Are the 15" PiP wheels directional? I have a 2012 and noticed that the wheel spokes are not symmetrical. I would think the blunt end of the wheel should be the leading edge of rotation, with the tapered edge trailing. On my car, the blunt edge is the leading edge for both wheels on the left side, but opposite of that on the right. Are these wheels designed to be directional? If so, which is the proper orientation?
If the wheels are all the same, which I assume they are, two of them would always be going the wrong way no matter what you do. So I'd say they're not directional.
Making both sides identical instead of symmetric was just a minor aesthetic offense Toyota committed to save cost and complication. Wheels of many other cars similarly look "wrong" on one side. Typically the "good" side is the left, which they figure the owner-driver will see more often.
Asymmetrical rims (and wheel covers) kinda bug me. Typically there's some sort of spiral to the pattern: it looks more natural on one side than the other. We've got the 17" rim that comes stock on the US Prius 5 model. It's a bit asymmetrical, but not too bad. Rozi, in North America I'd say directional tires, ie tires that are designed to be on one side only of vehicle, and rotate (typically) in one direction, are in the minority. There are lots of choices that can be swapped side-to-side, and tire manufacturers usually advise to do so. That said, in our Owners Manual Toyota recommends to not swap sides, just rotate front-to-back. Not all though: our Michelin X-Ice snow tires are directional, you need to buy two rights and two lefts. Someone forgot to tell Costco though: last time I was shopping tires there they just about sold me 3 rights and one left.
The first pic here shows the side of ours with the rims in the more "natural" orientation: On the far side of the car the rims are the same, so they look a little awkward. I've photoshopped this pic to show what they'd look like if they were on drivers side: Maybe this is why Toyota typically shows the Prius in this orientation?
I'm less concerned with the aesthetic, and more concerned with the function. If the wheels are designed a certain way, it should be that way for functional reasons. I would think a tapered pattern would be more aerodynamic, and in that case direction of rotation would matter. If there is no functional purpose to making wheels asymmetrical, then they should have just been designed to be symmetrical. Nobody should have been paid to design the silly wheels on my Prius because they are neither functional or aesthetically attractive. ...to continue my rant, why would the tire guys not know that some of their tires are directional? Their only job is to know about installing and maintaining tires, which is very limited in scope. I'll bet the tire itself had instructions and pictures (for those who are illiterate) that indicate which direction the tire must rotate. There is no excuse for people whose livelihood is based on a very limited field of work to not know or not bother to perform their job correctly.
Yup, I was very heated when I got back to Costco, with my 3 rights and one left XIce. They'd run way over time, basically I think they got started when I came back, past the predicted pick up time. These were loose rims. I caught it 'cause (per usual) they are honour bound to not put extra air in, so it was when I had them all layed out at Chevron, maybe 4 kms down the road, that I noticed. So back to Costco I went. And then stood waiting while the sole counter person discussed tire minutia adinfinitum with someone, for about 10 minutes. Not good for blood pressure.
