http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

Those look nice. Are they 15s? I am sure you were glad to have those with that snowfall on the ground.

Thanks.

They are 15"s. They are pretty terrific in the snow. I'll write a bit more detailed review later when I have time.

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

Ok, a little text to go with the pics.

I really never considered steel wheels because of the weight and the low price of 15" wheels (compared with typical aftermarket wheel sizes). I also never considered not having snow tires, especially considering the fact that the HCHII does not have traction control.

The wheels are nice. They look fairly stock and only weigh a pound more than the stock wheels each). I was very lucky to get them for $67 each on a Tirerack closeout sale.

Of course, the Blizzaks help tremendously in the snow. I've had them on for a couple of weeks in snow, rain, and dry. Never did I feel that I was not in complete control of the car.

I even attempted a "harder" stop in the snow at a deserted 4-way stop to assess the traction limit. ABS kicked in and I did not slide one bit. I cannot recommend the Blizzacks enough. BTW, they are LRR.

It's hard to tell their impact on FE. I am not a hypermiler by any means. I am only averaging about 40 mpg. Unfortunately, I think my engine broke-in just as the temps turned south.

With a warmed up car, after refueling, in the rain, I got 58mpg over about 7 miles. Two short, cold trips brought that way down to 34mpg. I have just this morning nursed it back to 39 this morning. I think I'll prob be averaging 40 over the winter.

Okay, that's it!

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

Hey Anti-Me ... I can help you out on this thread. I installed the Blizzaks on non-OEM wheels back on 10/23 at 12,644 miles and was ready to see a 10 mpg drop in FE like everyone else was claiming. At the time I had a lifetime average of 47.8 mpg through 12,743 miles (24 tanks) and since then I am not up to a lifetime average of 48.7 mpg through 21,593 miles (40 tanks).

I have seen absolutely no drop in MPG with the Blizzaks. Now, the OEM wheels+tires might have gotten me a higher average than 48.7 but I was expecting a drop so am pleased. Average temps in Oct for me were 55-65 F and average temps since then have been 40-50 F. To have a 15 F drop in temp but have an increase in FE is amazing on winter tires.

Last week I drove 380 miles but in the middle of the day at 180 miles I was at 53.7 mpg at 51 F (I filled up 60 miles after starting that day and had 120 miles at 55.6 mpg mind you!!!). I ended that day at 380 miles and 50.8 mpg (had a good bit of rain on the last 130 miles of the day). I'm disappointed that we have not had much snow but the winter tires are performing so well I don't have a need to change them back to the summer setup yet but at the next oil change I will probably change.

--> Averaged 685 miles/week and 49.0 mpg in first year (35.7k miles from Aug 7, 2006 to Aug 7, 2007)

Good to hear your setup is serving you well.

On the second note: It is actually a good thing that the HCH-2 does not have traction control !!!

My Prius has traction control and it can be quite frustrating (if not embarrassing) to be completely imobilized under some conditions. In my case, it gets to be so bad that I am literally stuck halfway up the ICY driveway with no easy means to move forward. To make matters worse I can't even turn the darn thing off. I know for a fact I am not alone in this observation.

On the other hand the HCH-2 with exactly the same brand of Winter tires just drives over the same ice without hesitation. I would suggest
that perhaps a good set of Winter tires is the single best thing anyone can do and that we should not miss the traction control on the HCH-II. If not implemented right it can sometimes be more of a problem than a helpful feature.

Happy Wintering !!

MSantos

Wow, great mileage!

And yes, I agree. I don't think my slight FE drop is from the wheels or tires, because once the engine is warmed up I can still see stellar mileage. E.g., already warmed up, I reset Trip B on the freeway and was able to get 58 mpg to my destination.

I think my slight drop and overall less than average fe has to do with my relatively short commute in cold weather. I have a 20 minute commute in the 20s-30s. I prob get 30mpg for the first 10 minutes and 50 for the 2nd, avg'ing at ~40 (or something like that).

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

Yes, Toyota/Lexus has been reprimanded on several occassions in the automotive press for not allowing TC to be disabled. That sucks.

On our bimmer there are three settings. Fully on, allow a little slip for going uphill in snow, and completely off for donuts and burnouts.

I'd like the TC for when my wife and kid are on a slushy freeway. I'll bet it'll eventually come around (with an off switch to boot).

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/3686.html

http://greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/car/4955.html

And you don't have the Engine Block Heater installed, right? I know msantos does but forget who else on the list has one installed. Let me know if your commute results compare to my description below of when I don't have the Block Heater plugged in before leaving the house.

Can someone with a Block Heater verify that they are seeing the same results that I do? With the Block Heater *not* plugged in it takes the car a good 5 miles to warm up where the Temp gauge is at 9 blocks and for the Auto-Stop to occur and it takes about 1-2 miles for hot air to come out of the vents (hot, not warm air). However, *with* the Block Heater plugged in for several hours it takes about 1-1.5 miles before the Temp gauge is at 9 blocks and about the same distance for Auto-Stop to work and has warm air instantly in the morning and hot air within about 0.5 mile. Is this what you experience?

I often have the same 22-mile commute to work (about 30-35 minutes) and keep writing down my results and keep averaging about 50.0 mpg. Note the results below - even on mid-30 F temp days I get 47-50 mpg and on 60-70 F temp days I get 47-50 mpg. Now I know the warmer temp days should be better but it is a hilly commute so it probably has more to do with wind and traffic than temperature. THIS is the difference that the Block Heater has even on short commutes (even morning trips of less than 7 miles yield me 45-55 mpg trips.

I remember doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation early on and discovered the Block Heater will get me 50 mpg for 20 miles while without it will get me 40 mpg for those same 20 miles. This is a loss of 0.5 gallons of gas each week that I drive to work so 10 weeks of cold temps means a savings of 5 gallons of gas. Not insane savings but better than nothing (enough to pay for two audio CDs every 10 weeks). It might even pay for the electricity that I use to warm the car. What a nice trade-off. =)

Results from nearly the same commuting trip during Dec with wide temp fluctuations from start to end.

Nov 30 = 23.1 mi @ 47.5 mpg @ 70 F
Dec 01 = 23.1 mi @ 48.5 mpg @ 56 F
Dec 05 = 21.7 mi @ 51.4 mpg @ 30 F
Dec 08 = 23.9 mi @ 44.0 mpg @ 23 F
Dec 11 = 23.0 mi @ 50.8 mpg @ 46 F
Dec 12 = 21.7 mi @ 50.6 mpg @ 59 F
Dec 14 = 23.1 mi @ 48.5 mpg @ 54 F
Dec 15 = 21.6 mi @ 53.6 mpg @ 53 F
Dec 19 = 27.0 mi @ 50.2 mpg @ 38 F
Dec 21 = 21.6 mi @ 52.3 mpg @ 43 F
Dec 27 = 23.2 mi @ 47.0 mpg @ 35 F
Jan 08 = 21.7 mi @ 50.3 mpg @ 39 F
Jan 09 = 27.9 mi @ 51.5 mpg @ 36 F

--> Averaged 685 miles/week and 49.0 mpg in first year (35.7k miles from Aug 7, 2006 to Aug 7, 2007)

My results with the block heater are very similar. Lately my mpg has been down but I'm sure it's related to the studded snow tires I put on the front. We haven't needed them very much with the mild winter.

Don
Best tank 67.5 mpg (555.5 mi.)
Best trip 91.5 mpg (42.2 mi.)