Newbie here, bought rims/tires, OMG, what a mistake

Stick with 15 inch wheels and LRR tires, and you'll be fine. If you have steel wheels, I'd just replace them with alloy one in the pattern that you like and use the OEM tires.

Large dia wheel look good, but you will suffer both in ride comfort and mileage, since they are heavier than OEM or OEM sized tires and wheels.

 

Car and Driver: Mileage? No, it's Your Gallonage that Really Counts | PriusChat

Yep, getting LRR tires is important if you want to keep mpg figures high. I also wonder how much of the mileage drop was due to the diameter difference and tires not being broken in. You might find Tire Tech Information - Tire Rolling Resistance Part 3: Changes to Expect When Switching from Worn-Out to New Tires insightful.

 

it was all due to the design and construction of the 17" tires. Hysteresis is terrible on those larger tires. The extra weight doesn't help but it does not play as large a part. Even LRR 17" tires would have dropped his mpg. Besides, his old tires were brand new.

 

A larger wheel is heavier and creates more inertia. Starting and stopping reuires more energy.

In the early days of the history of the automoible, large rims and small tires were the norm, not because of style, but because rubber was more expensive than wood. Yes, wheels were originally wood.

When rubber came down in price, "baloon" tires wer optomized for comfort and performance.

The current trend of larger stylized wheels cost more, ride poorer and result in a reduction in mileage.

 

Actually the difference between standard and LRR tires would have more likely been 2-3 or no more than 4 mpg.

It has to be more than just the tires.

 

Trust me.

 

As the great communicator said, "Trust, but verify."

The OP would be safe to retain his original mileage or maybe get a slight increase, should he or she just keep his OEM tires and get some nice stylish wheels for them. If he has steels, the alloys would be a little lighter weight.

 

Have done so. Do a search.

 

Congrats on the car, but as you found out, it's very sensitive to rolling stock and aero changes. For a 45 profile tire to make sense, that means it was a 205/45-17 tire, which is 30mm wider than stock. That's a huge hit to aero drag, rolling drag, and weight. Each of those three categories would put a hit on fuel economy, and you increased all three significantly.

If you're not itching for more cornering grip, keep the stock tires and just get some 15x6.5" Konig's or something like that. Otherwise, pay attention that you're keeping a narrow tire similar to stock and that it's LRR.

Good luck!

 

I agree. The wider wheel with the OE tire can enhance handling. I observed this when going from a 15x6 wheel to a 15x7 wheel using the same 195/65/15.

 

Hi Jim,
What is your stock tire size? There has to be something you can run that will not totally kill your mpg's unless the car is near it's limits already with moving the stock tires down the road, meaning not enough HP & TQ to get the job done efficiently with a higher drag tire/wheel combo.

And as many will say, welcome to the forum

Mike

 

How about a little chrome to brighten your car. 15's on stock tires btw i'm also jim

 

New wheels are awesome!!

These are mine

 

Dang, mine came with 175-65 tires. I have them stretched onto 7 inch Konigs.
Dan

 

Lets see 'em

Mike ..