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Do/can directional tires hurt MPG?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by That_Prius_Car, Nov 15, 2014.

  1. That_Prius_Car

    That_Prius_Car Austin Kinser

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    Hey everyone! I tried looking for a thread that talked about directional tires and MPG, but had no luck. So forgive me if this has been talked about. On my 2006 Prius, it was bought last July with 44,000 miles and the dealership put new Nexen CP 641 tires on the car (I've never even heard of Nexen), and they are the loudest tires! Not only are they loud, the are the roughest! I can feel every single crack and bump in the road! I took the car back to the dealer a week after I bought it because I thought the wheel bearing's were going bad. They're also directional tires too, which is stated on the tire itself. The service man said it was just the tires that were loud, but my main question is, how much can these non-LRR, DIRECTIONAL tires be affecting my MPG? I know there's a loss from them being non-LRR, but is there an extra loss for them being directional also? Thanks!
     
    #1 That_Prius_Car, Nov 15, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2014
  2. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    Tire being directional doesn’t make any difference to its rolling resistance. Every tire just has its rolling own rolling resistance. You can make rolling resistance smaller by using more pressure in it but don’t use too much. Only difference tire being directional makes is that you can only rotate them from front to back (tire is always at the same side of the car).
     
    #2 valde3, Nov 15, 2014
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  3. That_Prius_Car

    That_Prius_Car Austin Kinser

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    Thank you for your input. I wasn't sure. I'm well versed on tires, but not that well. I assumed that from the directional aspect, that they must of had more resistance against the road versus a standard tire. I'm looking into some Ecopia's to put on within the month. I have Ecopia's on my Insight and they've done really well. Super quiet, smooth, and efficient. And they do an adequate job in the winter here in West Virginia.
     
    #3 That_Prius_Car, Nov 15, 2014
  4. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    Many directional do have higher rolling resistance than average non-directional but it doesn’t have to be. They are that way because they are designed to have better crib and/or more resistance against hydroplaning (or something else). Actually directional tire can have smaller rolling resistance if they are otherwise the same and thread has to be designed to have same resistance against hydroplaning.
     
    #4 valde3, Nov 15, 2014
  5. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    When I Bought My 2005 in may it had new nexen tires on them, not sure if it's the same nexen you have because mine were quiet, handled well, and never showed tred wear. But I hated them! They really pulled down my mpg on my prius, I new something was up because my sister also has a 2005 prius but she had ecopias. Her prius could avrage over 50 mpg if you drove it right, mine couldn't... I was depressed! So I bought two new ecopias, and took the two best ecopias from my sisters car, and gave her the damn nexen tires because she had two very warn tires. So now I have 4 ecopias and I love em!

    About 4-5 mpg difference! Last tank I got 51.8 mpg. @233 xxx miles
     
    #5 Aaron Vitolins, Nov 15, 2014
  6. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    When I Bought My 2005 in may it had new nexen tires on them, not sure if it's the same nexen you have because mine were quiet, handled well, and never showed tred wear. But I hated them! They really pulled down my mpg on my prius, I new something was up because my sister also has a 2005 prius but she had ecopias. Her prius could avrage over 50 mpg if you drove it right, mine couldn't... I was depressed! So I bought two new ecopias, and took the two best ecopias from my sisters car, and gave her the damn nexen tires because she had two very warn tires. So now I have 4 ecopias and I love em!

    About 4-5 mpg difference! Last tank I got 51.8 mpg. @235 xxx miles
     
    #6 Aaron Vitolins, Nov 15, 2014
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  7. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Now the sisters prius has great rubber with "bad" mpg, about 40, that's mostly freeway though
     
    #7 Aaron Vitolins, Nov 15, 2014
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