Efficiency from tire changes

[ceric930]

I recently changed my tires from OEM Goodyear to Michelin Primacy MXM4 that used to be the OEM tires too. I have 19 inch wheels. After the change, I noticed a drop in efficiency.

There are lots of other variables that I cannot go back and test so I am trying to understand if anyone else notice the same efficiency drop between the two different tires.

 

[Haxster]

It may not be the brand, but the tread depth.
Per Tire Rack article:
New, Full-Treaded Tires Generate More Rolling Resistance Than Shallow-Treaded, Worn Tires
www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=177

 

[BerTX]

I recently changed my tires from OEM Goodyear to Michelin Primacy MXM4 that used to be the OEM tires too. I have 19 inch wheels. After the change, I noticed a drop in efficiency.

There are lots of other variables that I cannot go back and test so I am trying to understand if anyone else notice the same efficiency drop between the two different tires.

New tires have more rolling resistance than "broken in" tires. You also are seeing the effects of colder weather, quite likely, so it is difficult to compare range between the old tires and new.

I'm in the same boat, just changed from worn Goodyear Eagle Touring to Michelin MXV4 (not MXM4) and the range hit looks horrible right now. Sure hoping it improves. Ironically I bought the Michelins hoping for them to last longer, and now I'm kinda hoping they wear out sooner so I can get some range back!

 

[FlyingCookie]

New tires have more rolling resistance than "broken in" tires. You also are seeing the effects of colder weather, quite likely, so it is difficult to compare range between the old tires and new.

I'm in the same boat, just changed from worn Goodyear Eagle Touring to Michelin MXV4 (not MXM4) and the range hit looks horrible right now. Sure hoping it improves. Ironically I bought the Michelins hoping for them to last longer, and now I'm kinda hoping they wear out sooner so I can get some range back!

I'm in the same boat with my Pirelli Centurato P7's... But it also got cold right when I changed tires, so I don't know what actually hurt range.

 

[ceric930]

New tires have more rolling resistance than "broken in" tires. You also are seeing the effects of colder weather, quite likely, so it is difficult to compare range between the old tires and new.

I'm in the same boat, just changed from worn Goodyear Eagle Touring to Michelin MXV4 (not MXM4) and the range hit looks horrible right now. Sure hoping it improves. Ironically I bought the Michelins hoping for them to last longer, and now I'm kinda hoping they wear out sooner so I can get some range back!

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping the same range and noise improvement when I chose Michelin. I guess now I know why it may not be the case even though it is hard to pin down the exact contributor(s).

 

[Snerruc]

Tire Rack has run tests on tire energy efficiency. You can find them on their site. Differences weren’t great.

 

[BerTX]

Tire Rack has run tests on tire energy efficiency. You can find them on their site. Differences weren’t great.

That's about the only place you will find the information, if somebody does independent testing. Unfortunately tires can completely change composition and construction and still have the same name. Also, by the time the testing is done, the manufacturer has changed to a new name for the tire, so it is all meaningless.

You'd also have to look carefully at the testing procedure. It's pretty well established that new tires have higher rolling resistance. Did the people doing the testing run the tires for 1000+ miles before testing? Probably not.

 

[gsteele]

Same thing here, went from MXM4s with 31000 miles on them to new MXV4s and took about a 20% range hit the first week. Now after about 500 miles things are looking a little better (only 10% off). I also think I was running the old set close to max pressure (51 psi) and the new set is at 45. Think I'm going to add a little more air and see if that helps.

 

[ceric930]

Same thing here, went from MXM4s with 31000 miles on them to new MXV4s and took about a 20% range hit the first week. Now after about 500 miles things are looking a little better (only 10% off). I also think I was running the old set close to max pressure (51 psi) and the new set is at 45. Think I'm going to add a little more air and see if that helps.

I just realized the same last night. My old set was running on 47 PSI last time after I went to the tire shop to patch one of them about a month ago. They purposely inflated a bit higher as we were anticipating cold weather coming. After the replacement this time, the tire shop inflated the new set to 45 PSI on a relatively warm day. so it was really 42 PSI yesterday when I started the car.

I added some air to get to 47 PSI and saw ~10% improvement in consumption. still ~10% worse than the old set but getting close. When weather becomes a bit warm they could be really close.