Need new tires soon. Will I loose much in mpg if I replace my michelin LX4 ENERGY tires with standard tires (thinking about Bridgestone Alenza H/L)?
I doubt if there will be a measurable change in gas mileage if you stick to the same size and design of tire. Radial tires showed much increased fuel economy when they were introduced some 30 years ago. The
The real savings are in long lived tires like the Michelin X, or similar with a very high tread wear rating. So shop tread wear rating. My Michelin X tires last almost twice as long a so-called performance tires that give that great handling. That’s $450 savings every 4-5 years at least.
Forget about a tire’s “gas mileage” if you want to save money.
Use air. You won’t need gas!
Regardless of what type of tires you choose, remember what’s important. Don’t forget to put air in them!
In the words of our most brilliant Senator, from the state of Illinois…
“There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy. … Making sure your tires are properly inflated - simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling - if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You’d actually save just as much.”
There you have it!
Likely you will loose a little mileage, but not enough to get excited about.
davidnc- This is a very intelligent question to ask about tires and most people give it little thought. I am going to disagree with the previous posters on this topic. There is in fact a big difference in rolling resistance between various brands and models. In fact this is something Consumer Reports tests for.
Michelin tires are generally very good in regard to rolling resistance, but there are other good tires out there. Some are pretty bad though. The difference between a very good tire and very bad tire usually amounts to 1-2 mpg in my personal experience. Michelin suggests in its advertising the difference works out to about $300 over the life of the tires.
The rolling resistance aside, I find Michelins simply last longer than other makes of tires and the quality tends to be superb. I’m of the opinion that these days you definitely get what you pay for, and that bargain tires are no bargain.
I heartily agree with Dave G. It is a valid question. The Brigstones are good tires, but I don’t know anyone who publishes rolling resistance specs to allow you to compare.
The Energy series tires have recently been updated and the newer version has a higher treadlife rating. They cost a little more than the old Energy’s, which were not cheap.
Read this- http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=29&
There is a lot of information out there regarding your concerns. This is just an example and tire rack has more information if you search their site on “rolling resistance”. There are tradeoffs to consider, not the least of which are traction and road noise. Depends on your priorities. As mentioned, proper inflation pressure plays a very important role in maximizing fuel economy and tire life.
The difference is usually 1-2MPG from least rolling resistance to more rolling resistance.
I noticed a 1MPG drop for example going from Nokian WR’s(severe winter rated all-seasons) from regular OEM all-seasons on my car.