[cbaber]

It is possible to actually save money over the life of the tire. With your math, at 65,000 miles when it is time to replace the Goodyear's, the person who bought the LRR tires would have spent $5835 vs the KR21's which cost $5927. That is a difference of $92.

But.... For that to work out you need to achieve the 5% mpg increase the entire lifetime of the tire. Assuming both drivers drive the average 14,000 miles per year, its going to take you 4 and a half years to reach that $92 savings. And, by choosing to pick a tire based on whether it was LRR, you limit your choices drastically. On TireRack for our example size 185/65/14, there are 4 choices for LRR tires. For non-LRR tires there are 10 choices that are cheaper than the cheapest LRR tire and many more choices after that. That brings me to my main point, which is that by putting the fuel economy blinders on you risk overlooking a tire that is actually better at being a tire. After all, safety comes before fuel economy. Every car and every driver are different which is why no one tire suits everyone. Instead of having the mindset that since we want optimal mpg and we can only purchase LRR tires, we should be looking for the tires (LRR or not) that best satisfy our cars and our driving conditions' needs.

Side note: When I went looking for tires I bought a different than stock size for my car because I have aftermarket wheels. That was a year ago and the prices and selection are different. Looking at the selection in the stock size I would have chosen the michelin LRR tires hands down due to high mileage warranty and high reviews.