What's with the Prius's hub caps?

Please Help ... I need a wheel cover (hub cap). Mine flew off and someone ran it over.

If there is anyone who is no longer planning on using your wheel covers -- can you please let me know.

Thank you!!

 

Well, I'm one of the Prius owners that think these hub caps are "butt ugly." I removed them from my 2010 Prius and purchased four center caps from Toyota to show off the really nice alloy wheels underneath.

 

"Alloy wheels" is one of those searchable terms which gives a vehicle the ability to fetch a higher price. The hubcaps are for aerodynamics and could have gone over steel wheels - which don't have the same selling power...

I like having the option of either the open look or the aerodynamics - I just wish Toyota could have thrown in a set of center plugs...

 

Here an answer I got on Facebook for Toyota Canada

That's a good question Mark, and it comes up often. The reason the Prius has the plastic hub caps is to compensate for air turbulence caused by the spinning wheel. This turbulence can affect the aerodynamics of the vehicle, so these hubcaps actually help reduce the turbulence and improve overall fuel efficiency

 

Lots of people are selling them on eBay.

I wonder why?

 

If they were full wheel covers instead of 5-spoke wheel covers, I would give that Facebook statement some credibility.

Or if they even threw in some numbers from an official Toyota technical source.

 

A 5 spoke wheel should cost less to cast or forge than a 10 spoke wheel.

Another possibility is that someone at Toyota decided at the last minute that the II-IV models shouldn't have better looking wheels than the V so they kludged up some ugly 5 spoke plastic covers for the II-IV

 

When I had my first service, the dealer's service manager noticed that the hubcaps were missing and asked if I had taken them off. He then said that I should put them back on because they were there to cool the brakes.

Can't see how that would work because the brakes don't get a lot of work anyway so aren't going to get hot and if the hubcaps channeled air to the brakes, there would be a left hand and right hand set and all four of mine are exactly the same.

Anyways, they are still off. :cheer2:

 

Can you post pictures of these caps installed on your rims?

 

Google is your friend
42603-52110 - Google Search

Google often has results for car part numbers

 

Who'd a thunk? I did Google the part number, but didn't think to look at Google Images. I just had a bunch of parts distributors pop up, and none of them had pictures! Thanks...

 

The GIII comes with -wheel covers-, not hubcaps. The post above with the google link is for hubcaps. These are very similar to the GII hubcaps on the non-touring. Toyota uses a few slightly different designs, as you can see in the link. If they all fit the same diameter hole I'll be floored!

The "hot setup" for the GII touring was to remove the "wheel covers" and install the "hub caps". For looks only, of course.

 

For anyone interested, here's my summary of the Toyota center caps known to fit the 2010 Prius 15" wheel:

 

The Toyo caps look nice, but you can get the 2 inch electrical panel plugs at Home Depot for a buck each! Bend the tabs out a little and they pop right in. 4.00 vs. 40.00. Takes yer choice!

 

Bingo. Keep in mind our engineers scrape for .01 MPGs so they can achieve their targets (in this case, 50 MPG). So you might not notice a lot of these improvements individually, but they are very important to achieve the overall goals.

Definitely the latter, but it's also a weight issue. Tideland nailed it in his post. Think of the alloy wheel underneath as simply the minimal structure needed for wheel stiffness. All the extra "design" elements were carved away. To make it aesthetic (well, to some people anyway), the cap was designed. Plastic is much lighter than the alloy material.

Yes, the Chief told myself, and then Tideland as well as many others.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

 

There's a saying in aviation...If it looks good it flies good. I guess the equivalent saying in the automotive world is...If it looks ugly, it's efficient.

 

Boo,

Just out of curiosity, has anyone here found a chrome or stainless steel trim ring that works with the 2010 alloy wheel? I think it would really dress the wheel up but nothing seems to be available.

Tom