Thanks! Just did another post too. Wondering how performance tires would run on the Prius. Just checked the Dunlop Star Specs. The closest size would be 195/55/15. XD THAT could be a good time! Has anyone done something so utterly anathema to the purpose of the Prius? I'm willing to trade some mpg for smiles around a corner.
I definitely recommend doing a little research on what LRR tires are available before pulling the trigger there. The prius seems to be pretty sensitive to losing MPG if you put the wrong type of tires on it. On this forums we see a lot of people disappointed and complaining that their Prius is barely getting 40 MPG whereas others here are easily hitting 50+. In 99% of these cases they've got an undesirable tire choice. There are choices out there where you can get a wider high performance tire and only lose 1 or 2 MPG, but if you just go for one at random you could lose 6 to 8 MPG. I recommend getting used to driving your Prius and establishing what sort of MPG you're getting before upgrading the tires. BTW. 195/55/15 is a little too small (rolling circumference), it will make your speedo read too high. In Australia and much of Europe 195/160/15 is the standard size and within about 1% of the US standard 185/65/15 tire. I'm running 195/60/15 in Bridgestone Ecopia EP100, these give good performance and really excellent fuel economy (actually better than the stock tires). This one is a "summer tire" because it's always hot here, use the Ecopia EP422 for an all seasons equivalent.
I am running Kumho KR21's. This is not a LRR tire. Runs great and still avg 47. Was avg 48 so took a 1 mpg hit. But got such a good deal I couldn't pass them by. Kumho makes a very nice tire.
Wow. I've pretty much been spending a good chunk of my non-work time reading up on the Prius and here on PC. A couple of thoughts: 1) Huge kudos to the PC community. Only LotusElanCentral.com has a more cohesive and helpful community in my experience. I'm seriously impressed and grateful to everyone's being so generous with their time and their knowledge. Thanks! 2) At $1.50 gas, I laughed at the Prius with the caveat that at $3 gas would make the Prius financially sound (I'm a big believer that economics drive the market). At near $4 gas, I started to look at the Prius after my '88 Cadillac Brougham's differential fell out (named "Rollin' PC" ). I'm real impressed with the thoroughness with which Toyota thought through the Prius 2. Really a remarkable vehicle. And since I'm a big purpose-built/well engineered car fan, the Prius fits right into "cool." 3) I'm glad I picked up a gen 2 rather than a gen 3. . .almost by accident. Though the 3 probably has more of the things I care about (get up and go and high speed cruising attributes), I think I'll enjoy the gen 2 more because of the interior, which is something I hadn't considered until reading PC posts.
I remember years ago when I first considered the Prius, I set down and figured the pay back amount vs price of fuel. Of course the Prius was a few dollars cheaper, but it wasn't that long ago. What I figured was that if gas was $3.00 @ gallon, the Prius would pay for the difference of overall cost within four years of time versus a small non hybrid car. I did not figure any maintenance, just fuel cost's and used 40 MPG for the base line. As we well know, gas here is well over $3.00 @ gallon in the states, and higher elsewhere. If you think the U.S. has expensive gas, go to Europe. It is really high over there.
Yup! And both of my other cars require premium. Ugh. I ran the numbers on the missus's Audi TT. Fuel costs, when you factor in the price difference between 91 and 87, her fuel costs are approximately 95% more per mile.
And she arrived today. Body's on the rough side, but nothing some touch-up respray can't fix. Interior is excellent with some reservations. One battery in the key fob is dead. Going to get plates, inspection, and tranny fluid changed tomorrow. Any other fluids I should change out?
I believe some have said the transaxle fluid should be changed earlier than scheduled (in Canada, it's first replaced at 92,000km)
Small correction to Uart's post, in Europe the standard tyre is 195/55/16 but for improved stability go to 205/55/16 or 205/50/16. There is also a bigger choice of tyres at 205/55/16 than the OEM size and they are also about 25% cheaper.
Ok that's interesting. Since most of the region specific stuff is the same in Australia as the UK I thought the tyres would be the same too. Here in Australia the standard wheel/tyre on the Gen2 is 195/60/15. BTW. I'm pretty sure the standard Prius in US has 15" rims.
Yes the US rims are 15 inch, but I believe they run 185 section tyre,s as OEM so no wounder they complain of bad handling. I run 205/55/16 tyres.