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3 FREE ways to improve your Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Tigerops, Dec 9, 2005.

  1. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    1. Start by taking off your wheel covers. The plastic ones. Simply place all fingers around two spots on the inside of each cover and gently pull until metal ring comes off. Make sure to place your fingers far inside the plastic cover and then you won't break the plastic. The wheels look really good compared to the techno-geek-environ covers making our cars look like something out of the future. Here are two pictures of what the wheels look like:

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    2. This next trick I saw on another post that I can't seem to find. So this is someone else's idea, not mine. The inside front of our armrests has a little ledge inside that seems to allude me. If you take your coin/junk tray from inside the armrest and place it inside this ledge and lower the armrest, it raises the armrest up at a very comfortable angle. I'm 6'2" and if you lean your seat back even a little, this trick will make your ride much more comfortable. TRY IT out for a day and if you don't like it you can go back to normal. I highly doubt that you'll break the armrest in this manner unless you lean on it or put too much weight on it. Just DON'T do that and you'll be okay. Here are some pictures showing you how to set it up:

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    3. Last, this isn't really a huge improvement, but it's still funny. I got bored with my stock buttons and decided to add an EJECT button inside the cockpit. Again, I am using this idea from another member here on Prius Chat, so thank you for the idea and kudos to you! If you want to take off the parking button I would highly recommend taking apart the whole dash and disconnecting the cable from the back of it to make it easier to work with. It took me about 2 hours to do everything. Just be careful pulling off the button from the housing. I should have used printable sticker paper but instead used regular paper and then used clear tape to tape it on. I highly recommend buying some sticky paper and going that route so you don't have to take off any parts. It's a LOT less stressful. :) Here are the pictures:

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  2. tumbleweed

    tumbleweed Senior Member

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    Location:
    Eastern Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I had already done my wheels and I agree they look a lot better without the goofy plastic things. I'll try the armrest trick too. thanks
     
  3. catsbox

    catsbox Member

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    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    Did you take an MPG hit by removing the covers? I was under the impression that the Prius wheels were aerodynamically designed to maximize MPG.
     
  4. slortz

    slortz New Member

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    Good job with the eject button! B)
    I love playing James Bond theme music while driving in my Prius. :D
     
  5. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    Winters, CA: Prius capital of US. 30 miles W of S
    I think Toyota got a killer deal on those trim rings from Big Lots. :p
     
  6. Tigerops

    Tigerops New Member

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    I haven't noticed a MPG hit yet, but it's only been half a day. :) I doubt I'm going to notice it though because my MPG varies from 47 to 49 MPG after each tank. I doubt it's going to drop the MPG any more than 1. Plus, you can sell your plastic rims on ebay and that will make up for any lost money from 1 MPG. :)
     
  7. Wayne

    Wayne Active Member

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    That eject button is way cool! :) How does it work out with valets? :lol: