Upgrade to 17" Wheels

Wider tires and softer compound have a dramatic impact on roll resistance, so I am really not surprised by your findings.

 

The tC's wheels are very heavy. With my 225 17" Katana's, my gas milage dropped by 5 mpg. I don't really care because I'd rather have the superior traction.

 

Sorry you too had to learn the hard way (as did I) that those TC wheels are way too heavy for our cars. I dropped about 4 MPG but the ride was improved over stock. I have since gone to a lite weight Ray's Gram Lites wheels and tires in 17" which ends up being lighter than the stock wheel tire package. I am very pleased ever since.

 

Which tire did you get?

 

I am a newbie just picked up my silver prius two days ago. Was also looking at the possbility of a 17" upgrade. I also had been looking around for a lightweight alternative to volks since they are so expensive. I found a wheel company called velox that has a 17" light weight wheel called vx-6r. At 14.6 pounds, it seems like a good wheel... Anyone heard of them?

 

I went with the General Exclaim UHP 215/45/R17 on the Ray's 17x7.5 rims in silver.
I posted a thread on this whole switch with actual weights. It was December of '06 if that helps. The tire is a nice quiet tire amd I presently have 28K on them and expect to get another 10K before replacement. Good even wear on all four; I rotate every 5K miles when I do oil/filter.

 

Many aftermarket wheels are the same weight as the stock units but the 17" tires are usually much heavier. I believe the General UPH? is one of the few that will weigh near stock. Even with a 14lb rim I ended up being 6lbs+ over the stock combo so I went back to stock for now.

 

Just thought I'd show the wheels. Yes indeed it does reduce the mpg a bit.. But the handling and added stability are a plus.

 

Kingprius,
Your Prius looks niiiiiccce. I like it alot.

 

I agree!!

 

Thanks guys. I figured a little gas mileage sacrificed is a good tradeoff for having the car be more surefooted. I actually ran 205 45 17 instead of the 215 45 17 many put on. That way I kept the weight gain at a minimum... The stock weighted at 35.5 lbs with tires. The new combo was at 37.5 lbs... So the gain was minimal. The major contributors were two things:

1. My right foot...
2. Tall ratio created by bigger wheel/tire.....

I think the latter was more since the overall taller gear ratio produced by the bigger wheels actually slow down the vehicle more...

Another thing though was that I also used forged lug nuts to further negate the weight... I know the stock ones weight probably triple of what the forged lug nuts were... But I didnt weight them....yet... lol.

 

Kingprius, did you have the touring wheel combo because the stock 15" wheel/tire should not weigh over 32lbs or so?

 

yes. mine came with the touring package. The weight of the touring wheels with tires is 35lbs. It is indeed true though that tires should also be picked with care for light weight and resistance as the tires themselves are a big weight factor... For me though I picked a more aggressive and better traction tire as my wife uses the car more often than I do... Another factor I forgot to mention is the width of the wheels and tires. The wheels are 17x7.0 which is half an inch narrower than many on the market. The tires are a little narrower too which is only one size up at 205 45 17 vs. 215 45 17...

 

Great info. Thank you

I was curious what the touring edition combo weighed.

 

no problem. I am surprised though that no one weighted the touring wheels though... The thing is that based on my observations, there are always trade offs with any tire and wheel set up. So long as you know what u prefer, you can buy tire/wheel package accordingly. If u want best economy, stick to a 15 lighter weight wheel. But u won't have the best stability.

 

pic of my new rims...let me know what you think...

 

fresh!

 

I am very impressed, that looks very good. Tempted to fit 17" wheels at the next tyre change.