Snow tires and MPG
 

I got a set of General snow tires, as my job will take me all over the place in this dirt-poor part of upstate NY. I'm hoping the snows will keep me safe first. Likely I'll take a MPG hit on dry roads. Hopefully in the snow it'll be better than spinning.

Besides inflating the snows to max sidewall, anything else to help with the MPG hit?

You get to spend the winter hypermiling around scenic Steuben county? Lucky you.

Besides proper tire selection, inflation pressure, weight reduction, and aiming for dry pavement, I'm not aware of anything you can do to reduce your rolling resistance.

There are low rolling resistance snow tires available. Nokian Hakkapeliitta R comes to mind.

I'm going to mount my snows AFTER the first snow accumulation this year. The first snow is always wimpy and melts quickly. I'll just drive slowly if I get caught in it.

All good tips by RobertSmalls. The only other thing I'd add to the list is a block heater, very useful in winter (and summer too).

I run snow tires on my Prius too. My wife uses it for work and drives all over the place as well. I recently picked up a new set of Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol Serie II tires for it. They are supposedly a LRR winter tire.

Hmm, the block heater would come in handy. And they're $15 or so at NAPA. That would definitely increase my mileage, as the Buick runs pig-rich when it's cold. 3 hours of running it should get the coolant temperature up to 140*F or so, based on what others on the Pontiac forums have said. Also, more grille blocking will help keep that warmth in the engine. Half the grille is blocked right now. 3/4 or more will end up blocked by winter's start.

I'll be hypermiling by driving sensibly. I do have appointments to keep, and minutes do matter for the job.

The General snow tires I bought aren't LRR. Knowing the back roads and hills here, the priorities in buying were good in snow/ice/slush first, FE second. This place is poor, and likely they've cut down on the salt used to save money.

Hmmm...

For the winter I'd agree with a block heater and unless your in the white stuff keep the tires inflated but not when they are cold once the tires heat up the air will expand. When you do hit the snow and if its heavy decrease your tire presure by 1-2lbs this will effect economy but its allot better to have grip then to have no grip and slide around. I drive in the snow belt in norther ontario trust me the small amout of gas you pay more for is better than sliding into a ditch!.

In a German ADAC test (195/65 R 15 T) , they ranked second to the Michelin Alpine A3 regarding rolling resistance - but the Pirelli is a better winter tyre overall. (See "Kraftstoffverbrauch" - lower number is better)
Wear is higher though (See "Verschleiß").


The winter tyres with the lowest LRR that are still highly recommended by ADAC.de are Vredestein Snowtrac 3 (in 175/65 R 14 T), Fulda Kristall Montero 3 (in 185/60 R 14 T) and Continental WinterContact TS830 (in 205/55 R 16 H).
These results are based on actual tests, not manufacturer's promises.

Michelin X-Ice are another low rolling resistance winter tire. And they last quite a while, too.

The last car owners manual I read said to increase the pressure of snow tires by 4-6psi for better traction and wear.
I run my X-ice tires at 50psi all winter and used my civic vx tow a trailer full of fire wood on a frozen lake and never had an issue with traction.

Same here! The X-Ice tires have awesome traction, roll very well, and they have lasted 3 seasons, with at least 1 more left in 'em.