Going from 15" to 14" rims on a Civic worth it?
 

I'm currently running 15" alloy rims on my 97 Civic EX with 195/55/15 tires. I'm currently averaging 38-40MPG (mostly all freeway). Would it be worth getting 14" rims for mpg gains? Secondly, I've got the stock 14" steelies, however, I'm not opposed to getting alloy rims if it will make a significant difference.

Thanks for any input.

This tall tire test may give you some insight.

If you went to a significantly narrower tire which also had less rolling resistance AND didn't reduce the overall diameter, sure it would help. :)

But you're asking about changing a pile of variables all at once (wheel weight, tire weight, rolling resistance, frontal area from tire width, aero drag differences of the wheels themselves, potential gearing changes from different circumferences), so it's pretty difficult to predict what will happen.

But if you already happened to have another set of tires, then you could do a comparison like Darrell did.

Hey, thanks for the replies (and the link). There is another tire size that I overlooked--185/60/15. These are a tiny bit taller than the OEM size. I think I will try these first to see if it offers any benefits. They're cheaper, at least, so even at the same MPG, I will be saving money.

In the mean time, I will keep an eye out for 14" alloy rims and will test to see there is any difference. I have a 100 mile commute through the same highway everyday, so at least the testing environment will be consistent.

Hey, Sentra, how you achieve 50MPG in a rolling brick is beyond my comprehension! :D

Whatever setup you go with, the most important letters are: LRR.

Pale - I'm buying Yoko Avid Touring tires, which I don't think are labeled LRR tires. They've got to be better than the current 205/50/15 Kumho ASX's, though. I hope I won't lose too much in the handling department going skinny. I'm also getting some camber wear, which should be better with the skinnier tires (need to get the toe adjusted again, though).

14 inch wheels are about to be the next dead tire size.
Options for 14 inch tires are going to become few and more expensive over the coming years as 13 inch tires did.

Considering the higher shock absortion from a tyre with the same final diameter in a smaller rim, a 14" ends up better than a 15" since it compensates a little the comfort issue in a lowered car.

Ugh.

I'm sure this has been discussed, but have any of you run 7th gen Civic hybrid wheels?