Why does gas mileage drop with new tires? This is a question you might ask if you changed your tires and noticed your gas mileage dropped.
You might find it difficult to believe that new tires have the ability to affect gas mileage badly. But, unfortunately, new tires can actually make the gas mileage drop! But why does this happen?
This article explains why gas mileage drops with new tires and how to improve your gas mileage with new tires. It also enlightens you on what to expect when changing new tires.
Why Does Gas Mileage Drop With New Tires?
New tires can reduce your gas mileage as a result of the full tread on them. This is because the thread in new tires can create extra rolling resistance, more than the ones of worn or well-used tires, affecting the car’s gas mileage.
What Does Rolling Resistance Mean?
Each time you hold down your car’s gas pedal, it enables the transmission of energy. Depending on the car’s model, the transfer comes in electrical or gas form.
The energy goes through the whole car’s system and engine. It finally results in your car tires turning and having excess momentum to move the car effectively.
When this happens, the car has to go through many different factors. And it’s because it has to be resistant to a forward movement. Tire rolling resistance is an example of this factor.
To maintain a constant speed during your movements, tire rolling resistance is the energy needed enough by the car tires for this maintenance.
Hysteresis is part of the rolling resistance’s major contributors. This process is losing energy, which occurs each time a tire finishes its roll. Since your car engine overcomes this energy loss, the gas mileage drops.
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Can Tire Rolling Resistance Be Prevented?
The simple answer is no. Anytime your car tires go on the road, a tire rolling resistance would always happen, and it is a known scientific fact you can’t prevent or avoid. But then it can equally be minimized.
Since hysteresis results from rolling resistance, tread compounds can be used to design car tires that are formulated specially to give stronger resistance to heat generation. In addition, because they are produced to cut down tire deflection, there are benefits from the little energy loss.
These specially made tires are referred to as low rolling resistance tires.
When you get worried about your car’s gas mileage & you want it to be improved, by all means, low rolling resistance tires should be an investment you should consider when next you want to replace the car’s tires.
These tires can offer the difference needed for a good/proper gas mileage. However, they are more expensive. You can use the money you save from fuel to make it up.
Of course, this relies on how far and how often you drive. Still, recouping what you lost can be expected, which is all thanks to a better fuel economy provided by low rolling resistance.
Advantages of Making Use of a Low Rolling Resistance Tire
If it gets to minimizing your car’s fuel efficiency, one smart investment is a low rolling resistance tire. These tires are fuel-efficient tires if you compare them with conventional vehicle tires.
The recent research from the United States Dept. of energy enlightens us that when low rolling resistance tires are used, they can provide the car with up to 10% fuel savings. However, it equally points out that for many drivers, an average fuel saving is 3%.
Although that may not look like much on paper, the numbers can add up with time, and its results in fuel savings will be significant – both in waste and in spending.
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Are There Reasons Low Rolling Resistance Tires Shouldn’t Be Used?
Just like every other thing, low-resistance tires equally have their downsides. Because of how it’s produced, the possibility of the tires wearing down faster is higher than a traditional tire.
Possibly, a new technology advancement can be introduced to solve this problem. But for now, this factor has to be considered. Those kinds of tires are bad for the fuel economy but good for grips, road noise, and tire life.
Using Low Rolling Resistance Tires as a Means of Saving Money
As we cited earlier, the high cost you may be paying for low-resistance tires can be made up from fuel savings. The first time the revolutionary tires got to the market, they were costlier than the normal tires of equal sizes.
It’s not a surprise because new technologies are usually costly when newly introduced. However, as technology spreads with time, the price decreases and becomes affordable for many people. This remains the same for low rolling resistance tires.
Today, other kinds of tires that have surpassed the cost of low rolling resistance tires have been made. Although some models and brands have higher price tags, there are still many that you can get at reasonable prices.
The difference is the rubber compound type and other materials used to manufacture these tires. What else to consider is the tire structure. Specialty models may be more expensive, so when you want to purchase low-resistance tires, consider these factors.
Still saving money, circling back to low resistance tire thread is very important. As we mentioned, you will find less tread life than conventional tires.
Even though high-performance tire models have a short lifespan, their excellent fuel savings compensate for their lasting durability loss. So, let’s get better ideas of the kinds of savings to expect from these examples.
Assuming that the cost of 4 low rolling resistance tires is $500, its life expectancy is fifty thousand miles. Let’s compare the figures with the cost of traditional tires, which is $400, with a life expectancy of sixty thousand miles.
You’ll be tempted to take the conventional tires with just a glance because the deal sounds great. But, assuming the two sets are mounted on cars that receive twenty-five miles for each gallon and driven for a sum of twelve thousand miles in a year.
Because low rolling resistance tires commonly provide at least two percent yearly fuel savings, you will save $33.60 a year from fuel costs ($3.50 per gallon).
These are more reasons you should consider low-rolling resistance tires an investment. In addition, you can count on making up the cost of low rolling resistance tires quickly if gas prices rise.
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Other Ways Gas Mileage Can Be Improved
Now that you’re aware of why and how new tires affect gas mileage negatively and the type of tires that help with that loss, we can look at other things that can be done to improve fuel economy.
1. Take Away All Clutters
Does it look like you’re living inside your car? If you hate cleaning your vehicle or keep your car filled with ends and odds, the car’s gas mileage could suffer.
Just a hundred pounds can decrease a car’s fuel efficiency. So on this note, you should remove everything that’s not needed in your car and make sure to leave an emergency kit and other necessary things.
But things like backpacks, shoes, roof racks, clothes, etc., should be removed if they’re irrelevant. It might surprise you to know that doing this improves car performance.
2. Examine Your Vehicle’s Tires
If the tire is underinflated, your car will likely use three more percent of your fuel. Not just that, poor inflation leads to wearing out of tires sooner than expected. So make it a habit to check your tires regularly and ensure they are inflated properly.
3. Do Not Idle
Most modern cars are equipped with start-stop operators that shut down the engine whenever you’re waiting for a red light. For example, the car is shut down for fuel efficiency improvement, as more fuel is used when you sit idle.
When waiting for the person, you’re giving a ride or at a store, turn off the vehicle when you’re sitting. It will greatly improve your fuel durability.
4. Vehicle Maintenance
Maintaining your car regularly affects the car’s performance, gas mileage included. So ensure you service your car regularly to avoid poor connections, dirty filters, and spark plugs.
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Which of the Tires Is Best for Fuel Efficiency?
The question is tricky. The answer is determined by the miles to be driven and the amount of weight the car is carrying. So it’s not on the tire type alone.
While gas mileage increases fuel consumption, it doesn’t make single-axle cars perform better using less fuel-efficient tires than larger ones for cars carrying heavier loads.
In most cases, maximizing tire pressure so that your car’s tires can give you the most is better. This is correct if you drive in a real-world situation where loaded trucks that travel with
higher speed consumes more fuel than the unloaded trucks.
How Can Fuel Economy Be Improved With Tires?
The best way you can cut down rolling resistance should be by maintaining accurate tire inflation pressure (this is listed on each tire’s side). We have two easy ways this can be measured.
Purchase a gauge with an LCD display that tells you your current pressure, or use a digital tire pressure gauge.
If you have neither of those simple options, use penny teas. Put a penny inside your car tire’s air valve. Seeing all Lincoln’s head means you have properly inflated tires.
On the other hand, if you could see his neck alone or above when you look into any of the four tires, they need air and are under-inflated.
How Do You Rate Good Fuel Efficiency?
EPA fuel economy bases their ratings on lab tests, where they drive the car at a constant speed of fifty mph while the AC is on. Rolling Resistance Tester is the device used for this test. It rolls alongside the car and measures resistance in miles per gallon.
There’s a second tester called the Decelerating and Accelerating Calibration Rig. This measures energy consumption when decelerating or accelerating.
These measurements let engineers calculate the range of miles each gas gallon can cover while driving using a complex formula than simple MPG (miles per gallon).
Fuel efficiency depends on the type of car and the engine it uses. For example, when you compare an SUV to a normal Sedan car, the gas mileage will have differences, so one size doesn’t fit all the answers.
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How Much Effect Does a Bigger Tire Have on Gas Mileage?
New Pickup trucks usually have bigger tires that give them better traction when carrying heavy loads.
But unfortunately, these tires’ rolling distance increases, which means extra fuel consumption. Its aftereffects are not enough to worry the owners of less than eight thousand pound cars, but they have to be enlightened about it.
In 2003, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, in an unpublished study, found out that a 10% increase in rolling resistance is responsible for a 0.6 percent drop in the fuel economy for full-size pickups that have eight wheels or more.
Frequently Asked Questions – Why Does Gas Mileage Drop With New Tires?
Do new tires improve gas mileage?
A recent test carried out recently by Consumer Reports on a few all-season tire models that have low rolling resistance found that the fuel economy can be improved with the tires by adding 1 or 2 mpg. Replacing a less-optimum tire has its reward, as it could be a payback that covers almost all costs of new tires throughout their lifetime, saving fuels.
What causes gas mileage to decrease?
A fuel injector that has gone bad or an old/dirty fuel filter will be able to affect fuel flow in the engine drastically. One common cause of poor gas mileage can be a fuel system problem. The more the A/C is being run, the lower the car’s gas mileage.
Do new tires need to break in?
Like your new shoes, your new tires need to be broken in. Tires comprise different layers of steel, fabric, and rubber. These components make a new tire need a break-in period to ensure effective ride quality and performance.
Does tire brand affect gas mileage?
Simply yes. Tires can ultimately affect the miles drivers can cover before refilling gas tanks. It’s not just the tire maintenance, the type of tire the car is using affects fuel economy equally.
How much do tires impact mpg?
Research shows that Twenty to thirty percent of a car’s fuel consumption and twenty-four percent of road vehicles’ CO2 emissions are tire-related. Therefore, fuel consumption can be reduced by five to seven percent with green tires, and it would have a lesser cost amortization period when compared to other car fuel-saving technologies.
Why is my car suddenly using more fuel?
Oxygen sensors and air filters ensure that the correct ratio of fuel and air goes into the engine for excellent performance. However, in case they’re damaged or clogged, it affects the ratio, and in turn, this can destroy your engine, which will increase the quantity of fuel used by your car.
What causes a car to consume too much fuel?
Three bad habits could lead to high fuel consumption – stopping too suddenly, driving overly fast, and very quick acceleration.At every possible point, drive at the normal speed of your traffic and accelerate slowly.
Why is my car using more gas than normal?
Your car could use more gas than normal when the grip of the car tires is lost and worn out. This makes them spin more when they want to move. Another problem that could make your car consume more fuel is inflated tires below the instructed pressure.
Conclusion – Why Does Gas Mileage Drop With New Tires?
Give a second thought to replacing your car tires with conventional models, If you want to ensure that your car has minimal gas mileage.
Low rolling resistance tires have enabled convenient gas mileage and effectively prevented excessive fuel loss.