I have 17" wheels on my XE with a lift and run 265/70/17 all terrain tires...if there if there is any power loss, it's barely noticable at this size. I still get 19-20 all around mpg. Stepping up to 33's regardless of wheels size is probably a different story.
It's a cost benefit kind of thing.. you already have 17' wheels but tires for that size will be a little bit more than a smaller size.. if you bought smaller wheels, you'd get a little better deal on tires, but you would have spent money on new wheels.. kinda evens itself out from where you're at right now. Your best bet is to go the the manufacturer website of the tires you're interested in and check the weight of the exact tires you want to buy, you'll be surprised at just how much weight varies between companies.
It's a cost benefit kind of thing.. you already have 17' wheels but tires for that size will be a little bit more than a smaller size.. if you bought smaller wheels, you'd get a little better deal on tires, but you would have spent money on new wheels.. kinda evens itself out from where you're at right now. Your best bet is to go the the manufacturer website of the tires you're interested in and check the weight of the exact tires you want to buy, you'll be surprised at just how much weight varies between companies.
