tires on the base model

The important dimensions to keep the odometer and nav happy are wheel (center metal rim plus the tire) diameter and circumference, which are related, of course. The 15" or 16" dimension you are asking about refers to the diameter of the metal rim. The tire has two measurements too, such as 196/65 and the opening diameter that fits on the rim. On the tire, the first measurement is the width of the contact patch where the rubber meets the road expressed in millimeters. The second number it the ratio of the sidewall height (the distance between the rim and the road) to the contact patch width expressed as a percentage.

If you go from a 15" rim to a 16" rim, you can keep the overall wheel diameter the same if the sidewall gets shorter. The circumference is measured in millimeters, as with a tape measure, or in revolutions per mile. The standard OEM tire has 855 RPM. If you can find a wheel close to that RPM, the odometer and nav should be happy after you press the Recalibrate button.

Everything you want to know about wheels and tires.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(setheriah @ Apr 3 2007, 01:20 PM) [snapback]417211[/snapback]</div>

16" wheels will work just fine on any GII Prius (maybe GI as well but I'm not sure). However, you must use the correct size tires on them, 195/55-16. If you buy after market wheels be sure to get the correct offset also. The Japanese and European Priuses (Prii) and I think the Australian and N.Z. ones all come with 16" wheels. For some weird reason they decided to put 15" on the U.S and Canadian cars.

The 195/55-16 size tire will be very close to the 855 revs/mile mentioned by Bill.