has anyone installed a winter tire with size different with factory

Discussion in 'Gen 5 Prius Main Forum' started by fzuray, Oct 28, 2023.

  1. fzuray

    fzuray New Member

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    has anyone installed a winter tire with rim size different with factory
    I got a prime phev 2023, and am looking for a rim and tire other than the factory size(e.g. 195 60 R17.)
     
  2. Blackat

    Blackat Active Member

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    There are a couple threads about this.
    I bought 16" aftermarket wheels and winter tires from TireRack.
    They are the same height as OEM
     
  3. otatrant

    otatrant Active Member

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    I installed 205/55R17 Michelin Cross Climate 2 on 17x7.5 inch MSW Type 48 rims from tirerack.com. Resulted in 0.4" loss of ground clearance. No issues other than an occasional rub when leaving drive way in a hurry. At the time I found it very hard to find aftermarket wheels that were factory size i.e. 17x6.5 inch.
     
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  4. HacksawMark

    HacksawMark Active Member

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    215/60 R17 on 17x7 inch MSW Type 42

    IMG_6698.JPG
     
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  5. KMO

    KMO Senior Member

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    205/60 or 215/55 are better matches for original circumference on 17". 205/60 exactly matches the standard 19", and 215/55 is in-between the standard 17" and 19".

    205/55 is smaller than standard sizes, 3% below the 19", which is at the edge of recommended changes, and legality in some countries.

    215/60 is bigger than standard sizes, 1.8% above the 19". Usually acceptable, but I'd be a bit wary for a winter tyre on this car.

    Toyota Finland had been telling dealers to offer 215/50R19 studded winter tyres for 19" cars (3% higher circumference), but I've read that they're now saying that's not acceptable, due to problems with snow build-up and potential well damage, and are specifying and type approving 17" winter sizes. 215/55R17 is the easiest to find, and what I already chose - Nokian Hakkapeliittta 10 on Toyota 17x6.5 rims (not the factory ones, but those offered as an option for 17" cars in Europe)
     
    #5 KMO, Oct 31, 2023
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2023
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  6. purplePriii

    purplePriii Active Member

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    Anyone has a picture with the 16" tires?
     
  7. Wind23

    Wind23 Junior Member

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  8. Jason Mosiman

    Jason Mosiman New Member

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    Any issues with break calipers clearing if you went down to 17" wheels for winter from stock 19"?
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

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    The brakes are almost certainly the same, regardless of 17” vs 19” wheel. There have been clearance issues reported with 16” wheels though: clearance was so minimal that hidden weights needed to shifted. I wonder too: maybe a 16” wheel “clears”, but if a small piece of gravel gets kicked in there…
     
  10. Tooly

    Tooly Member

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    215/50/18

    Calipers are the same no mater what size wheel came on your Prius. It not like the Prime is a performance variant warranting large brakes or better suspension.


    [​IMG]
     
  11. Bryden

    Bryden New Member

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    I ran 10k miles this winter using 215/60R16 and Blizzak WS90... no clearance issue and they were GREAT in snow storms and snow < 6" deep...
     
  12. RMI_Chicago

    RMI_Chicago New Member

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    @KMO I recently got a 2025 Prius Prime and would like tires with some more sidewall without havi by to bug smaller wheels. I found an all-season tire in 215/50R19 size. It has 0.4 inches more sidewall than stock tires, which is nice. I don’t plan on driving in snow. Were the clearance issues with that size you mentioned in Finland solely because of snow build-up? Did the tires fit otherwise?
     
  13. Winston Smith

    Winston Smith Active Member

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    Just a caution - The front discs on AWD models are larger. Some data bases will show 16 inch wheels as fitting on FWD models but not AWD models.

    I suspect, but don't know, that this means some 16" wheels will fit over AWD front discs and calipers, but not all will.
     
  14. Hammersmith

    Hammersmith Senior Member

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    You can cross check against PHEV listings. The AWD and PHEV use the same front rotors.

    FWD HEV - 11.1" rotor
    AWD HEV, PHEV - 12.0" rotor

    The calipers are also different, but figure the same roughly 1" difference in total.

    The AWD/PHEV rotors are also a little thicker. About 6mm or 1/4".
     
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  15. KMO

    KMO Senior Member

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    Those larger tyres would fit on the standard wheels fine.

    Can't say for certain, but I suspect the snow build-up is the main concern, and there's no hard issue with bigger sizes. Manual also has a "no snow chains on 19" tyres" bit, echoing the snow clearance thing. No other special "don't go bigger" warnings.

    With my 215/55R17 (smaller than normal 19"), I sometimes end up with caked snow rubbing against the tyres - anything bigger than the normal 19" would suffer that more.
     
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  16. SXP

    SXP New Member

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    I'm waiting for my 2025 XLE to be delivered later this month. I'm interested in improving the ride quality so was also thinking of buying an alternate set of 17" wheels. Would fitting a 225/60 R17 tire cause any interference issues due to the extra width? This tire size on 17" rims has an overall diameter of 22.3 " vs. the stock overall diameter of 22.8" (with the 19" wheels), so height shouldn't be an issue, but width?

    Feedback/advice appreciated
     
  17. SXP

    SXP New Member

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    Please ignore my post above.... screwed up the math royally!
     
  18. Winston Smith

    Winston Smith Active Member

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    225/60 would be almost 9 inches wide.
     
    #18 Winston Smith, Jul 22, 2025
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2025
  19. Hammersmith

    Hammersmith Senior Member

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    I don't know what math you say you screwed up, but others on this site have been running 225 width without problems. The only issue would be that 225 is right on the edge for a wheel that's meant to take 195. My understanding is that +/-10mm isn't a problem, +/-20mm is starting to push things, and +/-30mm can maybe work but it's questionable. But if you choose to go with an aftermarket wheel that's a little wider than the stock wheel, then that's moot and 225 would be just fine.

    Stock wheels: 6.5"
    Best wheel width for 225: 7.5" (though 7.0" or 8.0" can work)
     
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  20. SXP

    SXP New Member

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    When posting the overall height of the wheel/tire package, I didn't multiply the height of the tire X 2 and then add that to the wheel diameter (17"). I added 17" + height of tire (once only).

    Anyway, I've decided on a 17" wheel (7" wide) and 215/60-17 tire which has the same overall height of the OEM 19" wheel/tire package.
     
    #20 SXP, Jul 23, 2025 at 1:03 PM
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2025 at 1:10 PM