Getting ready for winter

[thetoyotaman]

Found a set of used 1st gen 14 inch prius wheels. Ordered a set of Hankook studded tires in a 175/70/14. Planning on getting the wheels blasted and then painting or powdercoating. Chose the tire after reading this article. There are so many conflicting reports on snows that it's hard to make a choice but the Nokian 8's I've been using were not up to Nokian experiences Ive had before and I used some Hankooks on a truck last year that worked well so here goes.

http://www.skstuds.ca/2017/10/11/enter-hakka-9-the-2017-naf-winter-tire-test/#comment-2105

[thetoyotaman]

Winter update. Ended up bead blasting the rims with glass beads myself at a friends shop. Primed with self etching primer and used wheel paint/wheel clear coat. Wouldn't do the clear coat again. Doesn't lay down as well. Paint did great though. Installed the Hankooks and very pleased. Also purchased Denso tire sensors that are working well. The only drawback to this is that I've noticed the sedan does take a hit in the handling department with 14" snows. Probably the combination of smaller rim and softer tire. I would imagine summer wheels either wider in the stock 15" or larger diameter would really improve the handling.

[dogsridewith]

studs effect on handling maybe?

[DarkShadowFox]

studs effect on handling maybe?

why would you use smaller tyres.

[tmontague]

why would you use smaller tyres.

Lots of reasons:

Cheaper tires, more cushion for potholes and smoother ride so on and so forth.

I use 14's for that reason. I'm not too interested in driving for performance in the winter anyways, so the hit to performance isn't really a big deal

[Hoodyjay]

Hmm my car sticker in the door says I use 175/65/14 tires. I use them winter and summer. Can I up a size?

[dogsridewith]

175/70/14 tires is the easiest way to get to the same 3 percent greater tread circumference as the stock 15" setup on the higher model of your car.
Do some searching here on winter tires...I posted pictures and description of175/70/14 winter treads on my 07 hatch.

[thetoyotaman]

Correct. The 175/70/14 gives same as stock diameter. Negative sizing in this case allows a narrower tread for better traction. The smaller tire and prius alloys save weight to try to give a little fuel efficiency back. Downsides are the handling. But, the priority is traction.

[dogsridewith]

It makes the owner think the base model gets better gas mileage than it does, and gets him back for an oil change sooner. Or maybe the base model is correct and the up model is off 3 percent. Or maybe Mind of Toyota calibrated the speedometer differently for the two vehicles. (I've asked this question of single or dual calibration a few times here.)

For summer wheels, I also gained the 3 percent for the base rim diameter w/ 1/2 inch wider stock Miata 14" rims by fitting 185/65-14's.

[thetoyotaman]

I haven't checked on the Yaris, but on the Echo there is 2 different speedometer gears available in the USA for different tire sizes. I would guess the same here. Very common for Toyota to do.

[dogsridewith]

How did you find that Echo had two speedo gear sets? (Thinking that at some point, it might be possible/easier to do this by programming.)

[thetoyotaman]

I have a good relationship and discount at my local dealer. I just had them look up the speedometer gear options. Very common for Toyota to have the shaft gear and the speedometer gear have a range that work together. As long as they are matched you are good. If they are not the plastic gear will chew up. You can also wire in a yellow box and program it. Just depends on what your goals are.