Testing MPG with 17s vs. 15s

Be sure to include long tread life into your calculations. Good mpg is helpful but a longer tread life can make up the difference. Purchase price can make a big difference too. The Toyo A20s are god awful expensive and have a low treadlife which makes them a bad choice for replacement. If you're not looking to sling the car hard around every corner and you want to maximize your mpg numbers then go with the EP422. It has a great tread wear warranty and cost is not too bad although the Michelins may be cheaper if you get the $70 rebate. I suggest performing the calculations instead of just focusing on mpg only unless you just like to see the high numbers. Once over 50mpg it takes quite a jump in mpg to make much of a difference monetarily.

 

This is the last tank on the 17s until after I give The Critic his tires back.

Driving in power and normal mode with freeway speeds at 65mph instead of 60mph I pulled 53.5mpg (indicated). I didn't change much except my freeway cruising speed and I didn't drive on the back roads as much. In general I didn't try very hard yet I still got well over 50mpg. The effort I put into this tank would have resulted in about 55-56mpg with my 15s.

In a few hours I'll meet up with The Critic to swap my 17s for his 15" Energy Saver A/S tires. It will be interesting to see what he gets with my tires. My guess is the Energy Savers will produce approx. 2mpg better than my AVID Ascend for a net gain of about 5mpg better than my 17" Primacys. What do you think?

 

Double post

 

He better take good photos! LOL

So from Woodland to Pleasanton I got 55.4mpg with the 17s while traveling between 60-65mph and trying not to get killed. These Energy Savers better wow the snot out of me or Mike won't be borrowing my 17s for long.

 

Very close!

On this same route a month ago I pulled 59.? with. New AVID Ascend tires. The trip there was 59.5mpg as well so there is not a big difference between the trip there and back.

So what did I get after we swapped tires and I got the Energy Saver A/S? How does 64.8mpg over 84.1 miles sound? Average indicated speed was 55mph. I'd post pics but the forum is being kooky on my phone and iPad.

I drove the same way simply keeping my speed as close to 60mph as possible. I used Eco Mode and no A/C. I even resisted the urge to hit a backroad so I could travel slower. I stayed on the freeway the whole time.

I think these tires are made with ground unicorn horn or something. We'll see if the amazing results continue during morning commute. The best I've done with my 15s was 50mpg and the best on the 17s was 48? but morning temps were higher with the 17s.

 

LOL

As soon as we torqued the lug nuts Mike grabbed a pressure gauge to reduce pressure in the 17s from 44/42psi. I grabbed an air pump to bring the 15s up to 42/40psi from 38/36psi. Mike likes soft tires. He just texted me about how rough my 17s are and how they are out of balance. LOL

BTW Mike, the tires didn't howl on the few corners I took but I admit I didn't push them super hard. They do feel fidgety on the highway, however. That butt wiggle thing was disconcerting. The tires roll like crazy though!

 

So this morning's commute was driven in the exact same manner I use to produce 49-50mpg with my AVIDs. Temperature was in the low 60s and traffic was light. The trip resulted in 53.4mpg over 48.4 miles!

That is approx. 3mpg better than my best with the AVID Ascend or the AVID S33D (OEM). It was approx. 5.5mpg better than my best with the 17s but I admit to only having maybe 5 trips like this on the 17s.

The only drawback is the Energy Saver A/S is not a refined feeling tire at all. It is fairly quiet but it tramlines and wiggles in a disconcerting way compared to the Ascend or the MXM4s. Cornering ability is less than the other tires as well. In general these are comfortable tires and produce amazing mpg but they are not what I would call sporty or refined. Foe hypermilers I think this is an excellent tire. If you like playing video game mode and strive to achieve a high score then the Energy Saver is for you. If you want a little more performance then go with the Ascend (15"-17")or the MXM4 (17s).

 

Here is a pic of Mike's car on my old shoes.

 

The commute to work today resulted in 53.4mpg over 48.4 miles. The commute home resulted in 80.8mpg over 47.8 miles (I took the back road for about 3 miles too avoid road construction). I may not like the handling these tires provide but god damn the mpg is good. LOL

Temps were in the low 60s in the morning and low 90s on the way home. Keep in mind I drive uphill to work and downhill to home.

 

Wick1ert, You are right. Some people may not care that they are not in any way shape or form a performance tire but they are comfortable and they offer a great value because of their longevity and ludacris mpg! So while the 17s don't hurt mpg much compared to the OEM 15" tires, the gap widens considerably when you compare them to something like the Energy Saver A/S.

Sagebrush, we are working with the Michelin Primacy MXM4 (V) 215/45/17 and the Michelin Energy Saver A/S (195/65/15).