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Here's what I observe:
The "steel drum" or diamond plate rolling resistance tests may not show actual performance but do show a relative difference.
Over time, the "preferred" gravel and road tires have gotten wider and pressures have gotten lower.
Gravel racers seem to have gone from ~32 to 35/38 to around 40 now, with some riding even wider depending on terrain. In longer or rougher rides or races, I find that wider suits me better as traction is better and fatigue is reduced (I've "raced" Battenkill on 25s, but it's not really gravel). I find sometimes wider doesn't equal slower (I found my WTB "slicks" slower than some wider small knob tires). Within the confines of "road width" and "gravel width" there is more variance between tire brands and relative speed vs width alone (25 gatorskins feel slower than 32 5k TLs for example)
Personally, I haven't regretted going wider on road or gravel, but I have found some slow feeling tires regardless of width. If you're riding 30mph on a gravel bike on flat ground routinely, I'm afraid I don't have much input though!
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