shop for a patch. They couldn't do the patch because the nail ran into the sidewall, plus they were pushing for ALL FOUR o the tires to be changed to keep the AWD sensors in check.

When I took it to the dealer the next day, they charged me $300 for the tire replacement and $250 for a new radio transmitter because the local shop had yanked out the valve and the dealers can't just order the valve. They need to order a brand new unit...

PS I _was_ hoping that the Prius had actual PSI readings seeing how important tire pressure is to MPG...

 

Hey Doc, any chance of getting that procedure from you as a PDF or some other format? It would be hugely helpful.

thanks!

 

Sorry, I got it from the Toyota tech site. THey are really strict about their copyrights, so I won't post it.

 

So.. In order to have a simple swap out of tires for winter/Other Season, you would have to have another set of valve stems with sensors, not just winter tires on wheels. Correct?

& at from what was said in another post, the sensors go for $109 each?? It defintely would pay to have tires monuted each winter, especially since mine won't last more than 2-3 winters based on the miles I travel.

Bummer, I wanted to just get winter tires mounted on steel rims, but adding $440 to the cost is beyond my budget...

 

I'm getting 17" Volk Racing TE37 (15lbs/wheel) with Falken 512 205/44/17 (18lbs) installed this week and needed to know if TPMS is mandatory for the Prius.

Has anyone successfully mounted aftermarket wheels without the sensor?

TIA

 

I'll let you know later this afternoon.

 

In changing the whell or tire size, how do you "tell" the car that it has a different diameter? (want the speedo to be correct). My buddies Mercedes has an input screen to enter the tire size. How do we do it on a Prius?

 

You don't, you make sure the tires/wheels you get are close enough in diameter so it doesn't really matter.

 

Wow. I would have liked to put these rims on my car because they are so incredibly light...but the cost :blink: Mind if I ask how much you are getting these for?
Also, which wheel size are you getting exactly? 17x7.5? That weighs 15.75lbs according to the wheelspec.com site. Only one offset of 48mm in the 5x100 bolt pattern. If you are going with the 17x8 then you can get the closer (46mm) to OEM offset of 45mm but 2 inches wider may be too much for the wheel well.

Let us know if you have any clearance issues. Thanks.

 

I was originally going to purchased the TE37 used, but the deal fell through. Now I am considering either the 57S or 57C (the "C" is lighter, but i'm not too keen on the look). i have to decide if its going to be looks or performance i'm after..
http://www.gramlights.com/index2.html

The correct size for our Prius would be 17x7.5 with a +48 offset (reason for the higher offset is because of the increase in rim width; the higher offset compensates so that the wheels don't extend past the fender line)

hope this helps