2016 Prius - Wheels, Tires, and Suspensions; Road-Handling

2016 - Wheels, Tires, and Suspensions - Road Handling Options and Upgrades

For this thread I thought I would try to limit its comments to the subjects listed in the title, as I am keenly interested in these aspects of the new Generation 4 Hatchback.

First, let me say that I am thoroughly smitten with the new design and I look forward to ordering a Gen 4 in High Trim, High Performance, High Tech, and High Appeal Options (but only after all specs and order information are made available, of course). For now, I like HyperSonic Red.

On my previous Prii, I have only driven on 15" wheels & tires for limited periods of time before upgrading to 17's. When I bought my new 2012/G3/Trim5/ATP with stock 17's, it went straight from the boat to the TRD facility in Long Beach for the installation of Prius Plus Springs and Prius Plus Rear Anti-Sway Bar - I opted-out of the remaining items of the Prius Plus Package. Ordering in this way, the add-on items and their installation became factory window sticker items for my car, hence - they were added to the sticker price, and were fully covered by factory warranties, services, and resale value.

As my first comment for Gen 4: During an early video presentation (possibly Las Vegas), I watched intently as someone attempted to pull one of the white segments out of the 17" wheel on the red car (to no avail). Suddenly, I flashed on pulling all of those white triangles out for color-keyed paint before reinstalling them between the black wheel spokes. After about 2 weeks I began to realized that the white(ish) part of the wheel is probably not an insert, but is actually the painted alloy wheel itself, while the black spoke-like parts are the overlay (possibly plastic). I solicit anyone's opinion about the design and makeup of that wheel. Do you think that wheel can be easily disassembled for painting purposes (after removing the lug bolts)?

Again, comments and discussions about any other wheels, tires, shocks, bars, spacers, dampers,and suspension components are highly welcomed!

Happy motoring, Bill

 

Ah, yes, so it does. The 2nd image of pages on page 1 of OP's post appears to show the exact same wheel in 3 different trims. Top image with black insert as seen in the Las Vegas reveal; the middle image with possibly a different black plastic insert (?); and the 3rd image is the wheel with no insert (I think).

Good deal - thanks,

 

Thank you, Blu-ray - that would be awesome to see. Let us know if/when you run across those images again.

 

Good to hear. On a HyperSonic Red car with dark tinted glass - in my mind's eye, I see the 17" wheel painted HSR with the black insert that tapers to narrower at the perimeter - reinstalled, still black. Lots of work to do that correctly, but oh, what a look!

 

Let Mendel & Netcub
Yes, as stated in paragraph 4 of my OP, my un-educated decision is that the white is the wheel and the black is the insert. I struggle with this however, and I seek your assistance.

The apparent images posted in Post #12 and Post #9 are not available to me - they will not open. This is what I see instead:

This webpage is not available
ERR_SSL_VERSION_OR_CIPHER_MISMATCH
A secure connection cannot be established because this site uses an unsupported protocol.

Can you advise me on that? Looks like I may need to turn off a firewall or something - what do you think? If I can get to those images I would gladly adjust my opinion accordingly.

Standing by,.....

:O