Why would you Mod a Prius?

I'm pretty sure that at the meet that I went to, I was about the only one that hadn't modded SOMETHING. And I'm pretty sure F8L chewed me out for it, too.

Unless you count pipe insulation in the grill as a mod.

 

Considering we're still getting over 40mpg

 

Why? I believe all cars need tweaking and personalizing. I prefer appearance mods. I like the "FAST, sitting still look". Never had a car that couldn't exceed the speed limit from the factory. Nice wheels are always a must upgrade for me. Personalized plate and tint are other favorites.

 

Exactly. My main concern was how much of an EV hit I would experience. Luckily, I'm still able to make my 10.5 mile trip to work on all EV so I'm a happy camper.

 

Last night I forgot to plug in my PIP. So this morning, I decided to take the freeway on all HV in power mode to see what type of MPG I would get. To my surprise, my 11 mile trip yield 49 MPG even though I was doing about 72 mph on the freeway. No regrets getting the 17" wheel upgrade.

 

Almost every car I've owned has been an MR2 or a Supra, so I've definitely had my share of the "fast sitting still look", right from the factory.

I'll probably do wheels at some point, but I will stick with the 15" size. 17s and 18s may look nice, but the ride quality REALLY suffers. Whatever wheels I get will be the same weight (or lighter) than OE. That's expensive to do with larger diameter wheels. Larger diameter wheels also mount heavier tires and move the weight farther from the center of rotational mass, giving a performance hit to both acceleration and braking.

I like personalized plates (my 93 MR2 Turbo had "DEUC CP" on it) but Oregon doesn't allow personalization of their Veteran's plates. I have tinted windows, but those actually add efficiency to the car, since they reduce the amount of air conditioning needed in hot, sunny weather.

I'm not telling anyone what to do with their car, just stating why I've done (or won't do) to my car.

 

If you increased your unsprung weight (new wheels and tires weigh more than old wheels and tires) you probably HURT the ability of the car's suspension to deal with bumps/potholes. Any handling gain you perceive is probably due to running a tire that trades lower rolling resistance for faster wear/increased grip. That could be done with the stock 15" wheels and a different tire compound.

Everything is a tradeoff. With the 18x9.5" rear wheels, clad in 275/35/ZR18 and front wheels 18x8.5" clad in 245/40ZR18 BFG KDW2 tires my Supra would pull 1.25 instantaneous lateral Gs on the track, and over 1.0 Gs of acceleration, but the rear tires needed to be replaced every 10k miles, and the fronts every 20k miles. They were also pretty noisy, and the ride was harsh, compared to the stock 17" wheels and tires. The wheels WERE 8 pounds lighter per wheel than the stock ones, so braking and acceleration was actually a little better than with the stock setup.

 

Sounds about right- when I had the 2012 Prius Five (not PIP) with the 17" wheels- my lifetime mpg was 50.5 for the six months I had it.
One day last month I got ICE'd out of my regular charging spot, so I had to drive home in regular HV mode- my PIP has the 15" wheels, at the end of my 28mi commute I got 54mpg w/no EV charge from the beginning of the trip.

 

Same here.

 

Hypermiler/Fuel efficiency Mod:
==============================
1) ScangaugeII (programmed for Soc,Amp,Flv,RPM,GPH,AVG)
2) LLR tires, e.g. Michelin Energy Savers A/S - reduce rolling resistance
3) shark fin radio antenna - decrease aerodynamic drag
4) Rear wheel skirts - decrease aerodynamic drag
5) Alloyed wheels - reduce weight
6) Window Tinting - lower AC load, ceramic is the best, summer mod
7) Grill blocking - increase thermal efficiency, winter mod
8) engine block heater - assist thermal efficiency - winter mod
9) extra hood insulation - increase thermal efficiency, winter mod
OR
Carbon fiber engine hood with adjustable hood insulation - reduce weight, increase thermal efficiency
10) upgrade HV battery and computer software of the Prius.


All Weather/interior Mod:
================
1) WeatherTech rubber floor mats and rear cargo mats
2) leather seats or Leather seat covers
3) HiD headlights (since you have a two and not a type four)
4) fog lights (since you have a two and not a type four)
5) a trash can - important if you have messy passengers in the rear
6) additional LED glove compartment lights
7) additional LED lights for center console
8) additional LED lights for door handle controls.
9) rear cargo area netting.
10) extended rubber/plastic film to protect the
bottom of the sill to the driver's door
11) add a 120VAC outlet (circuit breaker protected 400W peak/300W sustained max when ICE is running)
12) this is for WilMent since he is a smoker front window vents & smoking tray - the Prius doesn't have a smoking tray so a smoker needs to add one - to vent tobacco smoke while preventing the rain from getting inside the cabin when driving at high speed, side window vents can be used )



SuperHighway Mod:
=================
1) switch to 17 inch hi speed performance tire - better hi speed road handling here
2) front grill deflector/bra - protect paint from road debris.
3) portable GPS unit with lifetime maps - so you dont get lost
4) radar/laser scanner if u like to speed.
5) rear camera


Wunderlust - Sportsman Mod:
======================
Roof kayak-ski rack
Rear bicycle rack
Towing ball - Bob Wilson did this...
Dog/Pet Cage w/ramp that separate to rear cargo area of the Prius V
Doggy-Cat seat/harness
Baby/Toddler/child seat/harness


Accessories nice to have
=======================
1) a hi quality tire pressure gauge
2) a hi quality 12VDC tire air compressor
3) 80W max 12VDC power adapter to 120VAC inverter - to run stuff
while you are on the run
4) 15 amp fuses when you blow your 12VDC power adapter fuse
5) a portable 12VDC jump starter - the Prius battery cannot provide
a jump start - this is a good samaritan hardware
6) an extendable up to three feet - snow brush /ice scraper
7) can of fix a flat, a set 3 flares
8) bluetooth enabled phone
9) windshield heat shield (for the summer)
10) Iphone/Ipad/MP3 input for the stereo system
11) spare battery for your smartkey (battery last about 3 years)

 

You forgot about the shorter and stiffer sidewall and higher speed rating (construction) of the 17s. You're just not going to get a 15" tire to handle as well as a good 17" tire on the Prius without suffering mpg penalties. Such that the effort isn't worth it. You're better off having a better looking wheel in a 17" size than trying to stick with a 15" if handling is your thing.

Unfortunately, all of the fuel efficient 15" tires tend to roll the sidewall much easier than a LRR 17" tire. A high performance 15" tire may roll less but you will lose about the same amount of fuel efficiency as a good LRR 17" tire and you'll still look bad.

 

ohh yeah. I have quite the reputation around here for swapping wheels and tires.

I had my 2012 Three for less than a year and I had tried 5 different sets of wheels and something like 7 sets of tires. I'm too broke to mess with the PIP. Although I really miss my old CT200h wheels after seeing Sean's car.