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Its been a little while, so I figured I would give another update on my car. My large 10% oversized tires were wearing down (the front ones especially), so I decided to order another set. It was hard to take off from a stop with these 26.5 diameter 10% oversized tires without chirping them, which I believe is what wore them out so quickly.
These had already saved me more than enough fuel to justify their early replacement though, so I am not too worried about it. I decided to go in a slightly different direction this time, and purchased a set of 15 wheels off of a Prius and got Michelin Energy Savers in 195/65/15, or roughly 25 diameter, so more like 4% oversized. The obvious downside is my RPMs went up about 6% from where they were, but the advantages are that the car is lower to the ground and these wheels and tires are significantly lighter. Tire went from 22.8 to 18.4. Wheel went from around 21ish to around 14.5ish (lost my exact figures). This is pretty significant to lose 40+ lbs. of rotating weight on a 2500lbish car.
I have run three full tanks through it now and am most of the way through the fourth, and I have not noticed a significant change in fuel consumption positive or negative, so I think the rpm change was counteracted by the lowering and weight savings. The other advantage I have not yet attained is the ability to put my stock wheel well liners back on the car, so that should add additional advantages.
I am starting to work on version 3 of my grill blocks and version 2 of my belly pan, my truck transmission swap had been taking up most of my limited free time.
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