them now, but those big tires on your 60's muscle car
served a purpose! If you were anything like we were,
we built up the motors on our cars 1st and worried about
paint/interior 2nd.... Had to put the horsepower onto
the road somehow.... If we'd have had skinny/small tires,
we'd have been replacing them every week!
As far as airplanes go, big tires do have some plusses.
The prop is farther away from what might hurt it (picking
up rocks, gravel, etc.), some old-timers who've operated
180s in the bush for decades say it decreases the chance
of the tailfeathers getting bashed by junk thrown up
by the main tires, there's of course the fact that it's less
likely you'll get the "Cessna Logo" on your fore-head by
walking into the trailing edge of the flaps while walking
around the airplane, and finally, if you're into fartin' around
on un-improved strips, it's a no-brainer to go with big(ger) tires.
As with anything in life, it's a compromise.... They do
weigh more and they do induce more drag.
Just a personal observation but I think women look better without
panties on, and the same thing goes for the 170.

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP