Many things can mess with the working fuel consumption of a vehicle. Most motorists are unaware of how a vehicle works and usually attribute higher fuel consumption to a problem in the engine or the transmission. What they miss out on is that that smaller and rather unrelated things like tyres can also affect the fuel economy of a car.
Maintaining good tyre health is important to ensure a smooth a comfortable ride quality, yes. But tyres can also affect the fuel economy and running costs of a vehicle. Let us look at how this happens.
To start, remember tyres should be changed after 5 years or 50-60,000 miles. Purchasing new tyres from big brands can burn a big hole in your pocket. If you want to avoid this and are looking for the Cheapest Tyres Coventry, visit wheels UK. They are the most well known and reputed providers of good quality and low-cost tyres in Coventry. Now let us look at other aspects of tyres that can affect your car’s fuel economy.
Tyre Pressure
Maintaining optimum tyre pressure in vehicles is beneficial and ensures good health of tyres. But what most people do not understand or rather ignore is that the air pressure is also essential in maintaining an optimum frictional force between the vehicle and the road’s surface, and can affect the vehicle’s fuel consumption.
Under-inflated tyres are unable to maintain their preferred shape. They become flat against the road, increasing their surface area that is in contact with the surface of the road. This increases friction, which in turn increases the fuel consumed in moving the vehicle. And by extension, reduce the vehicle’s mileage. Therefore optimum air pressure should be maintained in tyres to improve fuel economy.
Tyre Size
Smaller is better, this statement holds for fuel consumption. With smaller tyre size the effort to move them from a stationary position due to their lower weight is less. This reduces the pressure on the engine, and thus improves the fuel economy. This is why most modern city cars come with smaller wheel and tyre sizes. They concentrate more on fuel economy than performance, therefore, there is no need for big bulky tyres.
Tread Depth
Tread on tyres are the grooves along and across their diameter. These tread grooves improve the tyres ability to grip the road better and displace water during wet conditions. However, with deeper grooves, the grip of tyres on the road can increase manifold and thus increase the load on the engine. This then increases the fuel consumption and hampers the fuel economy. Only manufacturer-recommended tyres should be used to relieve excess pressure on the engine.
Type of Tyres and Wheels Supporting Them.
Simple physics, bigger the surface area, bigger the force required to complete one rotation.
Bigger tyres being used on big wheels, therefore, are never a good idea. They increase the weight of the wheels and hamper the fuel economy. Similar is the case with the type of wheels being used. Alloy wheels due to their lightweight nature are better when compared to steel wheels in terms of improving fuel economy. As they do not increase the overall weight.
With the increasing need to bring down emissions from vehicles and to improve their fuel economy, every individual motorist should play their part. Steps such as maintaining optimum air pressure in tyres, using manufacturer-recommended tyres and fitting low-tread depth tyres can go a long way towards improving the fuel economy. With lower fuel consumption, there will be lesser emissions, and with lower emissions, the chances of a sustainable future become brighter.
So always ensure that you get only the right tyres fitted to your vehicle. For the manufacturer-recommended cheapest tyres Coventry, visit Wheels UK. They have an extensive inventory of high-quality tyres along with tyre-fitting services on offer.