I remembered that I had an extra compact spare laying around that I got for $60 on Craigslist. So I opened the hatch. Removed the coroplast cover: Removed the left and right cargo trays: And found that there is room for a spare with a hold down for the tire. I added the tire (still need to get a bolt and large washer to hold the tire down) jack and lug wrench (will wrap in towel and bungee in) Replaced the coroplast cover. Done. Since the foam pieces under the cover have been removed, there is less support for heavy objects in the rear and may cause the coroplast cover to buckle. If the weight is placed on top of the tire, there is plenty of support. Optionally you could carve up the foam pieces that were removed to fit around the tire and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The spare tire weighs 28 lb, while the parts removed are 8 lb. So this mod adds 20 lb. Update!
That IRS does squeeze some space but the handling is worth it. If I did this I would do an alloy wheel to save even more weight.
I run 2 sets of wheels/tires for my Prius. Originals as summer tires and alloys with Continental winter tires. TPMS reprogramming is a pain to do with changeovers, but I have the equipment to do it. One full size wheel/tire serves as a spare.
Nice, I already had a flat in mine and I was glad for the mini spare. With out it that day, I would had to call a tow truck to get a tow. I was backing out of a parking space and someone had previously hit the curb and took out a nice chunk of concrete. There was an edge of re-bar sticking out and I caught the sidewall of the tire. Never ever will I drive a car with out at least a mini spare. Still keep a can of fix a flat in the back of the highway car on top of the mini-spare just in case.
An alloy rim and tire will be a lot more bulky, possibly compromise the deck height, and I doubt it would be lighter than the temp spare.
OK, I could not resist. Added his res photos and other views that show that the foam is level with the tire. The jack sticks up a bit but does not effect how the cargo floor covers everything.
Great post and pictures. I have one question that has been bugging me. How do you get the left and right cargo trays out? There's a white plastic "screw" that doesn't seem to come out in the left and right rear of mine that are holding the trays in. I don't want to break anything...we haven't had the Prius a week yet. So any help will be be appreciated. Chris
I remember the good ole days when the well for the compact spare was big enough to hold a full-size spare if you had/bought one. It sure would be nice to have that full-size, full-capability spare when you're 500 miles from anywhere. Remember the how much trunk space the full-size wheel took up in the A6 TDI ?
