new tires for 2010 package 5 ? 17 rims

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Originally Posted by nylion

From what I have been able to learn, you just can't swap out your 17" tires and wheels. The V has a stiffer suspension and tighter steering. Lots more road feel. The low-profile tires are rated "V" (very high speed). Automakers frequently need to do this with low profile sidewalls to add stiffness for turns. V's are inherently stiff and don't wear as well as lower-rated tires.

Changing the profile of your tires (buying 60's instead of 45's) will soften your ride, but may unbalance your suspension. Also, there may be clearance issues the the fatter tire. More importantly, the ride will never be the same as a II, III, or IV; the suspension is different.

Let me suggest that instead of concern about the rougher ride, you try enjoying the improved handling and more responsive steering. Whether you knew it at the time or not, when you got that V, you got a "sports" version of the Prius. I love mine!

As a point of clarification, the Prius V does have a different steering set up (more direct steering ratio, and shorter lock to lock) than the Prius II - IV, but as far as I know, there is no difference in the suspension. This was confirmed by Doug Coleman some time ago, in this thread:
Wheels and Steering and Shocks, Oh My!

Originally Posted by Prius Team

Alrighty. There have been scads of people claiming we at TMS have had no idea what we are talking about when it comes to wheels, steering, and shocks on the 2010 MY Prius.

You were right. But we have good reason, as a lot of final tuning has been going on. Now we think we're at the end of tuning, so in the interest of full disclosure, here's the skinny.

Wheels and Steering
Prius Connection LA/SF attendees were right to notice that on the Prius V, due to the 17" wheels, there is a different steering ratio (~2.75 lock to lock, versus ~3.75 lock to lock for the 15" wheel). This is planned for the production car. Fun fact: the 17" wheel EPS has a brushless motor system that allows the tighter ratio.

Shock Absorbers
We recently made a decision that all US cars will now come with the "European" absorbers (i.e., the same absorbers that will come on European Prius). Our understanding is that those of you who drove the car at Prius Connection events experienced only the "Euro" absorbers on the Prius V (all other cars had a different absorber that now won't come stateside).

EPS System
The same goes for the EPS tuning - the 17" wheels on Prius Connection event cars had a slightly tighter tuned system than the 15" wheel cars. Ultimately, ALL production cars will have the same EPS tuning as the 17" wheel (even 15" cars), but that won't begin in production until late Summer. We understand early buyers of the 15" wheel cars could probably update their system at the dealer later on.

Finally, none of the above is set in stone, but that's the way we understand it as of now.

Hope it helps.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales USA

[accordingly]

Steam is correct. There is no difference in suspension on the V. If you prefer the ride of the II-IV, you can simply put the 15" tires on there because that is the only thing responsible for the difference. The height of the sidewall and the contact patch are what make the difference.

You will be "stuck" with the tighter steering, but in my opinion it is much better. The only difference here is how far you have to turn the steering wheel to make the tires turn - you turn the steering wheel less on the V to make the tires turn the same amount.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by wvgasguy

I'm sure you will fing numerous takers if you want to trade your 17" set up for someone's 15"wheel/tire combo.

I'm guessing you were replying to the OP, because there is no way I'm trading the 17s!

I'm willing to look at other tires, but not smaller wheels. The reason I'd look for different tires is simply to deal with the road noise. Once you hit about 60 or 65, then the tire noise becomes quite noticeable on certain road surfaces.

Otherwise, the handling is far superior to my 2007, and I feel like the 2010 is tied down to the road even at high speed and in windy conditions. That's a significant change from the Gen2 (non-touring, at least).

[12parsecs]

Originally Posted by 32kcolors

Otherwise, I guarantee you'll find at least 100 members here who are willing to swap out their 15".

Hi, I'm one of those 100!