The PRIUS PLUS PERFORMANCE Test Run Campaign PIX !!!

Hi Rodney,

I am glad you are having fun with this. Not my cup of tea either. But, you apparnetly are with the general public. The gas station attendendant saw my flush hubcaps tonite, and asked if my car was a Prius Plus. SO, I had to come on to Prius Chat and find out what he was talking about.

 

Will the Prius Plus Performance package be sold as an add-on kit to existing Prius owners and will it be available outside of the United States?

My wheels are the stock 15' and have been looking for a lightweight forged 17" wheel which looks good on the Prius (didn't fancy the design of the Ray's forged ecodrive wheels). The wheels of the Prius Plus Performance looks perfect.

 

Usually it is sold in pieces, so you can pick which part you want...

 

Any word on when the kit version of this comes out? I wouldn't mind having those wheels.

 

Look for it toward the end of June/early July. Ask your dealer for accessory code S1.

Doug Coleman
Prius Product Manager
Toyota Motor Sales, USA

 

True. You can purchase wheels weighing more than 10Lbs LESS than stockers. The thing is, you will REALLY pay. They'll cost you $100's a piece more than your typical "cool" looking after market wheels. But although your invest in light rims will cost you in the thousands, your mpg's WILL go up - and in some cases, by over 10%. Kind of an irony that most 'mod' folks don't go this route.

 

what, no Fart Cansâ„¢ or 3-foot tall wing?

 

or OEM fog lamps?

 

so basically, this is what the prius should have been in the first place..

 

Outside of suspension parts, where you can cheaply trade ride for handling, any performance part that offers a real performance increase is WAY more expensive than 'performance parts' that are cosmetic. Toyota has picked all the low hanging fruit.

 

I paid over two thousand for my set of lightweight Volk Ce28N Eco Drive rims in the Prius Touring size. They are lighter than stock. My MPGs did not go up. I'd be interested in seeing who has seen more than 10% mileage increase (over 5 MPG).

 

I guess that really depends how hard and fast you are pushing your Prius, Gray... .
I bought some super light weight rims as well, upsized them one size from stock and wider by 10mm, for my Gen III. I went with LRR tires also. At the same time, I upgraded my wife's Gen II to the touring rims from the standard 15s. When we both had 15s, we were about neck and neck even on efficiency, 48-49. Now, she's kicking my @$$. She still maintains 48's whereas I dropped to 46's.
But part of that is because I am a bit more aggressive in my driving than she is...

 

I'm happy for you and I support legit rims, but the touring rims are heavier than the 15" ones and you didn't see the claimed 10% gain (which I personally suspect is (at the least) a major exaggeration). Your 2mpg reduction is probably worth the tradeoff in handling and stopping distance though. I'm personally seeing ~40-42mpg (although I think the fuel economy meter is exaggerating a little since my speedometer reads 2mph fast).

 

So... a question for Prius Team or anyone who may know:

How much do the Prius Plus Performance Evolution wheels weigh?

 

Will the Prius Plus Performance kit be available outside of the US?

 

Hi Doug,
Will this be an add-on only kit, or will brand new Prius cars be arriving at dealers with this performance package already on them?

Thanks!

 

it is accessory so it will be dealer installed kit.

 

It has been my experience that lighter wheels do not create significant gains in MPG for the Prius. It seems like tires and driving style makes a larger difference in mpg gain or loss as well as upsizing wheels in general.

I'm currently testing out the difference between high performance non-LRR 215/45/17s and a set of LRR tires of the same size.

 

Other changes made at the same time as a wheel change usually completely overshadow any effects of wheel weight changes.

Reduction of wheel weight has no more than twice the reduction of in the car weight. Anything more is someone fooling their self.

 

I agree. It never really made much of a difference in racing either unless the change was huge. I.E. giant 60lbs 26" wheels down to a set of Centerline Draglites of ConvoPros. lol