LE owners out there, have you tested the MPG differences with and without the hubcaps?

But the aero wheel covers look better than the bare wheels as well as aftermarket wheels.

 

The wheel covers look so much nicer than the bare wheels.

 

I didn't think it was possible that ANYONE would prefer those god awful hubcaps, and now I've confirmed there are at least two people.

 

Centre caps will also help with rust on the hub. Not a problem so much for OP (in LA).

Just my personal preference I guess, but bare black rims, that are relatively utilitarian in style, meant to be covered, look pretty funky. I much prefer designed-to-be-bare rims, painted silver. Easy to touch up too. Clearcoat over shiny metal are the worst to deal with, if you get curb rash.

 

It looks like no one answered the OP's question. I just remove my covers today. I'll see if I can tell any difference in mpg. The differece, if any, would only be at high speed.

 

In the Tesla world, its well studied and known that hubcaps typically have a ~3% improvement.

 

I've driven a 2005 with and without the hub caps. Never noticed a notable difference.

Toyota wouldn't have bothered with them if they didn't have an impact on efficiency and noise. It is just that the impact is small enough that out side of lab testing, an individual may not notice a difference. There are plenty of other variables on the road or drive that could hide or even amplify it.

 

How much do they weigh?

 

I've had mine off for about a month, FWD, and can't see any difference in my "mixed" driving, mostly at lower speed. I'll be taking a higher speed trip in a couple weeks, and see if I see a difference. I got about 48 mpg with the covers on an 1100 mile trip going 80-82 when the traffic allowed.

 

Just took mine off. I like the bare wheels much better with center caps is the way I want to go. I think the high speed penalty will be slight with low speeds very close. My last two tanks before removal were 68.05 and 67.77. Last tank was 491.3 on 7.29 gallons total price was $19.83 at Costco where we get another 3 cents? discount. 4 cents a mile. I generally avoid AC use most of the time.

 

Just to save others having to do the math:
491.3/7.29=67.4 (mpg)

 

Lets see 3/6774 = 00044287 I guess my 74 year old memory is getting rusty and my handle is still spelled wrong. Oh well
128X.00044287=.05668736 of an ounce Whats that a teaspoon LOL?

Edit :
dang wrong again a teaspoon is 1/6th an ounce mot .05668736. I guess it will just have to be close enough LOL.

 

You lost me, lol.

 

I got 67.4 versus 67.7 as reported. The difference is 3/674 of the reported amount or .0044444444 or .568888889 ounce which is less than four tablespoons in 7.292 gallons of gas. At 128 ounces per gallon the difference would be a little more than half an ounce. If you add the .002 gallon I rounded off that adds .056 ounce to the .568888889 which totals to .62488888 of a single ounce of fuel or 4 teaspoons of fuel out of 7.292 gallons total in that fill. I rounded off the last .002 hundredths of a gallon.
So then the MPG is actually
491.3/7.292=67.3752057 miles per gallon. About 3 or 4 tablespoons in error.
I'm not even going to try liters.
I actually have a photo of my car with the hubcaps removed and one hub cover (dust cap) installed but I'm not really interested in posting it here. If someone else wants to post it contact me through PM Like you did about my handle and Then I can text it to your phone so it could be posted here. I made another mistake in the previous calculation. Sorry about that. Not interested in liters.