New Tire Shopping

[shantiwitt]

Hi all,
I have been shopping for some new low rolling resistance tires for my 01 Jetta TDI and I have decided to go with the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus. Now it comes down to what size to buy. Now stock my Jetta has 195/65r15 and I want to be more efficient than that so I want to go narrower and taller. Well, tirerack.com has options that are narrower (175/65r15) and taller (205/70r15) but no options that are taller AND narrower... So here is my question: Should I go with the taller tires that will lower my cruising RPMs or should I go with the narrower tires that will have a lower rolling resistance? For comparrison the tread width on the 205/70r15 is 5.9" and 20lbs per tire and the tread width of the 175/65r15 is 5.1" and 17lbs per tire.
Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance!

[mcrews]

im a fan of taller if your do a lot of freeway driving.
Lower weight is better for a lot of around town
you need to show:
original
weight, overall diameter, width.
taller
weight, overall diameter, width.

narrower
weight, overall diameter, width.


I don't see the 175 at tire rack so I cant really give you a good answer

[shantiwitt]

Here are each of the tires specs

[mcrews]

thanks!!!!!
sO the tire effecencnce is the same for both.
and the narrow tire is just 1/2 an inch narrower and 1 lb lighter. (less than 5%).

the taller tire is 2lbs heaveier and slightly taller than 5%


I think it will depend on the mix of driving.

[shantiwitt]

I do mainly highway (50 miles each way to work) So I ordered the 205s. Thanks for your help!

[mcrews]

Originally Posted by shantiwitt

I do mainly highway (50 miles each way to work) So I ordered the 205s. Thanks for your help!

you are very welcome!!!
I LOVE tirerack!!!!!!

[shantiwitt]

Same, they already called me to confirm that I wanted oversized tires

[mcrews]

btw,
I upsized on the infifnti Q45 and got a nice little bump in mpg on the road!!

[mcrews]

hey, real quick. Check the clearance at the top of the tire to the bottom of the strut tower. you need just over 3/4 of an inch.

[shantiwitt]

My snow tires are 215/60-16 (had them from my old subaru) and they fit no problem, the ones I just ordered are .2 inches taller than those so I should be fine.