Quote:
Originally Posted by Ni87
I've been readin a lot of the tire forums and there seems to be a lot of controversy with not a lot of conclusions so I thought to make a new thread. And I'm about to buy a set of tires for my 🇨🇦 1998 civic si 🇨🇦 . I have a pretty good baseline mpg since I have a route that I drive on the regular. My record is 47mpg U.S. With an average of 43 mpg. And that's running stock size 185-55-r14.
Now I've just bought a set of 16" wheels and I've narrowed my decision on tires to three sizes. I'll put the stock size first for comparison.
185/65r14 85h 23.5" tall 4.7" sidewall
195/50r16 84v 23.7" tall 3.8" sidewall
185/55r16 83h 24.1" tall 4.0" sidewall
195/55r16 87v 24.4" tall 4.2" sidewall
My idea is to buy the 195-55r16 since it has the highest load index and tallest tire for better gear reduction. And it's slightly wider for lower rolling resistance (from what I've read)
Now out of what I've read with tire width some argue that the wider the tire the more areodybamic drag and then some say that the wider tire gives a better rolling resistance which overcomes the drag. I believe that capriracer said that. I am just wondering what people's experience has been with buying different tires.
Another thing I've been contemplating is going with a sport tire. My thought behind the sport tires is they have a stiffer tire construction so wouldn't that give a lower rolling resistance? If anybody has tried this please post about. I'd be interested to read about it. And I'll also update on how the tires go once I finally pick and buy a set.
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Size? You're on the right track.
Width? Same.
Sporty? Wrong. Sporty tires generally have high grip tread compounds = high RR!
If fuel economy is your goal, then the best approach is to choose the make and model tire first, and see what sizes they come in. Best guess is the 14" will have the best RR values.
But don't forget that low RR is obtained by sacrificing wear and/or grip. So if overall cost reduction is your goal, it might be better to go for a good wearing tire labeled LRR.