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'04Alloy Wheels; What gives with the plastic?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by RobertO, Jan 12, 2004.

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  1. RobertO

    RobertO New Member

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    I noticed yesterday while detailing the wheels and tires on my AM-7 that there appears to be a decorative outer shield on the allow wheel.

    I honestly thought this was an all-alloy wheel. Now I think its' some sort of coupound design.

    Makes me wonder why they did this (cooling, shileding the rotors, what?) and what the wheel looks like without the outer shield. Mabe some sort of retro Mad Max look?

    Anybody else notice this?


    Bob
     
    #1 RobertO, Jan 12, 2004
  2. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Ummmm...cheap?
     
    #2 Danny, Jan 12, 2004
  3. Wolfman

    Wolfman New Member

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    Gotta pic? It would help to see what they were possibly thinking.
     
    #3 Wolfman, Jan 12, 2004
  4. RobertO

    RobertO New Member

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    About the plastic on the '04 Alloy wheels

    Danny:

    Sorry no picture. Easy to check this out, though.

    Just run your hand (carefulnot to cut or abrade you pinkies on the edges of the cover) along what outer surface near the rim of the wheel.

    You'll find that you can move it a little bit along the thin edge - very simlar to a wheel cover.

    Check it out and tell me what do you think. Anybody else notice this?

    Shoot maybe it's just really, really, really thin metal alloy.

    Hm-m-m-m-m-m...I don' think so, Lucy!


    Bob
     
    #4 RobertO, Jan 12, 2004
  5. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    I've posted on this before in YG.

    Direct from a Toyota official (at a dealer training event Dianne snuck me into in Irvine), this plastic trim ring serves 3 purposes (in no particular order):

    1. If you hit a curb, you damage the trim ring instead of the wheel itself
    2. Areodynamics - it contributes to the .26 Cd
    3. Lightweight - there's less weight at the outer diameters of the wheel which reduces inertia. It also reduces overall unsprung weight.

    hope this helps,
    -Rick
     
    #5 HTMLSpinnr, Jan 12, 2004
  6. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Aluminum doesn't rust, but it does corrode.

    And when you live up north like I do, after a number of years the places where the balance-weights are attached to the wheels really starts to become apparent. You can see where the winter road-salt accumulated and ate away the aluminum.

    Those plastic outer rims conceal that and the balance-weights themselves.

    Suprisingly, the rim without the plastic actually looks pretty nice. You can find some photos of them that way here...
    http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-album57.htm
     
    #6 john1701a, Jan 12, 2004
  7. Jerry P

    Jerry P Member

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    I think it looks better without the trim ring so I plan to remove them for summer. Kinda like having new sporty wheels for summer without the cost! :D
     
    #7 Jerry P, Jan 12, 2004
  8. dpool

    dpool New Member

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    With respect to point #3, unsprung weight is the weight of all components not suspended by the spring. When it comes to wheels, the entire wheel is unsprung weight. You can't have a portion of the wheel be sprung and a portion unsprung. Where the weight sits on a wheel makes no difference when it comes to the total of the unsprung weight.

    Dave
     
    #8 dpool, Jan 12, 2004
  9. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Sorry, it wasn't meant to imply that only the outer portion was unsprung. Perhaps that would have been better stated in two sentances.

    It reduces outer diameter, which helps with intertia on acceleration/deceleration.
    It reduces overall unsprung weight.

    I've edited my original post to reflect.

    -Rick
     
    #9 HTMLSpinnr, Jan 12, 2004
  10. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    trim rings on the 2K4

    check out page 26 of the February issue of Motor Trend mag for a look at a Prius with the rings off. The article is on souping up the Prius but if you read it you will understand the author doesn't understand. MG2 is the limiting factor on increasing the rpm. But the pix of the car looks good!
     
    #10 Frank Hudon, Jan 14, 2004
  11. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Correction - MG1 is the limiting factor on engine RPM. MG1 is the primary generator, and has a 10,000 RPM Redline.

    For those who are interested in the relationship of the speeds of MG1, MG2, and the ICE, go to the YG and check out Wayne (mwbueno) Brown's THS2 simulator program for the Palm (also runs in the emulator). I got to play with it on one of his Palm devices when I met him at a dinner with Dianne in October, it was quite interesting.

    -Rick
     
    #11 HTMLSpinnr, Jan 14, 2004
  12. dpool

    dpool New Member

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    I'm just new enough here (or it's just early enough in the morning) that I don't get the reference to the YG (as in "go to the YG"). Quest-que c'est?
     
    #12 dpool, Jan 14, 2004
  13. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    YG = Yahoo Group - it's where a good majority of us migrated from due to format, file space and photo album problems.

    2004-Prius Yahoo Group
     
    #13 Danny, Jan 14, 2004
  14. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    Re: mg1 mg2 sorry to Rick ment power instead posted rpm.

    I had brain fade on that post, I know that MG1 has a 10 grand speed limit and what I ment to say was on MG2 that the power is limited by the amout of flux you get from perment magnets in the rotor. Even if you could get more amperage into the stator there is only so much flux the magnets are capable of offering as push to the flux of the stator. Sorry for the confusion. Last check on price of the transistors in the inverter of the Toyota forklift they were $1600 apiece and there are six of them. They are similar if not the same as in the Classic. So if your interested in boosting the power output your going to need even more expensive ones than that. That said, I and probably most who buy the Prius will never think about turbo's or NOx or anything other than gas mileage and fun.
     
    #14 Frank Hudon, Jan 14, 2004
  15. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Speaking of Turbos...

    That being said, it is curious as to why Toyota didn't consider forced induction from a light pressure turbo to further reclaim the energy from the exhaust stream. Could help the Atkinson cycle out a bit.

    A 1.2l turbo'd Prius could probably do as well as a 1.5L Normially Aspirated Prius, and the E-CVT could help keep the engine within optimum boost range.

    I'm sure emissions and economy and longevity were all factors in that decision, as well as cost and complexity.

    -Rick
     
    #15 HTMLSpinnr, Jan 14, 2004
  16. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    cost is the only consideration in that analysis
     
    #16 Frank Hudon, Jan 14, 2004
  17. texassalsa04

    texassalsa04 New Member

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    Rings off...

    ...I have never had the plastic rings on my Prius since I took delivery. I had mentioned to my sales guy that I would prefer those rings not be install at prep prior to delivery. He followed my instructions and those rings are in the original plastic bags hanging in my garage. I prefer the wheels "naked." See attached...
     
    #17 texassalsa04, Jan 14, 2004
  18. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Good looking car - I like the tinting.

    What % is that?
     
    #18 Danny, Jan 14, 2004
  19. texassalsa04

    texassalsa04 New Member

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    Tint....

    Thanks for the compliment AdminCoop...the tint is 35%...legal in Texas. I tried to match it up with the back slit window as much as possible. Here is another shot from the quarter side...
     
    #19 texassalsa04, Jan 15, 2004
  20. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Looks like you got a perfect match there.

    How much did that tinting job end up costing you? Did you go with 3M tint or what?

    Back on topic, I really like it without the outer rings on the wheels.
     
    #20 Danny, Jan 15, 2004
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