Do Tires Affect Gas Mileage? 4 Major Factors!

Tires are a major component of any automobile, and their effects on your car’s fuel economy can be significant. Do tires affect gas mileage? The answer is yes, and in this post, you will learn the effect that it has on your car’s fuel efficiency.

It is not just your tires with a low tread that can affect the fuel efficiency of your car; the air pressure, tread patterns, size, and performance all play their part.

Do tires affect gas mileage?

The answer is YES and it really affects MPG by the following factors Tire performance, tire air pressure, tire treads, and tire sizes.

#1 Tire performance

The performance of a tire is measured in terms of miles per gallon (mpg) that the tire delivers. The better the performance, the more miles you’ll get out of every gallon you put into your tank. Regular tires will provide a mpg rating between 12 and 20 while driving on tires that are higher performance can help you save gas as they have an mpg rating of 26 or higher.

In other words, if you are on regular low-performance tires, then you are losing gas mileage. Keep in mind that this works the opposite way too; so if you can improve your car’s fuel efficiency by putting higher performance tires, then your car will save even more fuel.

#2 Air pressure in tires

Another factor that affects fuel economy is the air pressure in the tires. When you have a car with high performance tires, then the air pressure will be lower than when driving on regular tires. Low air pressure can decrease your car’s fuel efficiency as it creates more resistance force. For example, if the air pressure in a higher performance tire is only 25 psi instead of 30 psi, then your fuel efficiency will be lowered by 20 percent.

#3 Tire tread

Tire tread is another factor that can influence gas mileage. The tread pattern determines how efficiently the tire takes in air and the energy that is put into it to propel your car forward. For example, if you are driving on sticky tires, then the tread will deform when you apply a certain amount of force to the tires. Your car will not transfer any more power to it since there is no more friction between your tires and the road. The efficiency of your tires can also be improved by switching to a different design such as a slotted tread pattern or siping. Tire tread is an important factor to keep in mind for more reasons than just gas mileage too. The tire tread has a noticeable impact on how quiet your tires are while driving at speed. The more aggressive the tire tread pattern the louder the tires will be on the highway.

#4 Tire sizes

The size of the tires is another factor that is worth mentioning. Larger tires consume more fuel than small ones. This is because you have to push more air out of the way when driving a large car than a small one.

Conclusion

Do tires affect gas mileage? You bet they do. As they say, ‘every little bit counts’ and this applies very well to your car’s fuel efficiency. The above-mentioned factors can have a significant effect on your fuel efficiency, so it is worth performing routine maintenance on them in order to improve your mpg.