Blizzak REVO 1 MPG Hit

I think the Revo1 is new this year so there probably won't be any usage history available yet.

I bought a set since the guy at Tire Rack said they were good on ice and packed snow which are the conditions I most encounter.

 

I'm putting on Revos this week, and will be happy to report on the next couple of tanks. However, my mileage is starting to drop anyway with the cold weather, so I'm not sure I'll be able to identify any drop caused by the snow tires.

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I just got my Revos today , mounted on the snow wheels. But I'll wait until snow flies before switching the summer tires off and putting the Revos on .

 

Baxsie, where did you buy them?

 

Just the dumb old "Firestone/MasterCare" tire shop that I go to because it is close to work and they have lifetime alignments.

I also checked at Sears at out local mall.

This was good: The Firestone shop had a "buy 3, get the 4th free", but their "out the door" price was still a couple bucks higher than Sears even though there was a $99 credit for one tire . Oh well, they are close and they have yet to fubar on me after several years

I had to order at Firestone, and would have had to order at Sears too.

 

Tires Plus has 'em, too. Their initial quote was $120 higher than ordering from TireRack.com (including inexpensive alloy wheels), but they ended up matching TR's price for me, after some discussion. I still haven't gotten around to picking them up.

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I'll be receiving mine tomorrow, but I'm not putting them on until it gets colder here and we start seeing some snow. I want them to last a few seasons if possible!

I've actually noticed an increase in mileage with the cold. I guess not needing AC or Heat makes a big difference

 

Pics of my Revos here:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=12630

 

I've never noticed any difference in city driving, running "all-season" or winter tires.

On the highway, I noticed a slight difference. My winter tires last year didn't arrive until December, so I was already driving on snow/ice with my Michelin Harmony tires.

In the same ambient temps (About -20 C) on the same road at 100 km/h, the Dunlop Graspic DS-2 gave me about 5.3 l/100km, compared to the Harmony that would give 5.0/5.1 l/100km. About a 3 MPG Imperial gallon loss.

I put on my Yokohama Ice Guard 10 tires before leaving on a business trip last week. In temps of +8 C, on the same highway at 100 km/h, the car used 5 l/100km instead of 4.8 with the Harmony. About a 3 MPG Imperial gallon hit.

As the Doc said, you really shouldn't be worried about the minor loss in MPG running dedicated winter tires. If you need the traction due to adverse road conditions, the improved traction is much more important.

 

My mileage has been dropping like a stone with cold weather hitting MN. I've averaged 44 in the last few tanks, even with a relatively warm late Oct./early Nov., compared to 50 or so in the fall.

I put on my Revos on the car on Monday, because we were possibly going to get a big snow tues/wed...it didn't happen, but got very cold and windy. I can't say much about the performance of the Revos yet. They are a little noisier and squshier-riding than the OEM tires, but not bad. Perhaps the noise will settle a little once the nibs are worn off.

My mileage has dropped to 37 on this tank, but I think that's more the very cold weather, and lack of freeway trips on this tank, than the Revos.

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I put on REVO 1 tires 3 weeks ago. Since then my mpg has plummeted at least 10mpg. The temp. here has been the same for about 6 weeks, so I have to attribute it to the tires. What inflation is recommended? The garage put in the amt. it says. Should I stick with that?

 

New tires will always have a break-in period, so hopefully that 10mpg hit will come down after you've put a few more miles on the tires..

In terms of air pressure, remember that it's typically recommended to increase tire pressure by 1-2 psi for every 10 degree decrease in temperature.. As well, while I don't know about the Revos, on some winter tires, the max pressure rating is also much higher and therefore the load zone is also different - for example, my "summer" Hydroedge tires are rated to carry their maximum 1100-and-something pounds/tire at 44 psi, but the winter "X-Ice" carry that 1100-and-something pounds at 51 psi, so if you take a straight linear interpolation, you'd expect that to get the tires into the same load zone, instead of the factory-specified 35 psi, you'd have to start off at 40 psi with the winter tires..

I'm running 47/45 psi in the X-Ice right now, and they are actually quieter and smoother than the Hydroedge at 42/40, and since I went with a "minus-sizing" for winter, due to the lower rolling resistance of the narrower tires, my MPG has actually improved a bit- still nowhere near summer mileage, but it has definitely made up for a bit of the loss from the cold weather and winter gas formulation..

 

I agree, the colder temps and perhaps "winter blend" gas is causing the fuel economy loss, not the tires. At least not that much.

Last year I kept the Harmony tires on until December, so I had a chance to immediately compare the fuel economy with the Graspic winter tires: no difference in city driving, about a 2-3 MPG loss on the highway.

Some winter tires have their rated load capacity at a much lower pressure. My Yokohama Ice Guard tires meet their rating - about 150 lbs more than the Harmony - at 35 psi max pressure.

 

I installed REVO1s on 21 Nov (2 weeks ago) and used the same pressure as I was using with the stock tires (42 front, 40 rear). They are on Corolla wheels with Corolla "spoke" style hubcaps (both purchased from Steelcase Tires N Mags in Toronto). Since then I've put on 1220 km (approx 750 miles).

Fuel consumption seems to be more dependent on temperature than the tire type for me. For my first tank on the REVO1's I actually got better mileage than the week before, but it was warmer than the week before had been. For the 2nd tank I got the same as the last week on regular tires (and both those weeks were cold).

The tires have not yet worn down to the multicell compound. According to the REVO1 press release: "A cross-riblet surface provides ice traction for a new tire until the Tube Multicell compound is exposed."

As others have pointed out, it is essential to check the pressure when the tires are at their coldest.