Increasing your car's fuel economy is one of the few ways that can let you keep more money in your wallet while also saving the environment. Your choice of car and your driving habits are the two most significant contributing factors to your fuel consumption, but your tires make a meaningful difference as well.

Tires and Rolling Resistance

As you might have guessed, rolling resistance refers to the force acting against your tires as you travel down the road. This friction resists the rolling motion of the tires in the same way that sliding friction would act against the forward motion of a pair of skis moving across pavement. Of course, wheels provide a more efficient means of traveling along most surfaces, so the resistance is less than you would experience if you were dragging a flat sled. Despite its relatively minimal impact, even small amounts of rolling resistance can impact your fuel economy since your car's engine must work against this force to continue traveling down the road.

Tire Inflation and Contact Patch

The amount of air in your tires affects the shape of the contact patch that is in contact with the road. If your tires are under-inflated, the other edges tend to bulge and produce a wider contact patch. Over inflate your tires and the bulge moves to the center, reducing the overall size of the contact patch. With a smaller contact patch, your tires generate less rolling resistance. This change in contact patch size is why you can achieve the best possible gas mileage by keeping your tires inflated to their correct pressure. Inflating them above this amount can dangerously compromise your car's handling, however, so it is essential not to exceed the manufacturer's recommended pressure.

Choosing Tires for Fuel Economy

Keeping your tires properly inflated is the most important thing you can do for fuel efficiency, but your choice of tire matters as well. As you might suspect, tires with more grip potentially offer less fuel economy. This effect means that many high-performance tires might provide marginally worse fuel economy than less grippy tires designed for efficiency. If you want to guarantee that your tires provide the best fuel efficiency possible, then low rolling resistance tires are the way to go. It is important to understand, however, that these tires will generally not perform as well under a wide variety of weather conditions or when driven hard. This trade-off is an important consideration to keep in mind when choosing new tires for your car.

For more information on car tires, contact an automotive service.

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