ThreePO starter kit... what should I do to the Prius C?

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

This thread makes me happy. And I never saw anything north of 60 mpg while I owned it. Good job!

Thanks!  i think the drivers behind me might have a different expletive, but I was grinning.

Not close enough to you, but posting for inspiration (FB listing):

rslifkin said:

Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

That's a great idea, but I've never seen an upsized wheel/tire combo that didn't increase the moment of inertia.  The only real way to make that change a net wash is if regenerative braking is as efficient as propulsion, which I assume is far from reality.

I'd expect that outside of closesly spaced traffic lights or other low speed scenarios with lots of acceleration and braking, rolling resistance and even wheel face aerodynamics (at least at highway speed) will be a bigger factor than the inertia of the wheel and tire combo. 

How smooth are the roads?  Lighter wheels are easier for the suspension to control, which means less heat in the shock oil, and that heat ultimately comes from the gasoline in the tank.

I noted that running my bourge-mobile's driver adjustable dampers to the softest setting was worth a few mpg.

When you are trying to find miniscule gains, every little bit counts, but also every little bit hurts.

From a purely hybrid drive scenario, any rotating mass that takes effort to spin up will also take effort to slow down, and this effort is used to charge the battery, so it should be a wash aside from efficiency losses.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

That's a good point, especially on a fairly light car, lighter wheels will ride better.  But bigger wheel / lower profile tire may not be significantly heavier overall, but the weight will almost certainly be further out on the combo (so more rotating inertia even if total weight to impact suspension performance isn't much different). 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

The roads right now are awful.  Winter/snowplows do a number on them.  Over the summer, they'll haphazardly toss some hot mix in the holes, but they'll either put too much (hump) or too little (hole) and they'll go from awful to mediocre.

The ride is a little harsh, but it's on par with any wee little car that I've used.  I don't mind the ride, but I would consider softening it a bit.  I'm not sure that adjustable shocks or full-on coil overs would present a good cost/mpg ratio.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I wouldn't expect coilovers to improve it. Just throw some Monroes/Gabriels/KYBs at it with the stock springs. Decent 15 or 16 inch tires with some sidewall and it should be fine. In a 175/65/15 you get multiple choice because that's the standard size on base MINIs.

Standard tire for Gen2 is 185/65-15 and they literally made 1 million Gen2s so tire availability is good.

A tiny, tiny bit more sidewall vs 175.

EDIT:  Curious of my own statement, I went to TireRack and TireBuyer and both have the Falken 250 priced $2 cheaper for the 185 making the smaller tire the more expensive tire.  

On the topic of buying tires for it, if Curtis (or anyone else) is interested, I have a set of Gen 2 size (185/65R15) studded Hakka 9s in the garage that I need to get rid of and will happily let go cheaply.  The gen 2 fitment steelies they're mounted on won't fit the Prius C, but the tires would work. 

In reply to rslifkin :

Much appreciated, but VWcorvette included some studded winters with the sale, so I'm covered.

In reply to rslifkin :

I'd be interested in those wheels and tires if we can make the GRM relay work.  Shoot me a message after the Challenge with the number you'd like out of the.  Thanks.

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I wouldn't expect coilovers to improve it. Just throw some Monroes/Gabriels/KYBs at it with the stock springs. Decent 15 or 16 inch tires with some sidewall and it should be fine. In a 175/65/15 you get multiple choice because that's the standard size on base MINIs.

This.. use what you got and when what you got is shot, parts store replacement bits are fine.

If you have any rattles, fix those. It is AMAZING how much noise from random things rattling and knocking will be perceived as a rough ride.   The human brain has some weird algorithms in place.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

I wouldn't expect coilovers to improve it. Just throw some Monroes/Gabriels/KYBs at it with the stock springs. Decent 15 or 16 inch tires with some sidewall and it should be fine. In a 175/65/15 you get multiple choice because that's the standard size on base MINIs.

This.. use what you got and when what you got is shot, parts store replacement bits are fine.

If you have any rattles, fix those. It is AMAZING how much noise from random things rattling and knocking will be perceived as a rough ride.   The human brain has some weird algorithms in place.

Preach that.  When I was young and dumb, I replaced a half-dozen trailing arm bushings in my El Camino before realizing that the upper shock mounts had rusted away.  I had a customer who demanded that I fix the suspension rattle in his Camaro only to find out that it had a couple wasted subframe mounts.

Indy - Guy said:

In reply to rslifkin :

I'd be interested in those wheels and tires if we can make the GRM relay work.  Shoot me a message after the Challenge with the number you'd like out of the.  Thanks.

I can host them in PA for a while.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

"It rides harsh" is often a loose stabilizer link.

I can't say that I am immune, as I have the same wetware OS as the rest of us.  Last week I finally removed the parking brake shoes that were rattling and clanging around over bumps and it feels like the ride is more controlled as a result.  Just because I removed a noise.

https://priusoffroad.com/products/ols/products/prius-yaris-xd

In reply to Captdownshift (Forum Supporter) :

On this picture, point to the shoulder that represents your contribution to this thread:

Indy - Guy said:

In reply to rslifkin :

I'd be interested in those wheels and tires if we can make the GRM relay work.  Shoot me a message after the Challenge with the number you'd like out of the.  Thanks.

Message sent, let's see what we can coordinate.  No big rush on getting them out of the garage, so whenever we can make something work is fine. 

Noddaz said:

There is a 1.5 inch lift kit available for the C. I was seriously considering it.

I just ordered a receiver hitch for it so I could use my bike rack.  It should be here next week.  I also got the trailer wiring kit... not because I plan on towing with it, but I'm sure it would be fine with an occasional 4x4 trailer with an engine on it or hauling a lawn mower.  It's the umbrella principle... if I didn't get the wiring kit, I would have an opportunity to tow something tiny with it, but now that I have the wiring kit, I'll never need it.

I also found some inexpensive OEM toyota taillight housings as a "last one in stock" deal.  They were cheap enough that it made sense to not fuss with polishing the ones on it.