2016 AC I4 SR review

You will be fine on P rated tires. I run LT tires in Summer to avoid cutting down a tire on the gravel roads I find myself using during fishing and hunting season. They do lend to a rougher ride and have to be aired up to between 40-50 lbs to avoid sucking down my MPGs. I'll likely go back to P rated when the current set wears down; I find I ride with my buddy in his Dodge 3500 dually more often than not on those trips any more.

 

That is a very big difference. I have read that adding 1 lb unsprung weight is like adding 10 lbs of regular vehicle weight. So if you are adding 8 lbs unsprung weight per tire, that is 32 lbs total unsprung weight, or the equivalent to adding 320 lbs to your vehicle.

 

Could be.

The difference of my tire and yours maybe only a pound. So I'll be curious to see your results.

 

I couldn't agree more!

 

Tire weight is not as important as tread pattern/rolling resistance when it comes to fuel economy. It makes a much bigger difference in handling, especially at high speed, which doesn't matter on a truck.

Here is a test http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=108

In summary they compare a light tire/wheel combo of 38.5lbs to the same tire/tread pattern with a heaver wheel with a total of 48.5lbs. They did some 350 mile road course, I don't know the details. Fuel economy dropped from 21.5 to 21.1. So they added 10 lbs and experienced a 2-3% loss. This was a single test so take that for what it's worth.

Assuming the single test result has any validity, switching from the stock LRR original equipment tires (combo weight 42.5lbs) to the lighter combo (38.5lbs) with a different tread pattern dropped from 22.8 to 21.5mpg, ~6%. The lighter tire combo had worse fuel economy.
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BMW 3 Series equipped with Original Equipment (16") Stock 38.7mph (avg) 22.8mpg
BMW 3 Series equipped with Plus One (17") Lightweight 39.0mph (avg) 21.5mpg
BMW 3 Series equipped with Plus One (17") Heavyweight 38.8mph (avg) 21.1mpg

 

Eh. I would pay more attention to a test specifically to a 2.7 Tacoma.

 

Good info for BMW 3 series owners though.

 

I'll bite anyway in case anyone is genuinely confused. Trying to estimate fuel economy losses based on weight differences of tires with different tread patterns is a bad plan. In the experiment in that article, changing the tread pattern made a much bigger difference than the weight of the tires. You can use a lighter tire with a different tread pattern and still drop MPGs. This is independent of vehicle type or engine.

 

Sure. No doubting that.

I meant more that I don't really care how tread type effects a BMW 3 series. I know that tread matters which is why I say I went from a 245/75 highway tire to a mild all terrain 265/75, but as far as how much the difference makes in numbers and percentages it doesn't really mean anything.

The 2.7 chokes a lot easier than a 3 series. I would be curious to see how it would fare, judging by my result, and the result of others who are running a 265/75 very mild all terrain/highway tire like a Michelin LTX, they're not getting much less of a hit than I am. So a change in thread pattern is less of a problem in comparison, and weight is more of a problem.

 

Here's another picture of the base SR:

 

Text the number for details.

 

I bet it would look pretty sweet with the black alloys option.

 

It was a 4x4 and was posted on cars.com but with no pricing.

http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/647542377/overview/#0

 

It looks great in MGM.

 

They brought back ECT power? I didn't know that until now, that should make a difference as well. I love that feature in my first gen, very handy for passing and towing trailers.

 

It looks good without flares. The photos don't do it justice, you have to see it in person. Also the factory wheel offset looks better without flares.

 

With that said I'm guessing skinnier tires would look better without the flares. Maybe some 265/70/16s.

 

Not getting the black alloys?

 

Same exact wheels I have on my 06 Prerunner minus the 2 center caps that fell off... kind of disappointing. When you claim everything is brand new except maybe a seatbelt bracket, don't put the same old wheels from 10 years ago on there.

 

You think they should update cheap, bottom of the barrel steel wheels?