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Old 06-04-2008, 07:42 PM   #1 (permalink)
blackjackel
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: los angeles
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Whitey - '05 toyota corolla LE
90 day: 28.91 mpg (US)
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Top 5 most fuel efficient tires (Lowest Rolling resistance: LRR)

I have noticed that there is no post listing the difinitive top 5 lowest rolling resistance tires, so I'm making one I'll also look up the best bang for your buck LRR tire.

According to the US department of energy and green seal you can save up to 4.5% in gas mileage by changing from higher resistance tires to low resistance tires.

Please feel free to challenge me on my findings as I am more than happy to be wrong on this.

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14 inch wheels:

$071 0.0062 Bridgestone/Firestone B381 P185/70R14: (another report said 0.00615)

I am listing only this tire for this size since its the absolute best LRR tire out of ANY SIZE and there is NO EXCUSE not to get it as it will save you more money over its lifetime than it would cost to even ship them over (if they are not available in your area).


15 inch wheels:

$090 0.00760 Bridgestone/Firestone Insignia SE 200 89S P195/65R15
$048 0.00780 General Tire Ameri-G4S WS P235/75R15
$065 0.00813 Goodyear Invicta GL 235/75R15
$101 0.00869 Michelin Energy LX4 P205/65R15
$075 0.00864 Michelin Steel Belted Radial P205/75/R15

16 inch wheels

$108 0.00650 Michelin Symmetry P225/60/R16
$079 0.00683 Michelin Tiger Paw AWP P255/60R16
$??? 0.00758 Goodyear Integrity P225/60R16
$067 0.00795 Michelin Tiger Paw Touring TR/SR P215/70R16
$??? 0.00810 Bridgestone/Firestone Dueler H/T 104S P235/70R16


17 inch wheels

$??? 0.00700 Bridgestone/Firestone Dueler H/t 113S P265/70R17
$195 0.00709 Michelin Rugged Trail T/A P285/70R17
$164 0.00754 Michelin LTX A/s P255/65R17
$096 0.00767 Michelin Rugged Trail T/a P245/65R17
$181 0.00829 Michelin Cross Terrain SUB P255/75R17

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The results above will be edited and changed as I find more efficient tires.

Please help me out if you can, i need to find the rolling resistance rating for the following tires:

Michelin X Radial DT, Michelin Agility Touring, Michelin Harmony, Hankook Mileage Plus GT H707, Kumho Touring 795 A/S, Toyo 800 Ultra, and Sumitomo HTR T4

Misc Links I found:

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr286.pdf
http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs...tance_Data.pdf
http://www.greenseal.org/resources/r...resistance.pdf
http://www.energy.ca.gov/transportat...nts/index.html (MANY documents here)
http://www.gassavers.org/showpost.ph...23&postcount=5
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/140642-post4.html

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Due to request, here is the KEY to the below so you can understand what the meanings are. I took most of my info from this link: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=46

$108 0.00650 Michelin Symmetry_P225/50___R__16_91S
--^-----^------^--------^-----^--^-^---^---^--^
-(A)---(B)----Brand----Model--(C)(d)(E)-(F)-(G)(H)

(A) Retail price (Lower is better)
This is the manufacturer's suggested retail price, you may find the price to be higher or lower depending on dealer and general costs. In some of these I went out of my way to call a few places that sell tires and put down the average. Your milage may vary on this (YMMV).

(B) Rolling Resistance coefficient / Coefficient of rolling friction (Lower is better)
This is the RRC or Rolling Resistance coefficient also known as the coefficient of rolling friction. This is the resistance that occurs when the tire rolls on a surface. It is caused by the deformation of the tire, the deformation of the surface, or both. Additional contributing sources include surface adhesion and relative micro-sliding between the surface of contact. It depends very much on the material of the wheel or tire and the sort of ground. Additional factors include wheel radius, and forward speed.[1]

(C) Service Type / Vehicle type
Most tire sizes begin with a letter or letters that identify the type of vehicle and/or type of service for which they were designed. The common indicators are as follows:

P225/50R16 91S

P = When a tire size begins with a "P," it signifies the tire is a "P-metric" size that was designed to be fitted on vehicles that are primarily used as passenger vehicles. This includes cars, minivans, sport utility vehicles and light duty pickup trucks (typically 1/4- and 1/2-ton load capacity). The use of P-metric sizes began in the late 1970s and they are the most frequently used type of tire size today.

225/50R16 92S

If there isn't a letter preceding the three-digit numeric portion of a tire size, it signifies the tire is a "Metric" size (also called "Euro-metric" because these sizes originated in Europe). While Metric tire sizes are primarily used on European cars, they are also used on vans and sport utility vehicles. Euro-metric sizes are dimensionally equivalent to P-metric sizes, but typically differ subtly in load carrying capabilities.

T125/90D16 98M

T = If a tire size begins with a "T," it signifies the tire is a "Temporary Spare" ("space saver" or "mini spare") that was designed to be used temporarily only until a flat tire can be repaired or replaced.

LT245/75R16 108/104S

LT = If a tire size begins with "LT," it signifies the tire is a "Light Truck-metric" size that was designed to be used on vehicles that are capable of carrying heavy cargo or towing large trailers. This includes medium and heavy-duty (typically 3/4- and 1-ton load capacity) pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and full-size vans. Tires branded with the "LT" designation are the "little brothers" of 18-wheel tractor-trailer tires and are designed to provide substantial reserve capacity to accept the additional stresses of carrying heavy cargo.

7.50R16LT 112/107Q, 8.75R16.5LT 104/100Q or 31x10.50R15LT 109Q

LT = If a tire ends with "LT," it signifies the tire is either an earlier "Numeric", "Wide Base" or "Flotation" Light Truck size designed to be used on vehicles that are capable of carrying heavy cargo and towing trailers (Numeric sizes), use 16.5-inch diameter rims (Wide Base sizes) or are wider, oversized tires designed to help the vehicle drive on top of loose dirt or sandy surfaces (Flotation sizes). This includes light, medium and heavy-duty (typically 1/2-, 3/4 and 1-ton load capacity) pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Tires branded with the "LT" at the end of their size designation are also the "little brothers" of 18-wheel tractor-trailer tires and are designed to provide substantial reserve capacity to accept the additional stresses of carrying heavy cargo.

195/70R15C 104/102R

C = If a Euro-metric sized tire ends with a "C," it signifies the tire is a "Commercial" tire intended to be used on vans or delivery trucks that are capable of carrying heavy loads. In addition to being branded with the "C" in their size, these tires are also branded with their appropriate Service Description and "Load Range" (Load Range B, Load Range C or Load Range D).

ST225/75R15

ST = If a tire size begins with "ST," it signifies the tire is a "Special Trailer Service" size that was designed to only be used on boat, car or utility trailers. ST-sized tires should never be used on cars, vans or light trucks.

(D) Section Width
This three-digit numeric portion identifies the tire's "Section Width" (cross section) in millimeters.

P225/50R16 91S

The 225 indicates this tire is 225 millimeters across from the widest point of its outer sidewall to the widest point of its inner sidewall when mounted and measured on a specified width wheel. This measurement is also referred to as the tire's section width. Because many people think of measurements in inches, the 225mm can be converted to inches by dividing the section width in millimeters by 25.4 (the number of millimeters per inch).

225mm / 25.4 = 8.86"

(E) Sidewall Aspect Ratio
This two-digit number identifies the tire's profile or aspect ratio.

P225/50R16 91S

The 50 indicates that this tire size's sidewall height (from rim to tread) is 50% of its section width. The measurement is the tire's section height, and also referred to as the tire's series, profile or aspect ratio. The higher the number, the taller the sidewall; the lower the number, the lower the sidewall. We know that this tire size's section width is 225mm and that its section height is 50% of 225mm. By converting the 225mm to inches (225 / 25.4 = 8.86") and multiplying it by 50% (.50) we confirm that this tire size results in a tire section height of 4.43". If this tire were a P225/70R16 size, our calculation would confirm that the size would result in a section height of 6.20", approximately a 1.8-inch taller sidewall.

(F) Internal Construction
A letter (R in this case) that identifies the tire's internal construction.

P225/50R16, P225/50ZR16

The R in the P225/50R16 91S size identifies that the tire has a Radial construction in which the tire's body plies "radiate" out from the imaginary center of the wheel. Radial tires are by far the most popular type of tire today representing over 98% of all tires sold.

If the R in the size was replaced with a D (225/50D16), it would identify that the internal tire body plies crisscross on a Diagonal and that the tire has a "bias ply" construction. Tires using this construction are for light truck and spare tire applications.

If the R in the size was replaced with a B (225/50B16), it would identify that the tire body plies not only crisscross the tire on a diagonal as before, but that they are reinforced with belts under the tread area. This type of tire construction is called "Belted." Tires using this construction are practically extinct.

Speed Rating

Today, the only tires that continue to include the speed rating "in" the tire size (P225/50ZR16) are Z-speed rated tires. In this case, following the two digits used to identify the aspect ratio are the letters ZR to identify the tire's speed rating (Z) and its internal construction (R). Since 1991, all other speed ratings are identified in the tire's Service Description.

(G) Tire and Wheel Diameter

P225/50R16 91S

The 16 indicates the tire and wheel diameter designed to be matched together.

Tires that have a rim diameter expressed in inches (P225/50R16, as well as 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26 and 28) are called "inch rim" sizes, are the most common type of tire size and are used on most cars, minivans, vans, sport utility vehicles and light duty light trucks.

While not as common, two additional "unique" types of tire/wheel diameters are still in use today.

Tires and wheels that have a rim diameter expressed in "half" inches (8.00R16.5LT, as well as, 14.5, 15.5, 17.5 and 19.5) are used on some heavy-duty trailers, heavy-duty light trucks and box vans.

Tires and wheels that have a rim diameter expressed in millimeters (190/65R390, as well as, 365 and 415) are called millimetric sizes. Michelin initiated millimetric sizes for their TRX tires that saw limited use on many different car models in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Michelin PAX System run flat tires have been introduced as an integrated wheel/tire system on a very limited basis as Original Equipment (O.E.) in North America. An example PAX System size of 235/710R460A 104T expresses tire and wheel dimensions in millimeters (235 mm Section Width, tire Overall Diameter of 710 mm and a 460A mm rim diameter, with the "A" in 460A signifying these tires feature "asymmetric" beads in which the outside bead (450 mm) and inside bead (470 mm) are actually different diameters.

All of these "unique" tire/wheel diameters were developed specifically because the tire and wheel design or intended vehicle use required them to be different than conventional tires and wheels. All of these tires and wheels feature bead profiles that have a different shape than traditional "inch rim" sizes.

(H)Service Description

P225/50R16 91S

The 91S represents the tire's Service Description. A Service Description identifies the tire's Load Index and Speed Rating. Service Descriptions are required on all speed rated (except for Z-speed rated) tires manufactured since 1991. For more information on Service Descriptions, click here.

__________________

Last edited by blackjackel; 06-05-2008 at 06:21 AM..
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