Winter Tire advice and tips

If you decide to purchase a 2nd set of wheels for dedicated winter tires here is some friendly advice.

Tirerack.com does not have the Prius V wagon yet on there website, so I entered a 2005 Camry LE to bring up a vehicle that matched the Bolt Pattern (5-114), Offset +30~45mm, and backspacing 5.5~6 inches.

I purchased the Rial Milano 16x6.5 wheel and Michelin X-Ice Xi2 205/60-16 tire. They look and fit great. It was the only 6.5 wide wheel they had in a 16.

Other wheel and tire combo sizes that will fit.
Deleted 15 inch rim. I do not believe a 15 inch rim will fit on the rear due to the larger rear disc brake.
Wheel 16x7 -- 215/55-16 tire (Lots of wheels to choose from, higher cost tire)
Wheel 16x7 -- 215/60-16 tire (Lots of wheels to choose from, bit more ground clearance, small speedo error)
Wheel 17x7 -- 215/50-17 tire (OEM size for v 5, High cost, good looks)
Wheel 17x7.5 -- 225/50-17 tire (Really high cost, heavy, subjectively looks the best)

My advice, do not go with a 7 or 7.5 inch wide wheel without buying a wider tire to go with it. If you love the look of a certain wheel then you wouldn’t want to ruin it with road rash next time you go through a drive through or parallel park on the street. Yes, the specs say a skinny tire will mount on a fat rim, but don’t do it.

For tires I would go with the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 (with $70 rebate) Otherwise the General Altimax Arctic also gets good reviews. Third choice would be what I run on my other car, Bridgestone Blizzaks, love them (7 years so far).

Another interesting tidbit, my new 16 inch wheel and tire weigh 39 lbs, verses my 17 inch OEM combo that weighs 45 lbs. The new 16’s should ride better, with better acceleration, and higher MPGs win, win, win.

Should you buy TPMS sensors? No, I did the TPMS bypass (see link).
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii.../77254-idea-fool-tire-pressure-sensors-6.html
It is too much of a pain to have the dealer reprogram twice a year and too costly to buy the sensors and reprogrammer for myself.

 

Now I am starting to second guess my top tire pick. I just measured my 6 year old Bridgestone Blizzak tread depth at .300” inches or 9.6/32. At this rate these winter tires will outlast my 2005 Chrysler 300C. The new Michelin X-Ice Xi2 only measure .320” or 10.25/32 brand new.
I picked the X-Ice Xi2 for four reasons
1) Price with $70 rebate.
2) Top tested at Tirerack.com
3) Michelin reputation
4) They are LRR, which I speculate makes a bigger difference on winter tires.
Now I am noticing the “Do not include LRR tires” check box on tirerack.com which makes wonder about picking the LRR tire. Research suggests there is no free lunch. LRR tires trade tread life and grip for lower rolling resistance. Further research suggests if anyone would be picking LRR tires it would be Prius owners.

 

I have page 390, read on to page 391 and you will know resetting TPMS will not clear the light.

Yes I did review your tire post. If someone lives in an area with milder winters a great option would be to put on a highly rated set of all-seasons like the Michelin Primacy MXM4.
I would not recommend the Continental ContiContact tires. I had a similar tire on my 300C. It had low tread life and was downright scary on packed snow or ice.
I can tell you are as crazy as I am when it comes to tire research :mod:
The TPMS bypass works. Just remove the lower glove box, it just pops out. Jumper pins 5-7. I used a piece of wire leftover from my garage door opener sensors. Looks like about 28 gauge solid copper. I’ll try to post some pictures later.

 

That is a good question. I believe it is fine, the rings are bright orange and I do not see them falling out. It looks to me like the wheel is designed to have different rings pressed in depending on what the hub diameter is. To me it is a mood point because the supplied lug nuts are tapered. The wheel and tire assembly is clamped tight to the hub and centered by the tapered lug nuts.
Maybe it is a CYA thing, I just can’t imagine 1) Those rings coming off the wheel and sticking to the hub and 2) A blind installer reinstalling the wheels with the ring stuck on the hub.
I don’t know about you but when I install wheels I hold the wheel against the hub as I tighten the first couple lug nuts. I do not rely on the lug nut pushing the wheel back to the hub.
Another point is I trust Tire Rack. I trust the wheels I purchased are of good quality. I have purchased generic no name aftermarket wheels on Ebay in the past and always wondered about the quality.

 

I would run 35 psi all around. Factory door label says 33F/32R. If you are running 40F / 38 R in the dead of winter and it warms up to 60 degrees some fine January day I would think your TPMS over inflation alarm would go off. That is, if Toyotas display a light for over inflation? I would think they would, other makes I have owned (Chevy) do.

 

225/50-17 is very close to the OEM 215/50-17 only about 2% speedo error. If the bolt pattern and offset are good, then they should be fine.

 

My wife's old car had a similar problem with the wheel sticking to the hub with lug nuts removed. I could not pull off by hand. Ended up giving the tire a good kick from my size 13 boot and it came right off. It is interesting how they can sitck like that.

Why go steel when the cheapest alloy is only $20 more per wheel. ($79 each)? Oh wait I see, Mendel is a Canuck and Vancouver is a very expensive city. Hey I spent a couple of weeks in Vancouver/ Burnaby, Very cool area! I am now the proud owner of a very nice rain jacket because it pretty much was raining 95% of the time I was there.

 

Let's see some pictures! What wheel did you go with?