What's with the Prius's hub caps?

I don't know if there's a trim ring that works for the Gen III 15" alloy wheel.

The Gen II Touring Prius 16" alloy wheel had full wheel covers. But if you removed the wheel covers, the 16" wheel did accept a "narrow" chrome trim ring sold by AutoAmenity.com and others.

If I recall correctly, I believe someone here tried that "narrow" chrome trim ring in the 15" size on the Gen III 15" alloy wheel and it didn't work.

 

But better deals can be had... I got the 'flatter' type used, on eBay (you can NOT tell them from new) for $24.99 + $6.99 shipping for the set. Very happy with the deal.

radio

 

So will it harm the car in any way to take them off?

If Toyota claim's it cools the brakes or has other functions would removing them void the warranty if you had an issue?

 

You all may want to remove the covers periodically to clean the wheels.

The covers make it a little tough to get the valve caps off. I've dropped a few and lost them in the wheels.

Tough to get some air hoses onto the valve as the plastic is very close around the valve stem and the valve stems are quite short.

 

Doug,

I really appreciate your input on this.

Thinking "outside the box" -- in this case the cylindrical hatbox-shape
of the wheel -- can you shed some light on why the Gen II and Gen III
Prii don't have rear wheel skirts a la the Gen I Honda Insight?

As I understand it from posts here and on other high MPG forums, rear
wheel skirts can achieve fuel savings of ~.3 MPGs. (Or maybe that's
~.03%, which would be still be about .15 MPG.) Surely that would be a
significant number if the designers see .01 MPG improvement as
meaningful.

I will readily admit that rear wheel skirts make a strong stylistic
statement that some folks might find too extreme, or even "retro."

Still, given the potential fuel savings, I find it surprising that rear wheel
skirts aren't offered as OEM dealer-stocked optional equipment...

more meaningful than the optional cargo net or first aid kit for example.

 

There may be a alternate method to get a chrome-like accent ring
around the Gen III wheels.

When I had my Gen II Touring wheels powder coated, the first step was
to strip the OEM silver coating. The wheel at the rim was very smooth.
I elected for a ScotchBright non-gloss accent stripe around the rim,
with a clear topcoat over all. The folks at the powder coater said that it
would have been an easy matter for them to buff the rims to a chrome-
like shine.

For just refinishing the rim, it would be a little tedious to do the
necessary masking to protect the OEM finish from the stripping and
buffing. And then there would need to be a clear topcoat applied.
Needless to say, this would be a permanent "fix."

Who said custom, one-of-a-kind modding would be easy...
or even inexpensive for that matter?

 

I have had success with Clean Strip brand "Low Odor Aircraft Remover" for removing wheel finish. It practically made the factory (GM) wheel finish fall off after a couple of minutes. It took some experimentation but I found out that 3M brand duct tape made a good masking tape to control where the stripper worked. Normal masking tape was worthless.

As with any strong chemicals, use proper safety equipment and test to be sure they will do what you want.

 

Nice picture:rockon:I would like to see a black spoke rim, the caps have to go...Does anyone have any pictures of such?

The caps will work for now however I may just pull them off and toss...

 

Then since the covers are asymmetrical but all 4 caps are identical, they only work right on one side of the car.

 

So, do the centers of the wheels actually have a bolt or whatever in that hole that everyone was talking about putting the center caps in? Just wondering if it was actually a functional hole that would need accessed periodically, or if a person could "permanently" put adhesive/stick-on center caps over the center holes, without them having to be pried off and possibly damaged (for instance) every time the wheels had to be rotated or something...

 

The center caps are meant to be permanent. You should never have to remove them. If you pry them off youll probably break a clip or two. The only reason Toyota didn't do us the favor of providing them in the first place was because they don't fit under the wheel covets, and maybe cost. I guess those are pretty good reasons though...

 

On one side they only work in reverse.

 

Thanks! I was afraid there was some bolt in the center, or something else, that would have to be accessed from time to time. Was thinking about getting the center wheel caps until I finally make up my mind on which wheels I wanna get....but I like some adhesive caps better so far, and they probably wouldn't look too hot after having to be pried on and off!

 

I think I will do this, for ease of tire filling alone it seems worth it.

 

With all the talk about whether the hub cap rings are no, negilible, miniscule, tiny, or small improvement on aerodynamics, does anyone have actual numbers? Or alternatively, actual information from someone in Toyota who would know?

I will put mine back on, if they are shown to improve performance even the smallest amount. I took them off because they were accumulating mud, salt, and sand between them and the rims.

[edit: For both Gen II and Gen III.]

 

+1: I didn't like the look either. Also, I'm surprised no one advanced a theory about the plastic covers are really wheel/brake dust shields since a bit more the wheel/brake is exposed.

Looking at it another way, I could say that Toyota Prius comes standard with two different wheel trims.

 

I am no aero engineer but if it serves an aero purpose one would reason that it wouldn't have sharp edges but more rounded spokes like a torq-thrust D wheel, or sharp on one side and curved on the other.

Either way, do these come off like regular hubcaps?

 

Yes; use two hands, pull firmly and you'll find a nice set of wheels underneath!

 

+2
I kept my covers off for about two weeks after getting the ebay inserts. I liked the look some, but the raised metal lettering on the inside of the rim, which made it look.....do not know...like something needed to cover that part, like an outside ring or something, just looked tacky.

And the overall effect to me was that the wheels looked smaller, like 13 - 14 inchers, with the covers off. So I put them back on. The wider silver area definitely increases the 'perceived' size.

The covers still don't look great though. In one of the threads a ways back someone photoshopped the covers and painted them black near the outside rim so that it looked like the 'spokes' went out further than they did, in effect a 16 - 17 inch look. Interesting........