Hypermiling 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Eco to 50+

[Jurgis]

I still have old tires with bad economy class E.
For my car Ford recommended 32PSI.
First I run them at 44PSI. Today they are at 50PSI.

Running at 44PSI instead of 36PSI saved me 8% fuel.
Running at 50PSI instead of 44PSI just saved 2% more.

[California98Civic]

I also run 44 psi rated Defenders at 60psi. Been that way for years. No problem.

[ecocruze]

How harsh is the ride at 60? I was thinking pushing it up to 50 but don't want to be riding on rocks flinstone style lol. I live in Wisconsin so roads are pretty much crap. I'll probably be upgrading suspension in 20-30k more miles to take the roads on a bit better.

[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by 14'ecocruze

Would put pic up but the site doesn't auto downsize and it's a pain on Android phone to downsize. I will definitely be looking forward to improvements in the LLR tires so hopefully I can pick some of them up next to around. Unless I get another 50$ set lol

Great find on the tires. If you upload your pictures to an album first, they will auto downsize. From there you can copy the image link and move them into a forum post.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 14'ecocruze

How harsh is the ride at 60? I was thinking pushing it up to 50 but don't want to be riding on rocks flinstone style lol. I live in Wisconsin so roads are pretty much crap. I'll probably be upgrading suspension in 20-30k more miles to take the roads on a bit better.

You will have to experiment to know the answer to that question. The ride doesn't bother me.

[ecocruze]

Hard to say without trying. I had the OEM fuel max at 51 (max sidewall). They were almost unbearable but they were to that point in age 4 years and minimal tread. I'll try 50 and see if I can break 60 mpg again. Gotta keep up with black and green.

[Jurgis]

Originally Posted by 14'ecocruze

Hard to say without trying. I had the OEM fuel max at 51 (max sidewall). They were almost unbearable but they were to that point in age 4 years and minimal tread. I'll try 50 and see if I can break 60 mpg again. Gotta keep up with black and green.

Oops ... shame on me
I only looked at the time code on the tires. Right now after reading your message I checked again and there is written "max 44PSI".
While my summer tires are 8 years old and should be replaced soon due to their age the tread depth still is 1/4". Sad to throw them away.
I don't drive fast (country roads 50MPH / motorway 70MPH) and we're just two passengers, mostly without luggage.
I'm now driving my summer tires at 50PSI since 6,000 miles w/o problems.

I didn't realized saving more fuel when increasing the pressure from 44 to 50PSI. So I will reduce to 44PSI soon.

[JockoT]

I bought a car a few years ago and one rear tyre was rather thin in the centre of the tread (barely legal). One of the first things I do with a new car (before servicing it), is check the tyre pressures. All the rest of the tyres were at the manufacturers recommended 32 psig but the baldy tyre was 48 psig. I replaced it, set it to recommended pressure, and never had any further issues.
I do not increase my tyre pressures above the recommended figures for that very reason.
I tend to keep my spare up to the max allowable pressure, and if I need to use it I deflate it to the recommended pressure (some manufactures have different values for each axle). Perhaps that was the case here only it had never been corrected.

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by Jurgis

Oops ... shame on me
I only looked at the time code on the tires. Right now after reading your message I checked again and there is written "max 44PSI".
While my summer tires are 8 years old and should be replaced soon due to their age the tread depth still is 2". Sad to throw them away.
I don't drive fast (country roads 50MPH / motorway 70MPH) and we're just two passengers, mostly without luggage.
I'm now driving my summer tires at 50PSI since 6,000 miles w/o problems.

I didn't realized saving more fuel when increasing the pressure from 44 to 50PSI. So I will reduce to 44PSI soon.

If you have a spare and don't drive fast just keep running them,
If your worried just buy a pair for the front keeping the old tires on the rear of the car.

Normally they don't blow they just end up with the tread falling off which allows you to pull over and put on a spare

My oldest tires were a cheap set of fleet farm desert dogs, made it 10 years then the tread rolled off one tire.

[JockoT]

This is advice from the Automobile Association (premier motoring organisation) here in the UK.

At what age should tyres be replaced?

Tyres will normally wear out before they become unserviceable due to ageing.

Tyres degrade naturally through exposure to heat, sunlight (Ultraviolet/UV) and rain. The amount of damage depends on the exposure and the severity of the weather.
Damage through ageing is more common with caravans, trailers and other vehicles only used occasionally.
There are no hard and fast rules on age.

Check for signs of cracking on the sidewalls of tyres four or five years old if your car is parked outside and get them replaced if cracking is severe.
Any tyre specialist will be able to give you advice if you're not sure