15" or 17" Wheels

I understand what your saying. It's all choice obviously. If someone proves that the 15" would be bad driving and worth the money and the loss of the solar package i'd opt for it. But until then my mind is set

 

Less safe possibly but worse for driving? Nah.

I'm just happy your buying the car period. Better than a Mustang or Suburban. Congrats mate!

 

Well, you almost have ME convinced, but how much will I regret the 17" low profile tire every time I run over a pothole in city driving? How substantial is the ride difference, in your opinion?

 

Currently I have an Infiniti G35x and although the ride is amazing, it guzzles gas way to much. I also have my motorcycle which I need to sell for my down payment on the Prius.

I'd love to get the 17" package but I can't have a car without a moonroof and I'm not too keen on having an aftermarket moonroof installed.

 

LOL

You want my first impression after driving my Prius with stock tires at stock inflation pressures? I let my friend drive the car to get his opinion and after the first corner he turned and asked me "Wth? Does this thing come standard with Marshmellows for tires?" That is exactly how I felt.

Seriously. The stock 15" if aired up to at least 42/40 are not so marshmellow feeling and the car handles better without sacrificing too much regarding safety and the ride is not too harsh or jaring when you hit potholes. After running my tires at 60psi for so long I think the difference in ride comfort is pretty close to the 17" combo at 50psi (max rating for my tires) but the 17s generate more road noise. Between the 17s at 50psi and the stock 15s at 35psi there is a world of difference in how the car feels when daily driving. The former feels "sporty" while the 15s at stock pressure feel like, well, riding in a tuna boat....

If you live in a city with terrible road maintanance then the 17s might simply be to rough for you. I don't have huge potholes in my area so I don't mind the small bumps but with huge holes you have to be careful not to pop a tire or bend a rim. 17s and overinflated 15s may cause you a bit of problem and marshmellows could save your arse, literally in very poor road systems.

 

Couldn't one just get new tires down the line that are better then stock tires which would give a better ride..

 

I'm wondering the same thing

 

It is still not the same as a 17s wheel combo. I swapped my stock Integritys for a set of Nokian i3s and while they are much better than the Integritys they just don't compare to the 17s. Once I wear out the tires on the 17s though, I will likely go back to the 15s and try one of the new Fuel Max tires from Goodyear or something similar. I hate taking such a huge hit on milage. Which is why getting 17s from the factory is kinda nice. You don't take sucha milage hit for some reason apparently.

 

That's interesting.. I wonder how they managed that.

I'm curious as to how the 15" look with the 'cover'.. is it tacky?

 

I wish I knew.

As for the tire covers. I think I had to many of those awesome Jello shots during the Prius Connection Detroit event that I don't remember anyone yanking the wheel covers off of the 15s or if they even had covers on those cars. I do remember Galaxee's husband squirting windshield washer fluid all over the hood of one car and him almost getting stuck underneath another one but those are stories best told over a few beers. lol

 

2 to 3 MPG hit, according to chief engineer. Just another reason to be confused about this choice. I'll probably bite the bullet and see how it goes, since downgrading to 15" will apparently be a trivial change, while going in the other direction will not.

 

That's funny!

 

It looks like those are the standardized pressures for 'Standard Load' tyres. See TireRack.com's Tire Tech Information - Load Range/Ply Rating Identification article.

 

Probably the best option for you is to get the package you want with the 15's, and to a rim swap for the 17's. I did the swap for my 2008 and haven't looked back due to the scary cornering of the 15's. It is personal preference though and you may find the 15's perfectly acceptable or you may hate it since you will be coming from a G35 which corners like a BMW.

 

If you really want scarey, try driving a Prius with 17's in snow....

 

Any car without AWD or 4WD is pretty scary in snow :/

 

We don't ever get snow here.

 

not fair!

 

I get plenty of snow out here, and haven't had problems with the Prius. My wife has an Outback with 17's and that thing handles as good, but not better than the Prius with 15's.

I hate 17's in inclement weather.