Tire pressure and MPG

[Daryl]

Besides handling and running psi crazy low, how much do you all think psi affects mpg? The reason I ask: I was getting poorer mpg than expected. Especially with the stroker. checked psi: was at 25
Pumped them up to 36 but still waiting to go thru current tank of gas to calculate mpg difference. Meantime, just curious….

Cheers!

 

[ttocs]

I can tell you from riding bicycles that tire pressure makes a HUGE difference on how hard you pedal and the grip it gets. There is a reason why road bikers will do high pressure(to lower resistance) and us mountain bikers are playing a game of too little traction for climbing and too little air pressure = more pedaling. I can only imagine how much that effort is increased across a much wider tire as I have never pedaled anything that wide. Is the wear pattern even? 25 seems low to me I thought 35 was about the standard but I am not a tire expert.

 

[Daryl]

I can tell you from riding bicycles that tire pressure makes a HUGE difference on how hard you pedal and the grip it gets. There is a reason why road bikers will do high pressure(to lower resistance) and us mountain bikers are playing a game of too little traction for climbing and too little air pressure = more pedaling. I can only imagine how much that effort is increased across a much wider tire as I have never pedaled anything that wide. Is the wear pattern even? 25 seems low to me I thought 35 was about the standard but I am not a tire expert.

25 seemed low to me, too. I asked my co-workers at Costco (tire center lifers), they said 36. So I used the freebie air pump with digital set/display and did em up.
Wear pattern appears fine

 

[gcassidy]

Tire pressure in my Fusion Sport is 41psi, but it's a heavy beast.

 

[ttocs]

It can vary depending on what tires your running/sidewall/ect. the way I finally judged it was by the impressions left on the garage floor. When it was too low you could hear the tires squeel on the smooth/painted cement and they left the tire impression as well which to me just meant it would be good for a drag race but hard on the tires and mpg. I kept upping it 5 lbs at a time till the squeeling stopped.

 

[joemomma]

It will vary based on wheel and tire size, even on the same car. A lower profile tire will typically run a higher pressure than a fat sidewall, up to a point.

Mileage impacts will also vary, anywhere from 1-2MPG from my experience.