LE / SE tire options (17" rim)

I'm very skeptical of that. FWIW, the only 5th gen Prius for sale with 17" rims is the Plug-In version. Non-Plugin, in Canada, it's gotta be 19" wheels, and AWD.

WHY Toyota upped the wheels on the new Prius, ostensibly a fuel-economy centric car, is mind boggling to me. There's a guy up the block from us, carpenter/woodworker by trade, has a Ford Transit in the driveway:



It's got 16" wheels.

 

Looks like it's gonna tip over in a stiff breeze, lol.

 

They do have bigger front brakes.
Base PHEV still has the same 17" wheels/tires as the HEV.
19" wheels are just for looks. Although, those tiny rotors aren't a show stopper, looks-wise, lol.
My theory is that the wheel covers hide the smallness of the rotors. But that's just a theory.

 

Ah, ok. Interesting.

 

I'll second the sentiment that the dealership not being able to re-use the OE 17" wheels with the new tires doesn't track. Brake clearance can't be an issue if they are the OE wheels, and several people here have fit 215/55r17 tires without issue.

 

stock tires, the toyos lasted forever here, about 78k miles I think it was. Put on maxlife2's, really enjoy these too.

 

It's weird how some people like a tire and others hate it.

 

That was the same thing in my case when I bought the base SE PHEV here in Cda, dealer declined using the 17” OEM wheels with the new tires (of my choice as part of the deal I got) which were 215 55 17s and said something about the tires are wider needing at least 7” width on the wheels whereas the OEMs were only 6.5” - likely they didn’t want to risk any issues (for any liability) but they supplied the new set of wheels anyway and it cost almost $2.6K for entire set of wheels+AWT at dealer’s cost. The OEMs that came with the vehicle are just stored in dealership for free for 3yrs

 

That's just not right. According to sizing standard tables, 7" is the ideal width for 215/55R17, not the minimum.

Minimum is 6", maximum is 8".

 

Could you have taken the car with the original wheels to a shop to get whatever tires you wanted, or was it important for you to have two sets of wheels?

 

That was my thinking too but the dealership svc techs didn’t want to take any chances and also consulted the local tire shop they sourced the tires from. Again, I assumed they didn’t want to face any liability issues and since they covered all the costs including tires storage, didn’t matter to me.

 

I probably could have done that but there’s the hassle and I preferred all is installed when I pick up the vehicle. As part of my deal, they asked me I can get any winter tires I wanted which I selected the Michelin CC2s but due to the sizing, they insisted that the wheels needed a wider size. Didn’t matter to me at the EOD as they covered all the costs (2nd set of ART aftermarket wheels with wheel locks+tires+mounting+balancing+3yrs storage for the OEM set). All that cost close to $2,600 CAD after taxes! Not to mention, they threw in a 3yr 80K ECP coverage for free. I don’t mind the 2nd set of wheels since they looked better than the OEM alloys with the hub caps. Almost looks like the nightshade edition! As a backup, I have a 2nd set of the OEMs should I damage the current wheels!

 

I'm in the minority on this, but I think the 17s with the wheel covers pulled off look great. If you were local, I'd offer to buy.

I pulled the covers off the wheels in part because I didn't want them stolen. In Toyota fashion, those covers are priced as if they were made of faberge and bald eagle eggs.