Every Prius comes from the factory with Low Rolling Resistance tires. They handle like crap but their job is to provide less resistance than a regular tire and in turn increase gas mileage. But what do you do when it is time to replace these tires? DO you bite the bullet and shell out a couple extra bucks for LRR Tires or do you go back to a “normal tire”?
It all started in the 1970’s when bias ply tires were the most popular kind of tires. Steel belted radial tires were the hot new thing in tire evolution. Well today we are seeing a LRR tire from just about every large tire maker.
Just stop and think about how important your tire selection is. Your life hangs in the balance of 4 little contact patches where “the rubber meets the road.” Shelling out that extra hundred for new tires is a smart move. Well why not make sure those tires are LRR Tires.
What exactly is an LRR tire? Well rolling resistance is the friction that occurs when a round object rolls on a flat surface; deformation of the object takes place which causes friction. Have you ever looked at a tire and noticed that it bulges where the rubber meets the road? This is the deformation of the tire. “LRR tires are designed to improve fuel efficiency by minimizing the energy wasted as heat as the tire rolls down the road (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-rolling_resistance_tires).” All Toyota Certified Hybrids sold today wear these LRR tires to help increase their already outstanding MPG performance by a few percent.
So when it comes time to buy new tires, remember this: tires with a good LRR rating can save upwards of $300 in gas a year! The California Energy Commission has been thinking about LRR tires at the state-wide level. “California could save approximately 300 million gallons of gasoline annually by using low-rolling resistant tires. More realistically, a campaign to encourage low-rolling resistant tires, assuming a 25 to 35 percent penetration, could reduce gasoline consumption in the state by 77 to 107 million gallons annually. As a result, California consumers could save approximately $118 million to $165 million annually (http://www.energy.ca.gov/reports/2003-01-31_600-03-001F-VOL1.PDF).” Spread this out over the entire nation or world and we have mass amounts of gas saved. This would prove to be a great benefit for our environment in many ways.
I think While proper inflation pressure is the first step toward optimum fuel economy and long tire life, rolling resistance can add or detract an additional one or two miles per gallon. Therefore, smart tire selection is among the most cost-effective means of optimizing your Toyota Suv Cars’s fuel economy because you generally don’t have to pay more to get a tire with betterrolling resistance. The reward for replacing a worn, less-optimum tire could be more than $100 in annual fuel savings.