Stock Wheels

[Top_Fuel]

I think I've seen Sasquatch more times than I've seen a 4+ year old Mirage with 4 matching, undamaged OEM wheel covers.

[sunbeam]

Have lost wheel covers to woods due to pot holes.

As others have said, advise to zip tie down.
Have so far cracked 1 wheel cover, and lost 1 to the woods in 35,000km.

Have been purchasing used on facebook marketplace to get more OEM wheelcovers.

Now have 2 remaining 2017+ wheel covers and 4 old style 2012-2015 covers (which look sweet).

In terms of rims, some minor bending from pothole, was able to straighten out with piece of wood and hammer.

Personally, I will be keeping the steelies. Aluminum rims cost more and are worse in fuel efficiency (less aerodynamic). They also have a greater chance of catastrophic damage on average.

Purchases 4 additional OEM steelies on facebook marketplace from a 2015 mirage for $120 CAD.

[Mark]

Have lost wheel covers to woods due to pot holes.

As others have said, advise to zip tie down.
Have so far cracked 1 wheel cover, and lost 1 to the woods in 35,000km.

Have been purchasing used on facebook marketplace to get more OEM wheelcovers.

Now have 2 remaining 2017+ wheel covers and 4 old style 2012-2015 covers (which look sweet).

In terms of rims, some minor bending from pothole, was able to straighten out with piece of wood and hammer.

Personally, I will be keeping the steelies. Aluminum rims cost more and are worse in fuel efficiency (less aerodynamic). They also have a greater chance of catastrophic damage on average.

Purchases 4 additional OEM steelies on facebook marketplace from a 2015 mirage for $120 CAD.

If someone gave me 8 matching 14" factory alloy wheels for free, I would use them. My steel wheels don't even match

4 - 14" x 4.5" factory steel rims
2 - 14" x 5.5" after market steel rims
2 - 14" x 5" G4 factory steel rims

When I slap a wheel cover on them, they all look the same to me!

Factory wheel covers don't fit as tight on the after market steel rims. They stick out a bit, but I've never had one pop off those rims.

When I'm down to 3 factory wheel covers, I'm doing Blueberry steel rims (except I'm not painting them). It will be the rusty steel rims look for me.

[Fummins]

I just took the snow tires off the front of my Mirage today. I've never done that so early before, but it's been exceptionally warm this winter. It was in the 70s today. We could surely get some more snow storms, but I will leave the snow tires on my Forester for another month or so.

One of my factory wheel covers shattered on the inside when I went to put it on today. It had been partly broken for quite some time. I got 3 free spare wheel covers from someone quite some time ago. I just realized they are 2014-15 wheel covers. They look close enough to me. I had to stare at it for a bit to determine what's different here?

Thus, I currently have three 2017+ wheel covers and three 2014-15 wheel covers. If I cared more, I would match one side with one pair & the other side with a different pair. They cover the dirty, rusty rims, and that's all I care about.

I noticed the 2014-15 wheel cover didn't fit as tight. It took very little effort to tap them in. I could instantly tell something was different. My 2017 factory wheel covers pound in much harder, & that's probably why they are breaking inside, too.

Same here, last week was -35c/-31. This week +10c/50. I hate having dogs this time year. My yard is just a brown poop puddle. I've been driving the Mirage this week. Gotta get my old crappy tires put on soon.

I haven't noticed the 14-15 covers fit any differently than the 17'+ unless they're broken. I don't pay much attention though, most of ours are broken anyways.

[7milesout]

When I'm down to 3 factory wheel covers, I'm doing Blueberry steel rims (except I'm not painting them). It will be the rusty steel rims look for me.

Mark, you gotta paint them if you take the wheel covers off. They look tacky, and cheaper than all git-out with the factory "paint." And painting them is easy and cheap. Anywho - I wanted to get an even better picture than the one below, but ran out of light last night. The Blueberry was even dirty in this picture.

[inuvik]

Mark, you gotta paint them if you take the wheel covers off. They look tacky, and cheaper than all git-out with the factory "paint." And painting them is easy and cheap. Anywho - I wanted to get an even better picture than the one below, but ran out of light last night. The Blueberry was even dirty in this picture.

Looks fast just sitting there, must be the color

[Mark]

Mark, you gotta paint them if you take the wheel covers off. They look tacky, and cheaper than all git-out with the factory "paint." And painting them is easy and cheap. Anywho - I wanted to get an even better picture than the one below, but ran out of light last night. The Blueberry was even dirty in this picture.

If you saw the 12" steel rims on my 1990 Ford Festiva, you would realize how little I care. Those came painted sliver/chrome color. The paint flaked off, & the rusting looked 10 times worse. My 2000 Honda CR-V had silver steel rims that remained awesome. They didn't come with wheel covers, & you didn't need or want them. It came with a matching spare wheel mounted on the back, too. I added 3 matching used rims & used them for my winter tires.

Nicely painted rims are probably a blue Mirage thing anyway. My Mirage is gray, & that makes it a lost cause already!

[7milesout]

There's a silver, and there's a gray. The gray color I'm liking. The only problem with the gray one is that it's not blue. But that's it.

[Mark]

There's a silver, and there's a gray. The gray color I'm liking. The only problem with the gray one is that it's not blue. But that's it.

In hindsight, I would have bought an orange one. I honestly don't care for the dull yellow that replaced the orange color option.

I see value in small cars being a bright color. I drove a "pop yellow" Festiva for 14 years, and I called it my sunshine car. It was hard to miss even though it was small. I don't mind the gray, but I would have picked the orange (maybe blue 2nd) if I could do it all over again.

A 2019 orange Mirage ES 5-speed manual (manual climate controls & factory cruise control) would be my dream car.

[sunbeam]

The reason why wheel covers are a good idea is for fuel economy.
MetroMPG has the actual data on the aerodynamic difference but it should be worth 1-3% difference covered vs. uncovered wheels.
Over time this will really add up.

The other thing I noticed with one exposed wheel vs 3 covered wheels is that in cold climates much more road salt enters the wheel which is not desirable. Those living in southern USA and other hot climates will probably not see this benefit but it is something to consider.