Hello! This is my story

I just got them in today from Micro Image; a set of KW Variant 3's. If all goes to plan I'll install them this weekend. Of course I'll post the details of the install.


In other news....

A friend let me borrow a set of rolling stock so I could check fitment of allegedly aggressive and wide setups. They're OZ Ultraleggera 16x7 et37 with Kumho XS in 215/45-16. This is a rational overall diameter for this car [68.9 MPH actual with 70 MPH indicated], but significantly wider.



The XS is an "extreme summer" tire, hardly a typical tire we'd use on the Prius c. It's also much wider than we'd typically use. As such, it's not a surprise when I say these tires are LOUD compared to stock. They also make a big change to steering effort, increasing significantly. They also improve on-center feel and improve the steering feel in general, apart from the added tramlining, but that's to be expected with any extreme summer tire. Not surprisingly, rolling drag is big. With the stock Turanza's I can sustain about 38 MPH in EV mode on level pavement. With the Kumho XS's, only 36 MPH indicated [35.4 actual] is attainable. That's almost 7% drag at low speed. I didn't do any real back-to-back FE test loops, but it takes a lot more accelerator pedal push to keep the car going 70 MPH than with the stock tires, to the point the Eco gauge is almost into the red power zone even on level road. This is a huge FE hit, so these kind of tires would be reserved for the auto-x or track-day and kept off for DD'ing, as they simply soak up too much of the little power we have.

Important notes:
*No rubbing whatsoever, even at full steering lock with the steel wheel steering rack. No idea why Toyota puts limiters in for the puny optional alloys. Not only is there no rubbing, at full lock, there's still about an inch of clearance everywhere around these wide tires.
*LRR tires are key for fuel economy
*The chassis has great natural steering feel, masked by the wobbly stock tires
*The chassis responds well to huge grip, maintaining very good steady-state cornering neutrality. Can you say Track Day? I can see peoples heads exploding with a Prius c at an HPDE.


Lastly, here's a picture from this weekend after a coat of Zaino Clear Seal. Sunlight near dusk highlights the metallic and tinted clear coat.



Cheers,
Ryan

 

Thanks It shows best with very acute angles [nearly on-axis]. The shadows from trees on either side helped emphasize the color by attenuating the base white where the paint wasn't showing off it's metallic and tint-coat.

 

Got stuck in traffic on the commute home. I pulled into my driveway to find a pleasant surprise.



Of course my tank so far isn't that good, but it's great to see the car can pull off great efficiency.

 

Warning: [rant]

I am disgusted with the ongoing trend of car bloat, where every new generation gets bigger & heavier. I am also disgusted with the increasing trend of so-called media professionals taking on ever more condescending tone regarding how their personal opinion somehow matters to my particular vehicular preferences. Combine these two trends, add in a closed room full of automotive media talking heads, stir, and out comes the current media climate that increasingly loathe small cars while simultaneously deriding specialty cars specifically because such cars have specific intent and core competency while electing to eschew specific popular attributes in order to achieve a particular aura. To boil it down, the media are now the haters. They've lost their very reason for existence; to educate their audience. Their new created existence is to now entertain and ridicule, forming an immature fraternity of bench-racing specialists that are more interested in impressing their peers than appreciating a vehicle for its outwardly redeeming qualities.

Ok, I'm generalizing. Let's bullet point this down into the types of haters within the media:
*Government Motors haters
*Domestic brand haters
*Import haters
*Small car haters
*Low power haters
*Hatchback haters
*Alternative powertrain haters [e.g. Hybrid, Diesel, Electric]
*Specialty car haters [e.g. Lotus, Morgan]

Now we can see where all the hate for the Prius C comes from; it hits several categories. It's practically the automotive equivalent of Gay Marriage & Abortion rights promotion in a Baptist church.

Essentially, I feel it's absurd to defend this car in a climate where the media refuse to appreciate the car [or any car] for what it is, giving false ground for bench-racers and wanna-be experts to belittle a car they don't understand, don't want to understand, and haven't driven with anything resembling objective intent.

That is all. Thanks for being tolerant.
[/rant]