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Old 07-12-2010, 06:40 PM   #111 (permalink)
El Rayo
EcoModding Lurker
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CapriRacer View Post
The sidewalls do not consume much of the fuel when rolling. About 90% is the "tread" - the tread itself , the steel belts. and the plies.
CapriRacer, would you warn against cutting deeper threads (say 3 mm or 1/16") in a worn down (2 mm remaining) tire? Cutting custom threads is customary among racers, but I don't know if they start from special, non-treaded cores. In my case the tires in question are 6.00 x 16 diagonal threaded and retreaded (I think that's the correct term) tires for my 1938 Chevrolet pickup, the pattern being simple zig-zag that's easy to cut deeper.

Quote:
Originally Posted by CapriRacer View Post
Large capacity tires tend to weigh more - and that affects the accelleration - but in the big scheme of things, how much more fuel is consumed when accellerating larger tires, compared to the amount of fuel consumed when rolling.
Driving my 2000 Th!nk City EV I've found that a sudden deceleration (emergency stop, but not blocking the wheels) from 80 kph/50 mph to zero followed by a relatively fast acceleration to 80 kph takes as much energy as driving 5 km/3 miles at 80 kph constant speed on level road.

As each wheel acts as a flywheel I would think that there is something to gain in the weight of the wheels. No rim supplier nor any tire supplier have been able or willing to give the weight of their product.

My 155/70R13 Continental EcoContact summer tires are fitted to original aluminium rims and my 155/70R13 Continental WinterContact tires are fitted to original steel rims. Would you believe that the winter wheels are lighter than the summer wheels? Can the winter tires be that much lighter than the summer tires? Taking one of each apart to weigh them separately is out of the question as the work would cost as much as a new set of tires.

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