I have a 2002 Mazda Protoge. Car has 140,000 miles. It's been great except I recently bought 4 new tires and now suddenly my gas mileage went from 31-32mpg to 28mpg. I checked the tires for proper inflation and they were fine. The car handles better with the new tires but the drop is gas mileage is really bothering me. Any idea why this might be happening?
Different tires have different roll resistance measurements. The higher the resistance, the harder your engine has to work to rotate the wheels.
Tire economy ratings have a HUGE effect on fuel economy, especially at high speeds.
What tires did you have? What tires do you have now?
Here’s the research into the topic:
Evaluating contrasting sets of F and B rated tyres (175/70 R14) on the road, the Emission Analytics test route incorporated a range of steady-state speeds from 40mph to 70mph on normal road surfaces in consistent ambient temperatures. The tests employed the same test vehicle with the same driver.
Overall, the B rated tyre delivered superior performance in the 40-70 mph range, by an average of 3.8% mpg and 3.4% less CO2. There proved little difference at mid-range speeds, but a performance gap became evident at 55mph, and by 70mph fuel economy has improved by a substantial 12.9%.
Source: fleet news.
Personally I always get Falken Ziex ZE310 EcoRun for my cars.
They’re not expensive at all and most sizes are rated A for efficient and grip.
(if your size is not A in both, look for a different one)
They handle great and my previous pair was still in great condition after 50k miles of driving when I sold that car.
all great points by Scotty
It could be your tires. Or your gas station switched to winter blend.
It's been great except I recently bought 4 new tires and now suddenly my gas mileage went from 31-32mpg to 28mpg. I checked the tires for proper inflation and they were fine. The car handles better with the new tires but the drop is gas mileage is really bothering me.
Did you make them do the alignment? You always need to get an alignment when you buy new tires.
Why do you need alignment because you bought new tires? If the old tires have no irregular wear, no vibrations while driving and car doesn't pull left or right.. why is an alignment is required?
It's standard procedure, at least in the Midwest.
You could have also recently hit a pothole and you haven't given it enough time to start showing irregular wear.
I understand alignments are often considered a standard procedure today. Working in my dad's shop decades ago, alignments were done "when needed". So when vehicles had irregular tire wear patterns or the vehicle pulled to the right or the left then the alignment was checked. Alignments were not done simply to increase revenue, rather when it was necessary.
Tires have nothing to do with alignment, Justin. In fact the alignment machine is attached to the wheel, which completely removes the tires from the equation.
I know that. I was told any time you get new tires, to need to get an alignment as well to be safe.
I would only do it if the tires showed evidence of poor alignment. (uneven wear)
I used to be a tire technician. You only need an alignment when you get new tires if you have uneven tire wear due to mis alignment, or if your car is pulling to one side or the other