Racing Hubcaps or Aerodynamic Hubcaps

[engunneer]

They'll look like they are rivetted to the wheel, I think. Not much chance of theft, IMHO.

[bshef]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusenvy @ Apr 5 2006, 05:18 PM) [snapback]235575[/snapback]</div>

If you use flush-mount rivets you could increase the improvement to 2.000001mpg.
[/b]

Roflmao......
Looks very cold there.....
Where's ur trailer?

[TheForce]

I wont put any BS “guaranteed to increase mpg!!!”products on my car. I'm just saying I THINK they improved it a little. No more than 2mpg and I think no less than 1mpg. I've had my car since January 2nd 2006 and I pretty much know what my car can do on my normal 20-30 min ride to work in 30-50 degree weather. Same car, just me driving, almost same weather, same roads, same traffic conditions, and I have pretty much have come one with the car. As some would say “ICE on ICE off” like karate kid. I looked up the average temp for the 2 days before and 2 days after I put them on and they are as follows

March 14th – 49 degrees - without
March 15th – 45 degrees - without
March 16th – 49 degrees - with
March 17th – 43 degrees – with

I started out at about 55mpg on 14th and ended at about 57mpg on the 17th. It started to get warmer after that so I could not really make a measurement because I don't have any warm weather experience. Its only one tank and I don't plan on taking them off just to see if my fuel mileage drops. I do know that my mileage wont drop now that I have put mud guards on because the hubcaps stick out far enough to route the wind around the mud guards.

Theft? I don't think so. At least not where I live. I don't think they have enough BLING to them to get stolen. They are only $60 and practically useless when taken off my Prius unless of course they stole them to put on their Prius. I don't see that happening here in red neck town. Trucks and SUVs all around.

I would also like to see a silver car with these on so please post your pictures!

[tcrowson]

I also installed the racing disks but drilled and tapped the toyrings with a security screw (6-32 0.241" long) and used silicon adhesive to add strength to the toyring. I did a mileage test and they added 0.5 to 1.24 mpg in five runs. I scratched one on a curb yesterday so they can be damaged if your not careful.

[bshef]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tcrowson @ Apr 6 2006, 07:44 PM) [snapback]236114[/snapback]</div>

I also installed the racing disks but drilled and tapped the toyrings with a security screw (6-32 0.241" long) and used silicon adhesive to add strength to the toyring. I did a mileage test and they added 0.5 to 1.24 mpg in five runs. I scratched one on a curb yesterday so they can be damaged if your not careful.
[/b]

That "does" look pretty sweeeeet!

[talonts]

For those who have a sense of humor , these are what I had on my 04, transferred to my 06.

Unfortunately, the finish doesn't weather well, so I'm going to beadblast them and repaint them - the non-stick coating is staining

[TheForce]

I was going to do what you did at first but then someone in this forum posted a link to hubcap mike with his racing caps. I really like the look of the racing caps better because they are brushed aluminum and have a curve to them. The curve actually sticks out far enough to make the air go around my mud guards. No rust here but they might stain a little down the road. I'll have to keep an I on that and report back if they do. I do however like the way your car looks with those pizza pans.

[talonts]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(theforce @ Apr 12 2006, 06:02 PM) [snapback]238762[/snapback]</div>

I was going to do what you did at first but then someone in this forum posted a link to hubcap mike with his racing caps. I really like the look of the racing caps better because they are brushed aluminum and have a curve to them. The curve actually sticks out far enough to make the air go around my mud guards. No rust here but they might stain a little down the road. I'll have to keep an I on that and report back if they do. I do however like the way your car looks with those pizza pans.
[/b]

I'd prefer the Moon style hubcaps too, but they weren't available that cheaply that I knew of back when Attila and I made ours.

I still think I'd space them out a little for airflow to the brakes, and to make it easier to remove them (on mine, you just pull on either side of each standoff to pop them off, no screwdriver needed.

[hdrygas]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(theforce @ Apr 5 2006, 04:35 PM) [snapback]235550[/snapback]</div>

I have recently installed racing hubcaps and I would like to say I am very pleased. Not only do they look good they also improved my fuel mileage by about 2 mpg! I have ran the hubcaps for one tank so far but I think I have seen an improvement. Before I put them on my average was about 55mpg. After I put them on My millage went up to 57mpg. I finished off my tank today with 59.0mpg on the screen! Of course the temp has been in the 60s the past week but I seen the increase in 40 degree weather when my normal mileage would have been around 55mpg. When I got home from the gas station I looked at my screen and saw 74.3mpg!!! I love the warm temperatures! I cant wait for 80-100 degree heat!

I bought the hubcaps from Hubcap Mike. I bought the screw on type because the pop on type will not work on the stock prius wheels. Instead of drilling the wheels like the instructions said to do I decided to make things a lot easier by installing them on to the trim rings. This makes it a lot easier to pop them off encase you need to replace a flat or check your tire pressure. All I did was drill some holes and installed some pop rivets. The stock caps come pre drilled with 3 holes. I suggest drilling 3 more. All the holes will line up perfectly with the flat spots on the trim ring. Make sure when drilling the new holes you make your hole as far away from the outside as possible because you don't want the rivets to rest against the rim of the wheel. When everything is done your car should look like the pictures below.

I installed mud guards today and from the looks of it they wont effect my fuel millage at all. The hubcaps stick out enough to push the air around the mud guards.

[attachmentid=2845] [attachmentid=2846] [attachmentid=2847] [attachmentid=2848] [attachmentid=2849] [attachmentid=2850]
[/b]

What do you think about using the 3 rivets and/or stainless bolts and glue to attach them? Is there any worries about the pop rivets and stainless being dissimilar metals? You get a lot of salt on the roads in Ohio (I know go Bucks!!!). Would glue alone do it? What kind of glue. Some one suggested silicon adhesive. I like that because it would provide a flexible bond that might stand up to expansion and contraction with temp changes.

[TheForce]

For me I wanted to use 6 rivets because when using the 3 rivets the plastic and the disk bent when using a screwdriver to pop them off. Now that there is more support they pop off without any problems. So far they are still rock solid. As far as glue goes I would not trust it. Pop revets are cheap, they look good, and the whole thing will still flex with weather changes. I think metals that are this small dont make much difference when expanding. Maybe a mm at most? Personally I would stay away fom glue on the part of a car that rotates fast and takes all the force of the pot holes. As far as the metals being diffrerent I have no clue. If someone tells me I should use stainless revets because of the stainless caps I wil change them. I dont know if aluminum and stainless will corrode or not.