Alignment vs mpg

[Meph]

Ive always had a pull in my car to the right, not super bad (would take about4 seconds to steer off the road at highway speed)but definitely noticeable. Has anyone checked their MPG before and after a good alignment?

[Will]

My alignment was way off, but getting it re-aligned did not make a difference in FE. One reason could be the fact that my camber was also bad and the front tires were riding on the inner edges making a smaller contact patch with the road.

[Roman]

Here in the Netherlands all cars have by default a pull to the right. That's because when you're driving and go knockout the car will slowly go to re rights and leave the road. But 4 sec is indeed a bit to much.

[Tony Raine]

how is your tread wear? if your tires are wearing pretty even in the front, then i don't see it making much of a difference. if your front tires are "cupping" (especially the right-front), then they are dragging to one side when the steering wheel is straight. i can see this hurting mpg if its bad enough.

[dcb]

The farther away from 0 degrees toe in you get, the more your tires are scrubbing (and the more force it takes to move the car).

Right at 0 can translate to a bit of toe out, and any amount of toe out means it will be work just to keep the car on the road

[Meph]

Tires wear pretty bad on the inside after a few thousands km's far more then normal. Thanks for the inputs, ill post my change in mpg after I got an alignment done

[johnmyster]

Radial tires are wound in such a way that they creep to the right by default. Woulen't want them going to the left now would we? Roads are also crowned to help with drainage - and suspensions (depending on the caster) can be sensitive to side-slope.

[metromizer]

I had a right front wheel bearing problem with my Celica, that caused the car to pull right, and the alignment to be out enough to see odd tire wear (prematurely wearing of the inside edge)... after I fixed it, FE got better by about 2-3 mpg.

My thinking is this: If there's worse than normal tire wear, you are scrubbing the tire(s) and therefore wasting energy.

[Johnny Mullet]

Alignment can effect fuel economy due to the "scrub" effect from improperly aligned tires.

[wagonman76]

Originally Posted by johnmyster

Radial tires are wound in such a way that they creep to the right by default.

How can this be? Youve got both sides of the car, and also youve got the choice to have them mounted whitewall in or out. Only a handful of tires are directional tires.