I think I know the answer to this, but would really appreciate hearing anyone else's experience / opinion about it. I recently bought a 2010 Prius III with the stock 15" tires, and traded in my Gen II Prius Touring. I'm emphatic about wanting something other than the "donut" spare tire when I travel any long distance, after twice in years past having a tire self-destruct on a weekend & having to wait until Monday for a tire store to open & get a perfectly matching tire. So, for my Touring, I got an extra 16" oem wheel and tire, and have strapped it to the hatch area floor on long trips. (it won't fit into the wheel well for the donut spare.) The question: I want a full-size (non-donut) spare for my 2010. I think the outside diameter for the 16" Touring spare and the 15" wheel & tire are the same. Can I safely use the 16" Bridgestone Turanza Touring wheel and tire as a full-size spare? I noticed that the donut spare is, itself, a 16" tire. The traction difference, such as with rain or snow, will be a factor, but would with the donut as well. Anyone see one way or the other whether this would work out ok? Thanks!
Fair question. the reason is that I already have the 16" Toyota Prius wheel on which is mounted (and balanced) a tire with decent thread. My alternative would seem to be: . sell the 16" wheel & tire -- and figure out how to ship . buy a 15" 2010 wheel . buy a 15" tire . get the 15" pieces mounted and balanced In the end, from experience, I'm guessing I'll get a lot less for the 16" wheel and tire combo that it'd cost to get all the 15" pieces. And, to do all this for something I very much hope never to have to use (never had to use it on the Gen II .... knock on wood)
You can look up the tire by size, make, and model here: Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels If the circumference or rotations per mile are within 1 or 2 percent that would be OK. Then you would need to make sure the bolt pattern and offset are the same, they most likely are but you could check with a dealer's parts department to be sure. If all that is OK you would still have a difference in the tread pattern. If it's just used as a spare and removed as soon as you get the bad tire fixed or replaced it should be fine if you take it easy. But when tread patterns are very different the ABS and VSC can be effected. EDIT: or after thinking about it those systems might help compensate for a tire that's a bit different than the others? Another solution as you mentioned above, buy an inexpensive rim such a winter/snow tire rim, and a tire just like the ones you have. You can get the whole package from Tire Rack mounted, balanced, and shipped to your door. If it were me I would probably take one of the existing ones off the car and compare offset and circumference, put the 16 on the car to make sure it fits and go for a drive.
Well, here's closure on this question in case anyone searches for it. My case of pneumonia has let up to the point that I was able to go out and swap a 16" Touring wheel & tire for the drivers front tire of my 2010 to test how it'd be as a full-sized spare tire. Overall conclusion: works very well -- and I'm guessing much better than the donut spare which has limits on speed & how far you should drive on it. Bolt pattern and offset are the same. Same diameter at center of wheel. Revolutions per mile with 3 of one another per calculation using Miata calculator. I tried several miles of stop & go traffic, two roads laced with pot-holes, a stretch of 55mph country road, a few miles of 70mph hiway, and a couple of hard stops. It felt stable, didn't pull or drift, etc. I could sense that "something" was different, but not so much that it was a problem. Hands off the wheel, it ran as true as it does with the oem wheels all around. Only problem I noticed was on rain grooves on the hiway at 70mph, where there was evidence of the spare's Bridgestone Turanza wanting to follow the grooves, as they did on the Gen II Touring I had (and which tendency could be cut back by raising their tire pressure quite a bit). Overall, I'd say it will work well as a full-size spare. Only drawback -- and it's for any full-size spare whether 15" or 16" -- it won't fit into the wheel-well where the donut spare resides. So, I'll take it with me on trips, as I did on my Gen II Touring -- and carry it strapped to the floor of the hatch area.
Here's the comparison from previous posts, most info is from ken@japan. 2004-2009 Prius 15X6JJ: 5X100mm PCD, 45mm offset 16X6JJ: 5X100mm PCD, 45mm offset 2010 Prius 15X6J: 5X100mm PCD, 45mm offset 17X7J: 5X100mm PCD, 50mm offset 17inch:11.0kg 15inch: 7.4kg So it looks like it's the same offset and rim width. And btw, just because you were able to mount them and they -look- ok doesn't mean they would be, but looks like they are from the specs. Sorry it took so long for me to post this info for you.
Thanks for watching out for me ... I really do appreciate it. I had finally, after my initial post, actually gathered up the numbers, and found what you did. The remaining question was whether it would track right with the Bridgestone Turanza. It isn't perfect, but I still think it's a lot better than the donut spare would be [I've never used one on a Prius, but did on a Mustang, and I saw instantly why they told you to limit your speed). I noticed two real (though small) concerns with the 16" wheel and Turanza. First, I had to fight it a bit more on rain grooves. Second, same for cross-winds. What makes me the saddest is that a full size spare won't go into the area where the donut resides. And it really doesn't miss by all that much .....
That's to bad, I might buy one if it would fit. At least we are not as bad off as the newer BMWs, Corvettes, and others. The 3 Series from 2007 on doesn't even have a donut spare, just "run flat tires" that frequently don't run when flat. But I guess you can't expect to much from a company that builds great engines and doesn't put a dip stick in them.
Others have used full size spares in the tire well by storing them deflated. They also carry a small pump to put air in them when they need the spare.
-Slightly- loosen wheel nuts on one wheel. Put that wheel in the air and hold it there with a jack-stand. Remove wheel. Deflate tire, and try to put in the spare well. Reinflate tire and remount on axle. -Then- you will know.
