Photo: GoodYear
Ask a regular driver what are his measures for eco-driving and only a few will tell you they chose to switch for eco/fuel-saving tires among other options. Yes, in case you haven’t heard about them until now, there are tires that should spare some gas money. Or not...
A recent study conducted by Emissions Analytics says that there is not that much of a difference between regular and fuel-efficient tires, especially at low speeds. But first, let’s see what makes a tire fuel efficient.
As you might know, when an engine works, most of the fuel’s potential energy transforms into heat, while only about 30 - 40 percent gets to rotate the crankshaft. Even so, another part of that useful energy will get consumed by friction in the vehicle’s transmission.
Ultimately, tires will also aid with the energy loss through their hysteresis. Lost you there? When you apply load to a tire, you’ll notice it’s lower part will deform a bit and as it rolls, that part of tire under stress will snap back into shape as it will exit the deformation zone. And because of physics, the energy “absorbed” by the deforming portion won’t be qual to the one that returns when the rubber comes back to shape.
Bit by bit, when the wheels are turning, energy is consumed and they will generate what is known as “rolling resistance”. But tire makers are said to have come with a solution - eco or fuel-saving tires. They are using special profiles and a slightly different composition to limit the energy-eating process so the engine will have to work less, to turn the wheels.... you get it.
Well, if you’re driving mostly around town, those wonder rubbers won’t make much of a difference according to the study. Scientists tested two contrasting sets of tires in a controlled environment and found only a 3.8% improvement between speeds of 50 - 70 mph (80 - 112 km/h), with a 12.9 percent maximum mpg difference.
So basically you can chose whatever type of energy-graded tires if you’re not going to leave the city with your car as long as you don’t go bellow the F grade, used in the aforementioned test against a B-graded counterpart.
As you might know, when an engine works, most of the fuel’s potential energy transforms into heat, while only about 30 - 40 percent gets to rotate the crankshaft. Even so, another part of that useful energy will get consumed by friction in the vehicle’s transmission.
Ultimately, tires will also aid with the energy loss through their hysteresis. Lost you there? When you apply load to a tire, you’ll notice it’s lower part will deform a bit and as it rolls, that part of tire under stress will snap back into shape as it will exit the deformation zone. And because of physics, the energy “absorbed” by the deforming portion won’t be qual to the one that returns when the rubber comes back to shape.
Bit by bit, when the wheels are turning, energy is consumed and they will generate what is known as “rolling resistance”. But tire makers are said to have come with a solution - eco or fuel-saving tires. They are using special profiles and a slightly different composition to limit the energy-eating process so the engine will have to work less, to turn the wheels.... you get it.
Well, if you’re driving mostly around town, those wonder rubbers won’t make much of a difference according to the study. Scientists tested two contrasting sets of tires in a controlled environment and found only a 3.8% improvement between speeds of 50 - 70 mph (80 - 112 km/h), with a 12.9 percent maximum mpg difference.
So basically you can chose whatever type of energy-graded tires if you’re not going to leave the city with your car as long as you don’t go bellow the F grade, used in the aforementioned test against a B-graded counterpart.
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