Newbie here, bought rims/tires, OMG, what a mistake

Discussion in 'Prius c Accessories and Modifications' started by Boatycall, Oct 29, 2012.

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  1. Boatycall

    Boatycall Junior Member

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    So, bought a C last week. Never, EVER in my life did I think I'd buy a **gulp** Prius. Got a "2", in charcoal black.
    I thought it absolutely needed a little pizzaz in the tire/wheel area, so I bought a really nice set of lightweight 17" black spoke rims and 45 series tires. Looked great. I made SURE to tell the nice "kid" at the tire store I needed LRR tires.
    Within 50 miles, I realized something was very wrong. I went from getting an average of 53mpg, down to 42 on the same trip. In EV, I went from holding 40mph on a flat road by my house to 32mph.
    Had them for 3 days, had to take them back. I loved the look, but couldn't take that big of an MPG hit. Honestly, the rims looked REALLY cool on there. If Darth Vader had to drive a Prius, that's what it looked like.

    Any suggestions for rims/tires?

    And BTW - big thank you to Discount Tire for taking care of the kid's mistake in not getting me LRR tires. I got a full, no hassle refund.
     
    #1 Boatycall, Oct 29, 2012
  2. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Stick with 15 inch wheels and LRR tires, and you'll be fine. If you have steel wheels, I'd just replace them with alloy one in the pattern that you like and use the OEM tires.

    Large dia wheel look good, but you will suffer both in ride comfort and mileage, since they are heavier than OEM or OEM sized tires and wheels.
     
    #2 Mike500, Oct 29, 2012
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    #3 cwerdna, Oct 30, 2012
  4. Boatycall

    Boatycall Junior Member

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    I'm not sure how much of a factor the tires 'being broken in' would be. Car was brand new - 300 miles. All things being equal, the tires that came with it aren't broken in yet either.
    Overall diameter of the tire was identical. Went up in rim size, but down in tire profile size. To confirm that, speedo was still dead on when compared with GPS.
     
    #4 Boatycall, Oct 30, 2012
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  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    it was all due to the design and construction of the 17" tires. Hysteresis is terrible on those larger tires. The extra weight doesn't help but it does not play as large a part. Even LRR 17" tires would have dropped his mpg. Besides, his old tires were brand new.
     
    #5 F8L, Oct 30, 2012
  6. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    A larger wheel is heavier and creates more inertia. Starting and stopping reuires more energy.

    In the early days of the history of the automoible, large rims and small tires were the norm, not because of style, but because rubber was more expensive than wood. Yes, wheels were originally wood.

    When rubber came down in price, "baloon" tires wer optomized for comfort and performance.

    The current trend of larger stylized wheels cost more, ride poorer and result in a reduction in mileage.
     
    #6 Mike500, Oct 30, 2012
  7. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Actually the difference between standard and LRR tires would have more likely been 2-3 or no more than 4 mpg.

    It has to be more than just the tires.
     
    #7 Mike500, Oct 30, 2012
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Trust me. :)
     
    #8 F8L, Oct 30, 2012
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  9. Boatycall

    Boatycall Junior Member

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    Nothing else is up. Kid at the tire store sold me plain jane 17" tires. Fortunately a much more senior manager took care of me. Got my stockers back on, everything is now back to normal.

    Any suggestions for nicer looking rims/tires?
     
    #9 Boatycall, Oct 30, 2012
  10. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    As the great communicator said, "Trust, but verify."

    The OP would be safe to retain his original mileage or maybe get a slight increase, should he or she just keep his OEM tires and get some nice stylish wheels for them. If he has steels, the alloys would be a little lighter weight.
     
    #10 Mike500, Oct 30, 2012
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  11. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Have done so. Do a search. ;)
     
    #11 F8L, Oct 30, 2012
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  12. Ryephile

    Ryephile The Technophile

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    Congrats on the car, but as you found out, it's very sensitive to rolling stock and aero changes. For a 45 profile tire to make sense, that means it was a 205/45-17 tire, which is 30mm wider than stock. That's a huge hit to aero drag, rolling drag, and weight. Each of those three categories would put a hit on fuel economy, and you increased all three significantly.

    If you're not itching for more cornering grip, keep the stock tires and just get some 15x6.5" Konig's or something like that. Otherwise, pay attention that you're keeping a narrow tire similar to stock and that it's LRR.

    Good luck!
     
    #12 Ryephile, Oct 30, 2012
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  13. Boatycall

    Boatycall Junior Member

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    Thanks all for the replies, my name is Jim, and definitely a "he".
     
    #13 Boatycall, Oct 30, 2012
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  14. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I agree. The wider wheel with the OE tire can enhance handling. I observed this when going from a 15x6 wheel to a 15x7 wheel using the same 195/65/15.
     
    #14 F8L, Oct 30, 2012
  15. Boatycall

    Boatycall Junior Member

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    It sure looked nice though. Black 6-spoke, made it look like a rice-racer. Looked like something that was going to go to the drifting track.
     
    #15 Boatycall, Oct 30, 2012
  16. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Hi Jim,
    What is your stock tire size? There has to be something you can run that will not totally kill your mpg's unless the car is near it's limits already with moving the stock tires down the road, meaning not enough HP & TQ to get the job done efficiently with a higher drag tire/wheel combo.

    And as many will say, welcome to the forum :)

    Mike
     
    #16 WE0H, Nov 3, 2012
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  17. blueduce

    blueduce Junior Member

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    How about a little chrome to brighten your car. 15's on stock tires btw i'm also jim
     

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    #17 blueduce, Nov 3, 2012
  18. FastZX6R

    FastZX6R Junior Member

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    New wheels are awesome!!

    These are mine

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1351984531.644228.jpg

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1351984558.175617.jpg

    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1351984572.708030.jpg
     
    #18 FastZX6R, Nov 3, 2012
  19. WD0AFQ

    WD0AFQ Active Member

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    Dang, mine came with 175-65 tires. I have them stretched onto 7 inch Konigs.
    Dan
     
    #19 WD0AFQ, Nov 3, 2012
  20. WE0H

    WE0H Senior Member

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    Lets see 'em :)

    Mike ..
     
    #20 WE0H, Nov 3, 2012
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