Total lifetime cost for fuel and tires over 150,000 miles

I changed the numbers around a bit based on recent testing of the Energy Saver A/S tire. Not a whole lot changes with the higher estimated mpg from the Energy Saver A/S except it now beats the AVID Ascend in terms of the 150,000 mile lifetime cost estimate and further widened the gap between the two tires in the cost/mile estimate.

I only adjusted the mpg estimate by 1mpg for the Energy Saver A/S and in real life these numbers could be wrong for many Prius owners but it gives you a good idea of which tires are the most efficient economically. There is also the fuel savings aspect to consider. Some of us just want to use the least amount of fuel possible for environmental and social reasons. Ultimately the price of gas can change these numbers to favor the tires with the longer treadlife.

 

Oops, I forgot to add the bad news.

We know that much of the improvements in LRR technology comes from tread materials and design. If a particular tires relies predominantly on tread improvements then when the tread wears down those improvements over a non-LRR tire decrease. So by the time the tires are worn below 3/32 the mpg difference could be negligible. This basically means that mpg differences between tires is not static and is ever changing as tread wears away. Thankfully there are other improvements used in LRR tire technology so there is still an advantage to running them beyond 4/32 tread depth BUT I don't recommend running a tire much below that unless you live in the desert and never deal with water on the road.

 

I would have to find the data which I saved on my ipad but generally speaking the first 50% of tread wear is where you see the largest gains in fuel economy in any tire. After that the rate of increase in fuel economy slows down. So if we assume that 60% of the LRR benefit of a particular tire is in the tread then after approx. 50% of the tread is gone then the benefits are reduce. However, a lot of our favorite LRR tires also include LRR technology in the plys and other sidewall construction/materials as well so there should still be a benefit even after treadwear has been significantly reduced. Unfortunately most of this information comes from the trucking industry and those tires are built differently because of the practice of retreading so I cannot say for certain how this works in relation to passenger car tires. I need to dig deeper into this line of thought. I'll edit this post once I get home and can find my links.... well after I replace the hot water heater that broke last night. lol

 

My pleasure.

I don't know everything and definitely do not have all the answers but I post what I know or think I know and present the opportunity for others to correct my information or at least open it up for discussion so we all hopefully learn something.

The water heater started leaking from the bottom. It is all rusted out. The original owner had a water softener installed but took it with him when he moved. Interestingly the water heater serial number says it was built in 1996 or 1998 yet this house was built in 2006...... Hmmmm

 

I'll update this thread later tonight but for now I wanted to add a cost comparison of the Fuel Max vs. Energy Saver A/S. I'll add the Defender tire tonight.

Treadwear warranty / mpg = gallons of fuel used * gas price/gallon = money spent on fuel + price of tires / tread wear warranty = cost per mile

Let's use the Michelin Energy Saver A/S and Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max as an example:

Energy Saver A/S
65,000miles / 53.8mpg= 1208 * $3.6/ga = $4,349 + $432 / 65,000miles = $.0735/mile

Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max
65,000miles / 51.6mpg= 1259 * $3.6/ga = $4,534 + $396 / 65,000miles = $.0758/mile