Tire Weight vs Rolling Resistance

[Boodro1]

I'm in the process to researching new tires for my truck. 2019 F150 fx4, 95% pavement, and about 60 highway miles per day. Currently have Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus XL's. They've been good but are getting loud and uncomfortable, so looking to go with a milder on-road all terrain tire. On my radar are the Continental TerrainContact AT2, and the BFG Trail Terrain T/A+. The Continental lists higher rolling resistance and lighter weight, while the BFG lists lower rolling resistance and higher weight by a few pounds.

My question is, what will have a more significant impact on fuel mileage, performance / feel, etc.. rolling resistance or weight?

I don't have much experience with different tire weights nor am I very familiar with the impact of rolling resistance differences. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

 

[JoelB]

I think it's unlikely 2 tires of the same size and classification will result in any attributable MPG changes.

 

[kschachn]

@CapriRacer

 

[barryh]

My question is, what will have a more significant impact on fuel mileage, performance / feel, etc.. rolling resistance or weight?

.
Rolling resistance will likely make the most impact. A few lbs extra tyre weight will make some small difference to acceleration and therefore fuel use but it's hardly going to be measurable.

Do you know what the difference in rolling resistance is either in grades or in rolling resistance coefficient. I have a table that shows the average difference in fuel use for each by grade but that's for European tyres. There must be something similar available for US tires

 

[FZ1]

I'm in the process to researching new tires for my truck. 2019 F150 fx4, 95% pavement, and about 60 highway miles per day. Currently have Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus XL's. They've been good but are getting loud and uncomfortable, so looking to go with a milder on-road all terrain tire. On my radar are the Continental TerrainContact AT2, and the BFG Trail Terrain T/A+. The Continental lists higher rolling resistance and lighter weight, while the BFG lists lower rolling resistance and higher weight by a few pounds.

My question is, what will have a more significant impact on fuel mileage, performance / feel, etc.. rolling resistance or weight?

I don't have much experience with different tire weights nor am I very familiar with the impact of rolling resistance differences. Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Researching? Then research LRR and Tire Weight, specifically on tires in which You're interested. Tire weight makes more MPG reduction on the Highway than around town. Get the most hiway friendly tire design for best mileage. Etc.,Etc.,Etc. .02

 

[CapriRacer]

Allow to answer barryh's question first: There are no statistics available on tire rolling resistance in the US. California is considering some, but that's at least a year and a half away.

Within comparable All Terrain tires, like this, I don't think there will be enough difference in fuel economy to matter.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Weight of both tires? How much is "a few lbs"

I know in the off road world when guys go from P to LT and about 15lbs more they would loose a ton of MPG.

3 or 4 lbs probably not much?

 

[bdc101]

I have literally never met a truck owner who cared to log their mileage or even put two seconds of thought into it, so I haven't seen any trustworthy data on the subject. Not like your average Prius owner who will keep a detailed gas log and write down how many minutes they used their A/C on every tank. (Which is a bummer because truck owners are the ones who would benefit from gas logging far more than any prius owner, simply because they typically use several times more gas as the average Prius owner)

My personal conclusion from almost 20 years of gas mileage logging (albeit not being a truck owner myself) is that there is no measurable difference in gas mileage when switching from a heavier tire to a lighter tire. I have also never been able to measure a difference between an LRR tire and a normal tire. Take all this with a grain of salt because it's just the limited data set I have been able to collect with my personal cars. I also don't drive that much over the past 10 years, so I don't buy new tires as often as I used to.

Maybe this is a great opportunity for @Boodro1 to do some empirical testing and come back with a conclusion?

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I don't know if in your size but the Cooper Road+Trail AT that we put on my father-in-laws Jeep Renegade look awesome. More important they are quiet and are the nicest riding tires of the 4 sets he has had. The Pirelli Scorpion AT was the second set he owned and they did get loud and wore oddly.

Watch the Tire Rack video with them https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/taking-off-road-tires-on-road?ttid=337#video

 

[MParr]

Is LRR and AT tires even a thing? I do know that LRR passenger tires normally have less tread depth than non LRR tires.

 

[CapriRacer]

Is LRR and AT tires even a thing? I do know that LRR passenger tires normally have less tread depth than non LRR tires.

The way tire manufacturers use LRR is to indicate tires that have better rolling resistance than tires of comparable tread wear and traction. In other words, it's a relative term, not an absolute term.

In theory, LRR as a label could be applied to AT tires, but the buyers of these types of tires aren't usually interested in fuel economy.

 

[spasm3]

The way tire manufacturers use LRR is to indicate tires that have better rolling resistance than tires of comparable tread wear and traction. In other words, it's a relative term, not an absolute term.

In theory, LRR as a label could be applied to AT tires, but the buyers of these types of tires aren't usually interested in fuel economy.

And won't you take a gas mileage hit just because the tires are new?

 

[Ed_Flecko]

I recently bought a set of Vredestein Pinza AT tires for my 2019 Tacoma 4x4, and I love them! They look great and their highway manners are excellent. I had a near collision just 2 days after having them installed and their pavement grip pleasantly surprised me! They are also very quiet on the road. I don't notice any tread "growl" at all.

I see they're offering a $90 rebate for the next 2 days!

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/vredestein-pinza-at

Ed

 

[Astro14]

When I went from highway tires (Michelin LT bought at Costco) to AT tires (Nokian nAT) my MPG took a minor hit. Minor, but consistent.

If MPG is important, I would consider the a highway tire like the Michelin Defender LTX. They were remarkably good in the snow, too.

Weight, on the highway, doesn’t matter much. Around town it certainly does. On the highway, rolling resistance is king, and the highway tire is the way to go.

 

[jadmt]

I know it goes against the popular belief but I run two sets of offroad tires on the same rig depending on what I am doing. one set (tire and wheel combo) weighs 118lbs and the other 88lbs. one set is 37x12.17 and the other 255/85-17 ie 35x10 pizza cutter. both are the same brand and model ie Mickey thompson baja boss AT's. I calibrate the speedo/tripometer for each when swapping them..MPG is the same within a few 10ths for either..it is funny when going from the smaller ones to the larger ones I don't feel much of a seat of the pants difference in acceleration but going from big to small I do feel a difference when I first switch them but that fades pretty quickly and do not really notice enough of a difference to worry about. here are some photos for visuals. when the pizza cutter is on the jeep the 37's looks massive next to it. when the 37 is under the weight of the jeep and the pizza cutter unladen not so much of a difference..I run the 37's at 26-27psi and the pizza cutters at 28-30psi.