First Impression Prius C Four 16" Alloys

I just got my Prius C IV with Moonroof 16" Alloy in Blue Streak Metallic.

I have never owned an Hyrbid and if not for the C I would not have. I really never cared for plain boring easy driving cars so when I heard about a new light smaller C which came in at 2490lbs I was very interested. Add to that the low center of gravity with the batters sitting under the rear seats and in front of the rear wheel where you get better weight distribution was a big plus. The car handles very well and is very tossable. This is what makes Mazdas so much fun to drive and own. They are the best at it but the Prius C engineers do get my complements with chassis work they did. They strengthen the chassis in key points and added aluminum hood and rear hatch to keep weight down front and rear.

I met up with my friend who just got his plug in hybrid fully loaded and we both went for a drive to feel each car. Definitely two very different cars. His is very luxurious traveling machine but does not feel like the C in driving dynamics at all. Also, since I do have the 16" upgrade it has a quicker ratio steering setting so response is much different then the plug in. The C is louder and his was more quite and due to the larger wheels you feel more bumps and noise from the road. For me this is all normal but may not be what others might like. The C is definitely more youth orientated. The standard Prius may be the way to go for some if you want maximum comfort on the road where noise is to a minimum and soft seats and max easy driving dynamics is what your
after.

I got mine at MSRP unfortunately it won't be easy at first to get them below that. If your being charged over that I would say walk unless you don't really mind haha. Im sure if your looking at the lower trims it will be easier to get them under MSRP.

 

Keep in mind that when the factory C comes with the 16" wheels they have also set the steering ratio lower for better reponce and also due to the fact that they are wider wheels they needed to change the turning radius to not rub. If you go bigger later you may get rubbing issues most likely unless you stay the same with rim.