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Old 02-27-2012, 06:41 PM   #8 (permalink)
graydonengineering
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 147

Frontier 2wd 2.4L 5 speed - '98 Nissan Frontier XE
90 day: 27.87 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Dave View Post
Bigger diameter tires are counterproductive.

Rotational moment of inertia goes up with the square of the radius. Bigger tires mean four bigger "flywheels" that you have to pour energy into to accelerate everytime you pull away from a stop.

Gearing works and bigger tires don't.
I agree, bigger tires are not a subsitute for inproper gearing. Significantly larger tires will bog down the engine. Depends on the type of drving you do also. If your do a lot of highway driving, they could give decent returns.

Re-gearing is so expensive unless you can find the parts in a yard. I wonder if the v6 frontier has taller gears..
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Best 15-mile commute city/highway mix: 37.7 mpg
Best tank so far: 31 mpg
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