Yaris Mark 4 - Wheel Size 16 or 17"

[Stopeter44]

@TonyHSD Hi Tony, When I first looked into 16" vs 17" I chose the Design spec. over the Collection spec. Each EU country has different spec'ed models, the names may be different and sometimes when the name is the same the spec is widely different (cf. Dynamic FR vs Dynamic UK).

I definitely didn't want the 17" wheels, so I didn't go for that level spec, I went for a lower spec, but that was before I test drove with the HUD! Ever since I go looking around to see if the specs have changed, and sometimes I go looking on other websites, because I wanted the HUD (and the heated seats) but I didn't want a black roof and lining, or the 17" wheels, and I don't need a pearl finish paint job either. Back in August, I configured the HUD spec'd car in France and it looked I could get the wheel "downgrade" for free.

It turns out, for my taste, the Belgian spec Iconic is the one that I want, it has a pack with the HUD for 1300€ including the parking sensors. Now, I could have ordered via a broker, or even from a dealer in Belgium, but it's 1000km to go for a service, and I don't think the local dealer (20 km) would be thrilled about maintaining my car.

Yes, I know they are bound to service the car, but I felt very uncomfortable about having the test drives and buying the car somewhere else and then coming back for the service.

Edited October 13, 2021 by Stopeter44
grammar, clarity

[Cyker]

6 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

They charge you that money for cheaper wheels and tyres set ? Is that means that you will receive the 17” set too? If not it’s not worth it. I will rather buy the car as is then order wheels and tyres separately to suit my preference and will sell privately the bigger wheels for a grand and happy days., no extra cost of €960👍

It's not an 'option' like going from 16" to 17" rims is - It's literally them selling you a whole new set of rims and tyres like what I did to get the 15's, so he would get both sets.

It still annoys me that you can go from 16" to 17" but not the other way around - Surely homologation doesn't work like that!?

 

  

6 hours ago, Stopeter44 said:

@TonyHSD Hi Tony, When I first looked into 16" vs 17" I chose the Design spec. over the Collection spec. Each EU country has different spec'ed models, the names may be different and sometimes when the name is the same the spec is widely different (cf. Dynamic FR vs Dynamic UK).

I definitely didn't want the 17" wheels, so I didn't go for that level spec, I went for a lower spec, but that was before I test drove with the HUD! Ever since I go looking around to see if the specs have changed, and sometimes I go looking on other websites, because I wanted the HUD (and the heated seats) but I didn't want a black roof and lining, or the 17" wheels, and I don't need a pearl finish paint job either. Back in August, I configured the HUD spec'd car in France and it looked I could get the wheel "downgrade" for free.

It turns out, for my taste, the Belgian spec Iconic is the one that I want, it has a pack with the HUD for 1300€ including the parking sensors. Now, I could have ordered via a broker, or even from a dealer in Belgium, but it's 1000km to go for a service, and I don't think the local dealer (20 km) would be thrilled about maintaining my car.

Yes, I know they are bound to service the car, but I felt very uncomfortable about having the test drives and buying the car somewhere else and then coming back for the service.

I'm curious - How does that work in Europe, if you buy a car from a different euro country - Does it still count as an import?

Over here, if I'd bought my ultimate Mk4 Yaris (The Japanese one - Everything my one has plus it's narrower! Has a real hand brake! 360 degree camera! Auto-parking! eAWD! 15" rims! Heated wheel! Heated seats! Wireless charging!), the local Toyota dealers would NOT service it as a Toyota, but would treat it as a 'third-party' car like if you'd asked them to service a Ford or Honda - No recalls, no firmware updates, no Techstream customization, no hybrid Battery check, no Relax extended warranty etc.

 

[Stopeter44]

I wouldn't have both sets, I'd just pay the "pleasure" of changing the base package for the trim level. The Yaris is homologated, in France at least, for 15", 16" & 17" wheels. There's even a 15" alloy wheel option that costs 670 €. Some spec combinations are not possible, though, like 17" wheel spec, panoramic roof and the spare wheel.

For any new car bought within the EU, the manufacturer has to respect the guarantee. It's my opinion that if I had bought the car and I lived in, say, Lille, where I would be able to easily go to a dealer in Belgium to buy the car, and then I moved to somewhere else in France that was much further away from Belgium then I would have no problems with getting Toyota supported service.

As it happens, my niece bought a Toyota Verso when she lived in Belgium, 6 years ago, and now she lives in Brittany and the cars computer went AWOL, and will not drive at all. Toyota France has agreed to pay half the repair costs for her. 

 

[TonyHSD]

If it’s me I rather have the 17” as is from factory for that spec and save €960 for 2 new sets of tyres in the future or combination of wheels and tyres at 16”. Usually road noise and comfort can be adjusted with tyres only and precise monitoring of the tyre pressures, not necessarily you have to change the wheels. Biggest advantage of smaller wheels is the fact that it’s more difficult to damage them, tyres are cheaper and wider choice, and there is slightly more rubbery feeling while driving on rough roads. Fuel efficiency is not hugely affected as we can see from the video from Poland that the guy drives Yaris launch edition with 17” wheels and achieved great economy, his speeds were low and he drove very relaxed,, this is what Toyota hybrids likes. 

[RickyC]

7 hours ago, Stopeter44 said:

I wouldn't have both sets, I'd just pay the "pleasure" of changing the base package for the trim level. The Yaris is homologated, in France at least, for 15", 16" & 17" wheels. There's even a 15" alloy wheel option that costs 670 €. Some spec combinations are not possible, though, like 17" wheel spec, panoramic roof and the spare wheel.

For any new car bought within the EU, the manufacturer has to respect the guarantee. It's my opinion that if I had bought the car and I lived in, say, Lille, where I would be able to easily go to a dealer in Belgium to buy the car, and then I moved to somewhere else in France that was much further away from Belgium then I would have no problems with getting Toyota supported service.

As it happens, my niece bought a Toyota Verso when she lived in Belgium, 6 years ago, and now she lives in Brittany and the cars computer went AWOL, and will not drive at all. Toyota France has agreed to pay half the repair costs for her. 

 

Also in Italy Yaris IV is homologated for 15,16 and 17 inches rims and corresponding tyres ( 185/65/R15 - 195/55/R16 and 205/45/R17 ) with 15" reserved to the Active ( entry level ) with factory steel rims and optional 15" alloy rims,  16" alloy  on Trend, Style and Lounge ( with option for 17" only for Style and Lounge with a pack that adds also JBL hifi ) and 17" ( no downgrade allowable ) for the top version Energy.

Style and Lounge aresold at same price and differ only for bi-tone paint ( Style ) and panoramic roof ( Lounge )

In Italy the size of allowed tyres is written on the vehicle registration card.  Toyota reports only the size of the tyres that are installed on the car ( E.g a Style with the pack will report only the 17" size on registration card and not both 16 and 17 ).  You need to ask  to department of motor vehicles to modify the registration card to add other allowable tyres combinations.  It's a long and complex process thar requires also a permission that must be provided by Toyota. Other manufactures often report more options giving customer more freedom when changing tyres.  

Obviously if you install a set of tyres with different specification from the ones reported in the card you are violating the law with consequent fine and seizure of registration card in case of MOT or police check. 

Whithout registration card the car can't be driven.

[Stopeter44]

1 hour ago, RickyC said:

In Italy the size of allowed tyres is written on the vehicle registration card.  Toyota reports only the size of the tyres that are installed on the car ( E.g a Style with the pack will report only the 17" size on registration card and not both 16 and 17 ).  You need to ask  to department of motor vehicles to modify the registration card to add other allowable tyres combinations.  It's a long and complex process thar requires also a permission that must be provided by Toyota. Other manufactures often report more options giving customer more freedom when changing tyres.  

Obviously if you install a set of tyres with different specification from the ones reported in the card you are violating the law with consequent fine and seizure of registration card in case of MOT or police check. 

Whithout registration card the car can't be driven.

I just had a quick look at the Italian website, maybe I should have got one from Italy 😉 , seeing as they are offering up to 4K € promotion on the hybrid, I didn't read all the small print, but it looks like it's the state helping people to transition to low emissions, so wouldn't apply to a car for export. A few years ago, maybe as much as 5 or 6 there was some help here to buy a hybrid.

Yes, I can see that for any trim level the wheel options are limited to the same size. 

[Cyker]

Wow, that's very strict! We in the UK can basically put on any wheel we like here as long as we can get someone to insure the car with them on and the speedo doesn't underread!

[RickyC]

6 hours ago, Stopeter44 said:

I just had a quick look at the Italian website, maybe I should have got one from Italy 😉 , seeing as they are offering up to 4K € promotion on the hybrid, I didn't read all the small print, but it looks like it's the state helping people to transition to low emissions, so wouldn't apply to a car for export. A few years ago, maybe as much as 5 or 6 there was some help here to buy a hybrid.

Yes, I can see that for any trim level the wheel options are limited to the same size. 

Yes they are offering a 4K € promotion but the starting prices are high.  Currently there are some state helps to move to more ecologic cars.

Currently on an hybrid car with CO2 emission between 60 and 100 g/km state gives 1500€ if you send to yunkard an old car ( E0 or E1 gasoline or Diesel till E4 ).  Also some cities are offering extra helps to change cars.  

For a full electric car you can get till 16.000 euros if you are lucky to get both state and city contributions.

Moreover Toyota is not offering some optionals ( like front and rear sensors or blind spot detector ) on intermediate trim levels

[Stopeter44]

7 hours ago, RickyC said:

Yes they are offering a 4K € promotion but the starting prices are high.  Currently there are some state helps to move to more ecologic cars.

Currently on an hybrid car with CO2 emission between 60 and 100 g/km state gives 1500€ if you send to yunkard an old car ( E0 or E1 gasoline or Diesel till E4 ).  Also some cities are offering extra helps to change cars.  

For a full electric car you can get till 16.000 euros if you are lucky to get both state and city contributions.

Moreover Toyota is not offering some optionals ( like front and rear sensors or blind spot detector ) on intermediate trim levels

Yes, I noticed most of that, interesting that you can combine state and city contributions.

I did notice there were no front and rear sensor, too

[JoaoM]

I'm looking to change my wife's 2009 Yaris 1.0 for the new generation Mk4 hybrid. It will be a huge upgrade. Here in Portugal we have the same issues as Toyota puts all equipment differences in grades only with some optional accessories. Despite regional differences, I was also unhappy with the fixed tyre size of the packs. I would like a mid-range equipment pack (here they call it Exclusive) mainly because of the full led headlights (I have them on the Corolla and simply love it) but I don't want the 16"s. Our old Yaris has 185/60 R15 that are more than enough for a city car. The main problem is that they've compensated the larger wheels with wider and lower aspect ratio tyres, which both decreases fuel economy and ride comfort (less 10% of sidewall overall height - 12mm). Being a city car I don't mind a little less cornering speed 😁 but I do mind a 5% worst fuel economy (it will be worst than 5% as tyre rolling resistance is the dominant factor for fuel consumption at slower city speeds). It's really stupid to have to pay more for a car and then to pay an extra to change wheels and tyres. Aesthetically, while the 16" and 17" look nice, the 15" alloys that Toyota have chosen are the worst I've seen in a long time...

At least they could have homologated 185/60 R15...

[RickyC]

The diameter of Mk4 wheels is bigger than Mk3 ones so 15" wheels must be 185/65R15 to offer the same diameter on all 3 homologate sizes. The final diameter doesn't change ( just a very little difference ) between 15,16 and 17 inches wheels. 

Probably the 15" are the better ones in terms of economy but imho the ideal size for Mk4 is the 16"

[JoaoM]

On 10/15/2021 at 6:22 PM, RickyC said:

The diameter of Mk4 wheels is bigger than Mk3 ones so 15" wheels must be 185/65R15 to offer the same diameter on all 3 homologate sizes. The final diameter doesn't change ( just a very little difference ) between 15,16 and 17 inches wheels. 

Probably the 15" are the better ones in terms of economy but imho the ideal size for Mk4 is the 16"

You're right, I wanted to state 185/90 R16. That would be the best compromise for me. But if it's not on the cars documents (homologation) we can't have it installed.

[Cyker]

What documents does it need to be on? Does it have to be the documents for that exact car/spec combination, or would any of the Mk4's count? The manual for mine lists 3 tyre sizes - 185/65r15, 195/55r16 and 205/45r17

Mine came with the 17s (Awful!), but I swapped them out for 15's (Awesome!), but I'm starting to wonder if UK motoring rules are actually much more relaxed compared to other countries, as there is no law stopping us from putting whatever wheels on we want, as long as we can still get insurance!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

With the UK, the issue with insurance is that when you take out or renew a policy, unless you declare spec changes, you agree that the car is to standard spec (ie. Design, Excel, etc).

Regardless of the owners manual including different sizes of wheels/tyres, if the standard spec (Design, Excel, etc) includes, for example, 17 inch wheels, the insurer would require that those are the wheels fitted to the car.

So unless you've informed your insurer of the change to 15 inch wheels, your policy may not be valid.

[Cyker]

Well, that goes without saying! But I guess is worth re-iterating in case any new drivers read this.