'04Alloy Wheels; What gives with the plastic?

Yup, 3M and total was $159 with a life time warranty.

I actually like the European 16 inch wheels better, but these wheels are fine for now. Here is a picture someone had posted on another forum...

BTW, I used to live in Greenville, SC for about 6 months. Worked for Fluor/Daniel there. Driven through Columbia a few times. Nice area, especially the hilly parts...hehe...

 

Danny, do you know if we can order those European wheels? wonder how much they cost.

Does anyone out there know?

 

Did anybody notice the front license plate location on that picture? Is that something you had the dealer leave off during prep or did you move it yourself and what did you use to attach it to the lower grille?

 

Mike N, if you were refering to my front plate installation, yes, I did move it from the front of the bumper to underneath the bumper. I felt that having plates installed at the front of the bumper "de-faces" the aerodynamic look of the Prius. I actually used the original front plate holder and modified it a bit to do my revised installation. As soon as I get a chance I will take a few close up pics to post here....

 

delete

 

I can see the dialog box embedded in your e-mail with the .jpg file - but I can't see how to see them. There is nothing on my screen that allows me to access the file. What am I doing wrong?

 

The european stock rims have plastic covers that actually cover the whole rim. The rims underneath the plastic covers look absolutely horrible. I can't even describe the nasty color.

 

.....I don't know how to post pics.

 

Just click on "Add an attachment," then click "browse" go to the folder in which your desired photo is located, highlight the file, and click on "ok."

Then submit the post.

 

Plus, I can't find it again.......I'll try again soon.

 

I'm fairly new here, catching up on old threads. I can see the benefit of protecting the wheel from curb rash, and MAYBE a marginal aerodynamic enhancement, but how does adding something to the wheel reduce weight?

I just took the trim off my ten day old Prius. I've had alloy wheels for years and have never had a problem with banging rims up. So no big deal on the protection. In mostly around town driving that I do, the drag doesn't matter. But I've now shed over 2 pounds of rotating mass... I weighed the rings on a digital scale. The four together came out 1.05kg.

If nothing else, I thought it would be good to get some data out on PriusChat about how much they actually add to the unsprung weight...

Until I replace the wheels all together with something lower in mass, this will have to do

Later,
Gary

 

how do you remove those plastic wheels covers?

 

Just grab behind the rings and jerk/pop them off. I just took mine off, but my wife liked them on better. She feels that they give it a more finished look.

Doug

 

if you do a search on PC you'll find lots of banter on the rings. The wife took her's off over a year ago. In fact almost a year and a half ago. Less junk on the car is the way to go.

 

I originally was going to remove those trim rings but just left them on. Now a year later my wife rubbed a curb to grind the trim ring but the wheel is OK and I am glad I left them on. From now on I will think of them as useful wheel protectors.

 

Here's a close up of what the wheels look like without the trim...

If you decide to remove them, best to take them off sooner than later: They do leave marks on the rims.

And, have a scrub brush handy: There's a lot of gunk that gets caught between the wheels and the trim.

Cheers,