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Originally Posted by Ultra-Orange
Hmm at tire rack I found the "Micheline Energy Saver A/S" (All season) for $96 per, but no sign of the plain "Energy Saver", No clue what the (if any) differance would be between the two.
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They are different tyres, with the A/S being sold in the US having more siping and a different thread pattern than the
Euro Energy Saver (which is also on sale in Canada, IIRC). Dunno about the A/S, but over here the Energy Saver is available in smaller sizes than 15" 195 wide.
It's not a unicorn, as I've gotten 7% better mileage with them, coming down from equally wide 17" tyres (on heavier rims).
It doesn't look like putting 37.000 miles on them would be a problem either - and I even have them in an unnecessarily high W speed rating.
As for swapping 12" wheels for 15" rims ... I wouldn't do it.
Their weight is most likely going to kill the deal in mixed driving.
Sure, you can go up in size, just don't overdo it and watch the weight of the new wheel+tyre. The effect of the larger rim's weight is going to be bigger than that of having less rubber on a lower profile tyre.
You don't want to go up much in weight - preferably, reduce their combined weight.
13 or 14" can do fine, if you select the rims & tyres.
MetroMPG has tested the RR of various tyres :
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...eet-19126.html
but that doesn't test the effects of the rims themselves, nor their size.
A good combo would be a low RR tyre on a really lightweight alloy rim, like the RE92 MetroMPG used
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The size (165/65 R14) of RE92 made for the first gen. Insight is definitely LRR, and is unlike the other RE92 sizes available.
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BTW :
Some alloy "lightweight" wheels are actually heavier than simple steel rims .