thanks

 

The lightest, thinest wheel/tire combo you can fit on the car. The less weight on the wheels, the less energy the motor needs to get the car moving.

 

Actually if you do mostly freeway driving, heavier wheels (than stock) can increase your mpg... inertia.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LoudLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually if you do mostly freeway driving, heavier wheels (than stock) can increase your mpg... inertia.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

go figure on that one, but I had better mpg with my steelies than my div3's....

 

do you think i should get 16 or 17

 

What about the increased drag caused by the larger contact patch?

Get the smallest wheel you can fit. A lightweight 15" with a hard-compound tire (longer wearing=less sticky=less drag on pavement) inflated to max PSI would be best.

Look at the Insight, the Civic Hybrid, etc. They all wear small wheels and skinny tires at high PSIs. I used to own a '79 Rabbit diesel with 13 inchers that got between 50-55 mpg on the highway (with 47 hp, it topped out at about 65 mph)

 

It's really hard to say. There's a happy medium between weight and size. Then it all depends on the types of driving you do.

Mostly, you'd want to get something light, but then it requires more power to keep it moving on the highway because it loses speed fast. Think about having a light flywheel, same concept. Something too large/heavy will require too much power to start moving (moment of inertia). There are so many factors that come into play, and many of those factors are negligible.

I'd go with some lighter 15-16 wheels. Rota (yeah yeah I know) are actually pretty good in this respect. Somewhat lightweight, small, looks good, etc.

 

16" & 17" wheels are bigger and will weigh more then a smaller wheel made of the same material. Listen to what everyone is saying - if you want the best fuel economy, you will have to get some tiny *** wheels with a 4x100 bolt pattern and the skinniest tires possible. You will look like a retard and you will probably not end up saving much money.

Anyway - are you honestly looking for wheels & tires for the best fuel economy??? - b/c there are easier ways to save fuel/money. If you are trying to justify purchasing new wheels and tires in order to save money on gas, I can assure you that the $600 - $1000 you spend on these "efficient" wheels will be for more then the money you spend on gas using your stock "unefficent" wheels

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually if you do mostly freeway driving, heavier wheels (than stock) can increase your mpg... inertia.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Suuuuuure. Got anything to back that statement up?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LoudLude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Actually if you do mostly freeway driving, heavier wheels (than stock) can increase your mpg... inertia.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

No way dude! The only thing that would do is increase your stopping distances(and reduce acceleration). It takes more force(HP/revs/o2/gas) to move more weight.

 

correct me if wrong, but wouldn't a larger wheel=more circumference=more distance per revolution=MPG has to find its way in there somehow.

 

Yes a larger diameter gives you less agressive gearing and can provide higher MPG(while screwing up your spedometer). More weight w/ equal diameter hurts performance in every way though.

 

you should also take into consideration if your car is lowered and you increase the diameter of your stock wheels it will raise the car up kinda canceling out your drop.. if i am wrong my bad

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by txracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should also take into consideration if your car is lowered and you increase the diameter of your stock wheels it will raise the car up kinda canceling out your drop.. if i am wrong my bad</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are better off not lowering so much! The larger wheels will hurt acceleration and throw off your spedometer!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by txracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should also take into consideration if your car is lowered and you increase the diameter of your stock wheels it will raise the car up kinda canceling out your drop.. if i am wrong my bad</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes you are wrong, in the sense that, when you get larger WHEELS, the TIRES are still the same diameter - hence the lower profile of the sidewall. Therefore no matter what size wheel you get, in most cases the diameter of the tire will still be the same, so a larger wheel = heavier.

 

Basically there really isn't going to be a wheel/tire combo that is going to show big improvments over stock mpg. Take the money you'd spend on a new wheel/tire package and use it for gas for the next year. :D

 

like i said if im wrong my bad.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blueintegra005 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do you think i should get 16 or 17 </TD></TR></TABLE>

in my opinion 17'' are too big for a teg..

n i believe that lighter smaller wheels should gfive u better mpg....

many 17'' are pretty heavy but if u can find some lightweight ones and ur wheel and tire are combo is the same as the stock wheels n tires then i think ur mpg would be not much lower if any over stock tires