Tires, MPG & Fuel Operating Costs

Up until the huge gas cost increases, I was putting premium fuel in the tank in order to keep ethanol out of the fueling system. That practice is now over.

 

Ethanol at 10% or less is something I actually prefer to have in my vehicles? Why? Here in New England it can get pretty cold, and the ethanol keeps water out of the fuel system which in turn helps prevent fuel system icing.

 

ANOTHER tire weight and mpg thread!?!?

 

In these parts 10% is 10% regardless of useless octane additives. This thread’s about to implode.

 

uh oh, the Humans are suspicious. must act casual

 

DTE isn't based on full tank capacity. DTE is based on previous tank or tanks average MPG and gas gauge reading at a predetermined low point(usually near low fuel light) and full. If your DTE is normally 320 and MPG is 20 then stands to reason this calculation is based on 16 gallons. Keeping in mind MPGs may vary from tank to tank and gas gauges are sometimes inaccurate so DTE is a guess at best. Older Toyotas used "Cruising Range" and this seems to be a less confusing representation. I usually just do it the old fashioned way (fill up when gas gauge reads low) and ignore DTE. Much less stressful on my little brain.

 

TOYO Open Country A30 appear to be all-season tires and the TOYO Open Country H/T appear to be all-terrain tires. The strengths of all-season tires include fuel economy. The strengths of all-terrain tires include added traction off the pavement and in snow. There's little reason to run all-terrain tires if you don't drive it in dirt, sand, mud, snow, etc.

 

The OP is posting follow ups and this seems legit now but what I mentioned is an actual thing that happens on forums.
The forum I’m on most (an industry specific forum pertaining to my job) sees this exact thing all the time. The best way to tell is to copy/paste the entire post into google. 75% of the time you find the same post, literally word for word, posted on Reddit a couple years before. The bot just copies it and AI adds adds a few paragraphs and then reposts it to that forum.
The thing I’m unsure of is the point, especially on the small forum I see it on. There’s almost no way to financially gain from it so IDK.
Glad it doesn’t appear to be happening here yet.

 

strange, huh?

 

I am really glad that I purchased a little used 2008 manual beater Toyota Yaris it’s got a whopping 96 hp at peak rpms and gets almost 40 miles to the gallon. 11 gallon tank.
Perfect around town commuter. Paid $3200 with 160k miles on it. Runs like a top and is rated as Toyota’s cheapest per mile vehicle

Truck gets driven on the weekends and for what it’s for.

 

I used to have one of those in the same year/transmission! This was in my more 'obnoxious' days so it was slammed to the ground and I had the loudest exhaust- you could hear me a mile away! 96 ponies wasn't much, but with the manual I kept it screaming!

I do miss that little car with today's gas prices. Still wouldn't give up my truck for it! You have the right idea keeping it for the commute, however.

 

They are on to me…beep….bop….

 

Do you know how much it costs for an off pavement recovery of a stuck vehicle? Factor that into the equation too! More aggressive AT tires have some advantages despite poorer fuel economy. That said, if mileage is a concern there should be some math showing what we would save driving a prius.

 

@Tacoma091919, here in New England it is not at all uncommon for folks to have two, or even three sets of wheels and rubber:

1. Three-season street wheels and rubber
2. Winter street wheels and rubber
3. Off-road wheels and rubber

 

You could buy a lot of fuel and just run 3 peak ATs year round instead of multiple sets of wheels and tires, changing them etc

I'm in Chicagoland and we get a fair amount of winter snow/slop and good snow tires are an asset. The factory goodyears on my OR were not terrible, my current 265/75/16 Kenda Klevers are even better (c-load) but probably reduce my fuel economy some with rolling resistance and weight. Not as much as my cab and cap roof racks though lol.

 

I lived in Chicago for 12 years, getting by with one set is not at all difficult; try that in New England and it is a very different story. Around here you can get by with one set of all-season rubber, however, for those who like to take things to greater extremes, a set for the summer roads, a set for the winter roads, and a set for off-road. It has nothing to do with fuel and everything to do with function.

 

Absolutely. There is no one size/type tire that does it all well. Real snow tires are impressive in snow, street tires (stockish) are great for pavement and a mud terrain in the mud is going to do better. I have the same issue with my adventure motorcycle. Finding a tire that behaves and wears well on the roads while being "acceptable" in dirt, sand etc. A more aggressive tire is going to be great for the limited miles I do off road, but then they suck on road and get squirrely in corners etc.

 

Does anyone know if swapping to a 16 x 8 wheel from stock 16 x 7, will affect gas mileage?

 

The wheel width, in and of itself, will not change the fuel economy, however, assuming the same tires on either wheel, the wheel will very marginally impact fuel economy (by "marginally" I mean, unmeasurable in any environment other than a lab).

 

Same tire for now. Will probably get some A/Ts for the stock wheels for winter use. TPM sensors from Toyota are expensive though. Not sure how much the tire warning light will annoy me.