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2008 Canadian tire questions

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by hyo silver, Dec 18, 2007.

  1. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    I'm taking a friend shopping for a new Prius on Friday. The standard model seems very well equipped, and the only real questions are whether to spring for the VSC (probably) and the navigation (maybe). I've encouraged her to upgrade the tires, but the listed size of 195/55/R16 seems unusual. Neither the TripleTred or HydroEdge seem to be available in this size. Do we need to go with 205s? Is Integrity still the OEM tire, or have these been upgraded too?
     
    #1 hyo silver, Dec 18, 2007
  2. mabelair

    mabelair New Member

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    Hey there,

    I just picked up my Special Edition Premium package '08 Prius on Saturday, and noticed that I have Bridgestone Turanza tires as OEM, same size as in the brochure. While we haven't had much dry pavement yet due to the snow storm on Sunday, when I did drive on them, they were quite decent. I am having four snow tires (Toyo Observe G02, 185/65R15) being put on. You can go down to 15s if you're having difficulties finding the 195/55R16s. The difference in diameter is something like 0.1% I think, so it shouldn't materially affect your spedometer and MFD readings.

    As for the Nav, personally, I'd pass on it. You can get a much better after-market solution for far cheaper ($3000ish seemed a bit too steep for me for MFD integration). I have a Garmin nUvi 350 which I cannibalized from my other car and put into the Prius right above the vent to the left of the MFD and it fits there perfectly. The unit with automotive mount cost only $350 or so. Of course, that depends on if you want to have a power wire hanging around or not. That being said, the unit can also run on batteries and be recharged at your convenience.

    Hope that helps, and hope the purchase goes well.

    Sincerely,

    MAB
     
    #2 mabelair, Dec 18, 2007
  3. hyo silver

    hyo silver Awaaaaay

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    Thanks, mabelair, that does help. Do you know which model of Turanzas they are? There seems to be quite a difference in performance.
     
    #3 hyo silver, Dec 18, 2007
  4. Presto

    Presto Has his homepage set to PC

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    I'd pass on the NAV, as well. I'd strongly recommend against getting the base package. Go for the package with VSC. It's an excellent safety feature that's very well executed in the Prius, and it's something that shouldn't be overlooked. The other options (ie SKS, MP3) in that package may not interest your friend, but they'll grow to like it.
     
    #4 Presto, Dec 18, 2007
  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Go with the Premium Package. In addition to VSC, you also get a backup camera which may help (as well as the higher resolution screen).

    We get the Touring model as standard now so all 2008 models have 195/55R16 tyres.
     
    #5 Tideland Prius, Dec 18, 2007
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