Winter tires?

And... my $100 check from Michelin arrived yesterday.

So, not a bad deal at all.

 

I ordered the same rims now including the official yokohama 195/60R17 wintertires. Whole set is ~1400€ after tax. Not like I had a choice as its really the only one officially sold - and even inoffically there are no rims yet with an approvel for the new Prius that do not require modificationchecks and a single-vehicle approval process.
As for coc it does not seem to matter as long as the rims have the apropriate conformity.

 

They're now offering winter tyres and rims for free with the Prius in Finland - I ordered too early!. Ads don't say which rims (or tyres), but I assume those. They claim the deal is worth €2300. I paid €2100 (rims, Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 215/55R17, TPMS, fitting).

 

For free as in "additional" to the summer tires/rims? 2k seems alot though compared to german prices but then we dont have studded tires. Here they just offered some 100-200 off as some special thing going on now.
Anyway, every P5 owner ordered probably too early - it can only get cheaper from here on. And who knows if they offer the rim/tires for free, they might offer less discount for the car itself.

 

Yes. Not an unusual offer in Finland - everyone needs a winter wheel+tyre set. (And you'd expect a second-hand car to come with two sets). I was a bit surprised to see it on the Prius though - suggests they're needing to make offers to shift them...

Although now I check, that campaign has just ended (for all models). It was running for a month or so.

Archive copy here: Talvirengaskampanja | Toyota Suomi (That actually says the offer ends 31.12.2023 - so maybe you can still insist on it...)

These were top-of-the-line studded tyres - an eye-watering €1000-€1100 for a set seems to be the going rate. I can imagine that's nearly twice as much as the Yokohama BluEarth Winter. That's actually a "standard" European winter tyre - not so suitable for Finland.

The dealer's opening gambit was over €3000 for a 19" tyre+rim set. But I hear that they've stopped offering that now - they realised the 215/50R19 tyres they were using were too big, causing clearance issues.

 

Just got my winter tires and wheels installed! They are 205/65R16 Michelin X-Ice Snows on 16x6.5" rims. I got the entire set for $500 used on FB marketplace! I already have a jack and set of stands, so I was able to do this at home pretty easily.

 

Score!! They look good as well

 

Nice find!

 

Question about tire size
Would you go for 215/55/17 or 225/55/17 for winter tires?
225 is exact size as the 195/50/19, but I'm worried it may be too wide.

 

Go with the stock 17” size if possible. It’s in Owners manual, towards the back. PDF version can be downloaded from Toyota Tech Info site, in the Manuals tab.

 

Narrower is better for driving thru snow

 

195/65R17 being a stock gen 5 tire size, it should work for any-and-all Gen 5 Prius.

 

FYI, unless you're talking about something major(like comparing a 155 to a 235), a couple ticks wider or narrower is going to be a negligible difference.

He tested four different sizes from 205 to 275 on the same vehicle on the same course. In general, the narrower tires were better in acceleration and handling(by a couple percent at best), while the wider tires were better at braking(by a couple percent at best). If a person is deciding between a 205 and a 215, there's no real world difference between them.

 

To be precise, if the aspect ratio (ratio of width to depth) was for example “65”, the 215 would have a 6.5 mm increase in radius:

(215-205).65

 

I thought it would be clear, but I should have specified that I was speaking exclusively about the whole narrow vs. wide traction debate in winter conditions.

"If a person is deciding between a 205 and a 215, there's no real world difference in winter performance between them."

How about that?

 

Ah, ok.

 

General FYI: I contacted a local tire store that sells Nokians. They would be able to get me a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 EV in 215/50 R19(top-rated non-studded winter tires) that would reasonably fit on my 19" wheels, but they would be special order and cost $335 + $50 S/H + tax per tire. For $1663.20, I've decided to try and survive one winter with my stock Toyos and see if next winter will give more options(specifically the new WR G5).

Mother Nature(and climate change) is helping out as we're mid-December with no real snow on the ground yet(one decent snow fall so far of a couple inches that melted after not too long).

 

Toyota Finland was offering that size, but they've apparently since decided they're too big. They are now only suggesting 17" tyres, 215/55R17 in my case. Along with the 19" no snow chain rule, I sense that Toyota think the stock 19" size is already at the upper total diameter limit for the car.

 

Come on....
I don't care how "top rated" those winter tires are,, that's an insane price for any winter tire.
You know they don't last long, depending on your swap-out routine.

For reference, I bought four name brand winter tires for my Gen 3, mounted, lifetime rotation and rebalancing, Total $431.
Mounted on a set of Gen 2 wheels found on that FB place, $70. But that was a 'Find'!
I also bought a set of TPMS sensors from that other place, $34.
All I need now it to figure out the TPMS relearn tool-procedure, so I can do the seasonal swap myself.

I know what you mean about lack of snow. I'm still waiting for the forecast to do a 2 car pit stop,,,,
But be assured, it can't possibly be Man-Made Climate Change....