On Wed, 19 Jul 2017 11:17:25 -0700,
Bob F wrote:

Only if you try to maintain the same acceleration level.

At cruising speed, say 60mph, the main component of force is the drag
coefficient, isn't it?

So you need torque at the wheels sufficient to overcome the wind
resistance, even if you maintain a set speed of 60mph.

If the needed torque to maintain that speed of 60mph is 100 Newtons
(plucking a number out of thin air), and your engine has to work harder to
generate a torque of 100 Newtons, then we may not get the fuel economy that
we thought we'd get.

Rest assured that my intuition is the same as your intuition, which is that
we "should" get better fuel economy by gaining an inch on every rotation of
the tires, but intuition isn't always correct.

It would be nice to see a reliable article that backs up our intuition.

Engine and transmission parts will be moving slower, reducing losses.

It will be nice to find a reliable article that backs up our intuition.

"Smaller diameter wheels will make for more concise handling as each
rotation of the wheel covers a shorter distance, meaning more acute
adjustments can be made during cornering compared to a larger diameter
tyre"

Really?? The part of the tire that makes ground contact will hardly
change if the width of the tire stays the same. This statement just does
not make sense. What does the rotation distance of the tire have to do
with anything. The smaller tire putting the center of gravity closer to
the ground would make more difference.

It's a direct quote from the article so I can't argue it better than the
authors did themselves.