2024 Prius XLE Spare Tire solution

This is dangerous advice. A loose spare tire becomes a missile in an accident. A front end collision causes that to LEAP in the air and hit you in the back of the head

 

How is that working out for you? Did you ever get the foam pieces? Thanks.

 

I bought the OEM foam when I purchased the spare wheel but did not make the small foam cubes to complete the support of the cargo floor. I put a towel and bubble wrap to level it off and put cardboard on top of the cargo mat for when I put my bottled water or anything heavy in there. Seems to be okay for now. Haven’t made it a priority to cut foam cubes. If I could buy them cheaply, I would. I honestly forgot about it and need to put it on my long To Do list.

 

Thanks. I think I’m going to go with putting a doughnut behind the passenger front seat. I’ll have more room for storage in the trunk this way.

 

I can’t deal with the tire smell. Be sure to secure it.

 

Wedged behind the front passenger seat back I don't think it's going anywhere, unlike if it was just laid down in the back.
I don't even have the car yet, so there's that...

I kind of like that rubber smell, lol.

 

…and don’t block the vents on the back seats.

 

I think it's behind the driver's seat, where I usually put the shopping bags, jacket, water bottle, etc, lol.

 

That’s exactly what I used to do. : ) I’ve lost major back seat floor storage. There’s a smaller vent on the passenger side back seat as well. I miss having the vent on the top edge of the back seat. It was more visible and used zero storage space.

 

Putting stuff there shouldn't really matter much. There's a thermostat-controlled fan.

If airflow was obstructed, the fan can just run faster to compensate. Same as if the air was warmer.

I'd be concerned if you were planning to tape it up, or if you were already driving around with that fan at maximum rpm so it couldn't suck any harder, but I wouldn't be particularly concerned about stashing stuff in the footwell generally.

 

It probably wouldn't hurt to at least keep it in mind when putting stuff back there.

 

If the flow of air is genuinely obstructed with pet hair or a plastic bag over the vent, it won't matter how fast the fan runs because air won't flow. People worry about this because the battery is expensive and not changing or clearing the filter has been linked to a shorter useful life.

 

In previous generations, blockage was more of a problem because the intake was mostly flat and placed in an area where it could get obstructed. The gen5 has an intake that has a 45 degree bend in it. It's right on the corner of the rear seat base, so about half the intake face is perpendicular to the long axis of the car(or parallel with the rear seat) and then it angles in and back towards the door. This means it's more likely to remain clear if something is placed in front of it. Even if you place a box in the footwell and it blocks the front(perpendicular) section, the fan will still be able to pull air through the angled section on the side.

The only way I can see a person being able to block the intake in a gen5 would be to lay a blanket over the entire seat with a large amount overhanging and tuck it in all the way around.