(Sorry, I didn't see the mileage thread elsewhere before posting this)

Years ago I sold the 16" wheels on my 855T and installed a set of V70 pull-offs in a 15" size. Not only are tires MUCH more affordable but the improvements in steering effort, ride quality and reduced noise were all welcome. I'm was using Kumhos in a 195 but now am on 205s, I forgot the rest.

That said, I started looking for a means to improved mileage last year and found that if I inflated the tires to the "fully-loaded, freeway speed" pressure on the sticker instead of the standard pressures, I went from 20-21 mpg to 28mpg averaged over a month, but mostly hwy driving.

Just to be clear, I didn't inflate to the max rating on the tire's sidewall but the max rating on the car's tire sticker.

Good luck,

Erwin in Roanoke

The trend towards larger wheels and lower profile tires, not just in the aftermarket but with manufacturers, is a sad state of affairs. One would think we'd be trying to conserve energy at this point, for any number of economic and political reasons, but it's hard to find any real signs of it yet. It's even worse when a manufacturer puts big wheels on a new car, and then fills up the inside diameter with bigger brakes. There's no going back to 15 inch wheels without a major brake reconfiguration. That vehicle is stuck with big wheels for its whole life - and the poor ride, expensive tires and poor fuel economy that comes with it.

The bigger and bigger wheels you see on many cars is another example of a fad that, hopefully, will go away in a few years. Their bad features include poor ride, expensive wheels which easily get damaged in potholes, wide hard expensive tires, high friction, increased wind resistance. In a few years, the big wide wheels will look so "early-2000s." The only real advantage I can see is space for bigger calipers and disks.