I just received my 2010 Prius II with the stock 15" wheels with P195/65R15 tires (Diameter 25in). I was planning to upgrade the wheels to P215/45R17 (Diameter 24.6in) similar to the Prius IV. As I was talking to a tire salesman he reminded me that the these two tires have different diameters and the spedometer would be off by 1.4%. Which means if my spedometer was showing 60MPH it would actually be 59.1MPH. Is there a setting on my Prius II to reset it similar to the Prius IV? Or is this 1.4% error quite normal in cars? Any advice would be appreciated. Tim
First, the IV has the same wheels as you. (The V has 215/45R17's) Second, there is a long recent thread on this already with a lot of information. And yes, 60mph reading would be 59.13mph. So what??? Most cars are not withing this % of error anyway
Little off topic, but I wish Toyota would copy the regular Honda Civic EX and offer an OEM ... 205/55-16 tire / rim on the Gen3 III and IV trims as an option I think they would look great on the new Prius as they do on the Civic. Hopefully the MPG hit would be negligible with only a reasonably firmer ride than the 15" tire. That said, I liked the Gen2 touring 195/55-16 tire a lot. That plastic wheel cover looked like an alloy wheel to me. Very nice.
Whoa! Cars have come a long way since the 50's There are mandates now. At 60 MPH, a car's speedometer can be off by no more than 2 percent.
I'm not sure why PC'ers are not simply looking at a 15" aftermarket wheel. It would allow you to not purchase new tires and seriously, a 15" rim on a car this size is not that small. What makes the rims look so small on the Prius is the wheel wheel cutout and the large amounts of metal over the wheel for aerodynamics. I don't really think the 17's look large on the Prius because of that and you can't change it. I don't like the plastic wheel covers and if I had gotten the IV I was going to use my Scion wheels from my son's last car, but I really don't like the price difference in the 17" tires and the 15" tires. I'll now have to decide if I go with 17" snow tires on my Scion wheels or purchase 15" wheels and snow tires.
