Tim, I like your 15's, they look really nice! I think you made a wise choice. Personally I'm thinking that maybe I should have opted for the 16's! And the jury is still out regarding my mileage, and how much effect it will have. I just wanted to get off an early report, because there has been a bit of chatter regarding rims.

Regarding collective MPG, I was really referring to "collective" as in "everybody on the planet." Or at least, those here in the west (US, Canada, UK, etc.) who are the main consumers of gasoline. The idea is, should I attempt to maximize my own personal MPG by doing things that possibly annoy other drivers, and cause them to decide against ever owning a hybrid? Or do I sacrifice my own personal MPG by a small amount, in order to avoid giving hybrids a bad name? It is potentially a volatile topic, as you can imagine, with people on both sides maybe having an opinion or two.

I will start a thread here (probably in the General category) soon, when my flame-suit arrives. :-) I sure hope nobody else is reading this thread, I may have let the proverbial cat out of the bag...

Chuck - Thanks for being the guinea pig. I have a set of 17s (not really lightweight) from my old Accord that would fit the HCH, but I've been hesitant to put them on because of the MPG hit. After reading about your experience, it doesn't sound as bad as I would have expected. What are the specs of the tire you are using? And did you even consider a pricier LRR 17 inch tire?

Eskrimast1 - The tires I purchased are Hankook Ventus HRII H405 (that's a mouthful -- I had to look it up because I couldn't remember). These are considered "high performance value" tires, which means they are on the low end of "performance" and "price". I guess the real performance tires are called "ultra high performance." Sort of like how, for a while, you could not get a "small" order of fries -- only "large", "extra large", and "supersize."

The size I got was 215/40R17. I would have gotten 205/45R17, but that size was not available. I would probably recommend the 205/45 or 205/50 size, just because the tread width is a bit slimmer, which should result in less rolling resistance. With my mellow driving style, I don't need that width -- I was just trying to keep the tire diameter as close to the OEM tires as possible.

I didn't get an LRR tire simply because of price-sensitivity on my part. At $55 each (must have been a special, they are more than that now), they fit my budget, and I was willing to give them a shot. Also, the choices of LRR tires for a 17 inch rim are few and far between. Both the Continental 17" and Yokohama AVS ES100 (which claim to be LRR) were well over $100 when I checked.

If you have the money to spend, I would go with the LRR tires. In the Greenseal report, the Continental 205-width tire was second only to the Bridgestone B381, and better than all six of the other 185-width tires!