07 Base Fit no suspension mods - yet
Not doing too much driving currently with the exception of work which takes me roughly 420 miles round trip each time. As i understand currently (noob status) a lighter wheel and tire than stock would be beneficial but with all the sizing options for both it makes me wonder if i should be also trying to resize from stock to better fit (so to speak) to what i'm aiming to make my hypermiler. Then to that end if i got a different size wouldn't that mean that the combo i need to be looking at is including suspension possibly? Is there a thread that has already discussed this that i haven't seen or keywords i haven't looked up properly to find it? Any help in the right direction appreciated.

 

The base model steelies + base tire size will probably yield the best gas mileage, lowest cost of ownership, and smoothest ride quality due to the larger sidewall.

The narrower you go, the less rolling resistance and higher gas mileage, of course sacrificing cornering traction.

 

The ideal would probably be something like a 14x5.5 +45 Volk or SSR. Narrow, light and set inside the wheelwell to avoid extra drag.

From there a narrow, low-rolling resistance tire is key.

 

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15" steelies with MoonEyes Moon Discs. Nothing more aero than this. Hence why they are used for land speed racing. Low drag which with also improve overall MPG.

 

 

Steelies. Right, very cool. Didn't even thing of that. Yeah, land speed racing. Duh. Good call y'all. I like it.

There aren't any tires that are more quiet than others due to their construction are there?

 

Also thank you for your cornering traction insight.

 

What % improvement did you get after installing the low drag wheel inserts?

 

Never checked because it already gets awesome gas mileage. But based on aero you know it does help. We just did it because it matches our land speed car more than anything. lol

 

Would i be correct in assuming you got the screw on type? I was looking into a description of the snap on type and they suggested that it's not good for highway travel as the wind might come from behind and blow them off. Anybody had experience with the snap on kind being a problem vs screw on?

 

Personally I would only run "bolt on" style like we have, just better in design. The snap on style may come loose from potholes. I don't think wind will make the covers come off since they are aero to start with.

 

I just welded the tabs on with a MoonEyes template and painted them. Not hard. Stock 15" wheels.

 

Ah, i see. Very cool. I like that idea better than what i saw about drilling and tapping the wheel itself.

 

Here they are on my 3g.