rx280

I thought about posting this in the Tires and Wheels section but figured the audience might be larger here.
Has anyone else experienced a noticeable change in gas mileage after making a tire change?
Three and a half weeks ago, I replaced the original-equipment Michelins with a set of Toyo Proxes T1R tires. The T1R is a “summer” tire – one Toyo describes as an “ultra-high performance tire designed exclusively for high-end sport sedans and coupes.”
The Toyos are the same size as the all-season Michelins, and I’ve stayed with the tire pressure I chose for the Michelins: 34 front and 32 rear (a couple of pounds above the recommended numbers).
After putting about 800 miles on the Toyos, I’m all but certain that my gas mileage has dropped by 1-2 mpg. This comes as a surprise – and it’s an unwelcome one, of course – because my '04’s gas mileage had always been pretty stable. (I’ve had the car since it was new; just passed the 74,000-mile mark.) Switching back and forth between the Michelins and my snow tires (Bridgestone Blizzaks, 205/60-16 on steel wheels) has never had much of an effect on the mpg number.
My uneducated guess is that there’s a little more rolling resistance with the Toyos, maybe because the compound is stickier.
Thoughts? Similar experiences? Theories?

nj2pa2nc

when we first switched our original OEM Michelins on our 06 tsx after 74,000 miles a month ago the gas mileage went down. We now have Yoko's Avid 4's and prefer the OEM's. We now have 83,000 miles on the car and the gas mileage has improved but still not as good as with the michelins. (we just came back from a 3 week, 24 state, 9,000 mile roadtrip)

LuvMyTSX

Yes. Mine decreased 1-2 mpg when I switched to bridgestone pole positions.

1Louder

On my previous car (Civic Hybrid, where I monitored MPG extensively) I noticed that mileage rose after the new tires had about 3K miles on them. On the same car, I changed to Continentals (one of their low-rolling resistance tires) and noticed the exact same thing - mileage drop for about 3K, then restored. Since then it's been my opinion that new tires can cause a slight MPG drop until they "break in" - whatever that might mean.

However, tires are not all created equal and ones geared for low-rolling resiance (i.e. harder) will get better MPG that softer performance-oriented tires.

valeratj

Maybe 1 MPG drop, but ride comfort, grip, safety, silence are weeeeeeellllll worth it. Drive 55mph on the freeway if u want to save fuel. I got my on board computer to 44MPG on a flat road while cruising 55 and friend got 37.8MPG in his 3.2L CL-S.

jswim99

I second the Yoko Avid V4S mileage drop. For me it was 2-3 mpg. Also these tires are LOUD (worse than OEM). I get better mileage and noise on my winter tires.

DELIRIOUS_09

yea i just recently switched from OEMs to falken ze-912s 225/45/R17. my MPG dropped from 27.5-28.5 to about 26 (or less with AC on). the difference in tire size is about 1.9% from OEM though...

Tsx536

Is there a difference in Weight? That can also effect mpg.

Miamicarfan

I just thought about this right now. I also have had a change in fuel economy with new Yokohamas AS430s . I did not think it was the tires but the fact that in Florida, all fuels now contain 10% ethanol.

So I think i am getting hit on two fronts: Tires + Ethanol.

A 2 mile per gallon hit is big in terms of the range of the car. If you multiply 2 x 17(total gallon capacity of fuel tank), this means you will run dry 34 miles before you used to with Michelin tires. That is significant in my book.

Those Michelins OEM tires have been criticized by a lot of people on this forum. I liked them because they had low rolling resistance and also because they were very durable. I took about 3 nail hits to one tire. Two nails just came out without perforation and another was plugged. Try doing this on high performance low profile tire (FOGETABOUTIT)

There were several things I did not like about the Michelins. They were loud as hell (in comparison to my current tires) and they are very expensive, about $200 per tire.

Jottle

These are interesting observations. Most of the reviews of these tires on our cars in these forums and over at tirerack say that they're much quieter than the stock tires. I guess they get louder over time. It's tough to find a better performing, more comfortable, AND quieter tire. That's what I'm looking for!

PACman

I'm on my 2nd set of 18" Yok AVID H4's. My mpg's have stayed the same when compared to stock...about 31 mpg hwy. I generally keep them inflated at 35psi. Although they might be louder than stock, they are far better in performance - grip and cornering - than OEM.

ck123

stickier tires will cause you to grip more, which makes your engine work harder

nbtx

Well, maybe ... Be aware that the much maligned stock Michelins are optimized for our vehicles, and that includes rolling resistance which is a function of tread belts, tread design, sidewall flex and more. The Michelins are more expensive, but with a 1 to 2 mpg penalty over the life of a set of tires you can probably justify the extra cost. Especially with obama's $4.00 per gallon gas.

jswim99

Yeah, I know. The good reviews were why I bought these tires. Mine were quiet for about 500 miles, now they're very loud (about 15000 miles). I wanted a good all-season, but I ended up getting separate winter tires too, so all-season traction isn't as important. I won't buy Yokos again.

valeratj

HUH?

zguy95135

Yea, I lost about 3mpg when I got my new tires. They're much quieter and grip better then stock though so it's a tradeoff I guess.

nj2pa2nc

No more yoko's for us either. I am not a big fan of bridgestone poles either except I became a pro on tire changing.

1Louder

Curious what you don't like about the poles? The reviews on TireRack and here in the Tire forum seem to be quite positive. I was planning on using them when I needed a replacement. I actually like the OEM OK, but road noise is a factor.

nj2pa2nc

The poles seem to be more sensitive to nails, and other sharp objects. When the michelins had nails in them, the air would leak slowly. The poles would end up having to be replaced. The tire life on the poles is also alot shorter even without nails. Had them on my eagle talon TSI-awd. Slid on black ice with them and went thru a stop going less than 10MPH. No tire is good on black ice.

JPSMAN

Its really all about the rolling resistance of the tire. Generally, with performance tires, more grip will result in a slight drop in fuel economy. Personally, I don't mind the slight drop for the "grippier" feel. I noticed a 1-2 MPG drop when I switched from the OEM Michelin to the Pilot Sport A/S.