Winter tires LRR?

[hispanicpanic]

I see a lot of MPG competitions where people use some really obscure brand of winter tires (competitions are held in warm months). I havn't been able to find anything on the internet about winter tires offering low rolling resistance, but is anyone familiar with any comparisons between winter tires and tires rated for low rolling resistance?

[me and my metro]

Look on Tirerack.com, they will sort by size. Then pick extreme winter and then Eco Focus for green tires.

[Ecky]

Nokian advertises many of their winter tires to be LRR, and my experience has been that even Hakkapelitta 4's, which aren't formally rated as LRR (too old a design?) are within spitting distance of the best all seasons available for my car. They're also incredibly good snow tires.

[hispanicpanic]

So does that mean winter tires do, or do not have a better LRR than the standard advertised LRR tires that are all season/summer tires. I live in texas and it never snows or ices, so i really am just looking for something with the lowest possible LRR.

[puddleglum]

Nokian makes excellent winter tires and they claim most are LLR. My experience is they are. I noticed no improvement in mileage when I changed from Nokian WR's (all weather LLR tire) to my Bridgstone Ecopia's ( well rated LLR tire). My Hakkapellita R's are better than than the Michelin's before them in snow and ice. They give a little worse mileage, but that is mostly because they are oversize and much heavier IMO.

That said, don't even think about putting winter tires on in a hot climate. there is no benefit at all and they won't last. Find a well rated all season or summer tire.

[Ecky]

Yeah, winter tires use a rubber compound which is too soft in warm weather, you'll eat the tires off in a few thousand miles.

[freebeard]

Just A Car Guy: The magic triangle of tire technology

Based on this, look for tire with silica/silane in the rubber compound. In Texas I'd be worried about hydroplaning.


http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2017/08/prop-and-skeg-marks-on-top-of-van-only.html

[me and my metro]

That's a great picture of the van! I usually hit stumps with my prop not mini vans.

[hispanicpanic]

Originally Posted by puddleglum

Nokian makes excellent winter tires and they claim most are LLR. My experience is they are. I noticed no improvement in mileage when I changed from Nokian WR's (all weather LLR tire) to my Bridgstone Ecopia's ( well rated LLR tire). My Hakkapellita R's are better than than the Michelin's before them in snow and ice. They give a little worse mileage, but that is mostly because they are oversize and much heavier IMO.

That said, don't even think about putting winter tires on in a hot climate. there is no benefit at all and they won't last. Find a well rated all season or summer tire.

Thanks! That answers my question

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Just A Car Guy: The magic triangle of tire technology

........[/URL]

Unfortunately, the image is misleading. It implies that you can get *Green Tires* - that is, tires will Low Rolling Resistance - AND also get better grip while maintaining good wear properties.

What the image doesn't explain is that tires with simple substitution of silica/silane for carbon black are WORSE for treadwear and the rubber compound has to be readjusted to get that treadwear back - AND most importantly - that tires with excellent wear properties are NOT going to be good for RR.

PLUS the term *LRR* is a relative term. It means *better for RR compared to tires with the same grip and wear properties*. A LRR tire can have worse RR than a conventional tire because the tread compound can be reformulated to emphasize any of those particular properties (at the expense of the others!)