Mpg Improving Mods?, General Options

[Thrasher3]

Hello all,
I am new to this forum. I have a 2004 Lancer ES with Auto. I bought this car used and to date I have 119,000 miles logged on this car. I noticed the window sticker said 26 city and 29 hwy. I have been running Mobil 1 extended use oil and changing it at roughly 6500 to 7500 miles, I still have the stock steel wheels and the tires are aired 27psi in front and 30psi in rear. I drive back and forth from St. Louis MO. to Indianapolis IN, weekly more recently every other week. On these highway trips I have been averaging 32 to 34 mpg's at an average speed of 75. I have been trying to keep the tach at 3200. Does anybody out there know if the after market rims at different heights 15", 16", 17"... would help or hinder. If lowering would help?? I really don't want to put more rubber on the road so my thinking is the tire width is fine. I would like to make the somewhat drab appearance look a little nicer. I do like the car it is really hard to keep the tach at 3200. Any suggestion as well as all advice is welcome.

[vendetta]

welllll, i have a manual so, hmmm your rpms sounds about right for an automatic. I have 18"s on my car, but see the problem i run into is, i dont have the camber kit so i go through tires in like 4 months just driving around the city cause it eats away at the insides of my tires. 17"s would prolly fit you good though, i had a couple of them on mine b4 and it didnt eat the wheels that much. Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe the smaller the tire, the quicker its gonna roll around, so get bigger, and possible improve longevity of the tire life, but then you'd burn more gas right? As far as lowering the car, man i dont think that will do shit but cause more problems in the future. Thats just my opinion though, my firends with lowered cars just creates more hassle for them on driveways and speedbumps. depending on how low u want to go.

[Thrasher3]

Thanks, I was even wondering if 15's would help or hinder? I was wondering if they would be more problem than benefit. Then with maybe a 1" supension drop, or even 1/2 ". I know this sounds really tame to many yet I was just wondering if these small tweaks would benefit at all. I understand sacrifices are made to produce an all around affordable car. I was looking into decreasing rolling resistance ( taller tire) without really messing with the gear ratio. The lowering just slightly to decrease drag coefficent ( increase in aerodynamics). I am just wondering if anybody has toyd with these ideas for this purpose alone.