I have 17's and do most of my driving in the city, I still get around 28-30. I also have fun driving, so I don't always feather it.

 

Why you running 35 profile tires on 17" rims? No wonder it rides rougher. You should be running either 215/40/17 or 205/45/17. Either of which still ride decent. You don't get the real rough ride till you hit 18" and up.

 

i got 205/40/17 the 35 was a typo gonna switch up to 45 in like 30k miles when my tires wear out

 

There is always a 215/45R17. This measures up almost to stock specs. as far as revolutions go.

 

yeah but i dont think my 17x7" will fit 215 or at least thats what my tire guys told me. i have heard of someone fitting that before but he may have had 7.5"

 

I have much worse milage with the 17" rims in summer or with stock rims when it's cold. If you care:

Auto tranny, 04 model, stock tires, summer time = 30mpg city (driving like grandma), 28mpg if I drive like I'm awake.

With 17" Sendel S15 chrome rims and Falken Ziex 512 205/40/R17 = 26 MPG.

Winter time, stock steelies with Blizzaks = 24 mpg city.

Radically altering your xB's look for almost no effort = priceless.

 

No I meant Ride Quality period

I'm lowered 2 inches already..gives me a pretty low center of gravity for the turns.
with the 18's the pot holes are almost unbearable...and I have already had to buy a new rim with almost a 2 week wait for the right one..all I can say is about how much money it cost...is ouch!!!

I can drive smoothly over things I would have had to slam on the braks and crawl over before...

if I wanna drive fast I own a fast car for that..I didnt buy the Xb because it is fast

 

For the past 3 years i have had 2 sets of 17X7 wheels with 215/45s on them. I just ordered another set of Konigs @ 17X7 with another set of 215/45R17

 

I switched to a lighter 15 inch wheel. Saves me about 6 pounds all the way around over stock.

I didnt realize it at first, but my mpg seems to have increased by about 1mpg, sometimes 2.

Was getting about 33-34mpg with steelies, but now average 34-36 for the most part. Havent had under 34mpg in probably 8/10 fill-ups.

 

I have 18's on mine and i dropeed 1 mpg at the pump but i have not had anyfriends experience that kind of a drop on any of my wheicles when i went up in tires other than the doge v-8 which droped 3 miles per gallon city going from a 16 to a 22 wheel

 

yeah...planning on going to 17's but with the lower profile tires the outside diameter stays almost exactly the same and they weight about the same so not too worried.

 

i'm ruuning 18 trds, it looks nice so i deal, but i heard if you remove the lower pipe on the intake(stock) you add to your mpg. it also makes the intake louder

 

There are racing series that use somewhat larger wheels, but the only reason is too accomadate big brakes. And yes, sidewall strength is the key for good handling, (I'm amazed how F1 gets those tiny brakes to do the job)

Another issue:
The closer your tread width demension is to the actual rim width, the better the handling performance of the tire. If rim width much narrower, more supple ride quality, less handling.

 

i have 19" rims with 215/35's on them and my mileage dropped a good bit, i get about 280 to 300 off a tank, not too bad i guess, atleast i have the only xB in my city on 19's lol...

 

17's and 31 to 33 mpg.... 3/4 freeway at 75mph, 1/4 city with the throttle to the wood. a/c on 75% of the time. 89 octane minimum, synthetic oil.

 

I notice a slight difference in mpg with my 17's... but I prefer the look over my 15's. Everything is a trade-off it seems.