With Rising Gas Prices, Smart Drivers are Boosting Mileage by Assuring
Their Tires are Properly Inflated
Tires are the Rodney Dangerfield of the automotive world. Even though
they’re the only component of the car that actually touches
the pavement, tires don’t get no respect.
Tires influence the braking, steering, comfort, handling, fuel efficiency
and driving safety of every vehicle, but are often ignored or misunderstood
by many consumers. Tires pound over potholes, careen off curbs and
screech to a halt, but the prevailing public sentiment is, “They’re
round, black and have tread. Beyond that, who cares?”
With gas prices now hovering around the $3 level, smart drivers care.
Savvy consumers are seeking to increase fuel economy and the life
of their tires by paying more attention to those rubber objects that
are attached to their vehicle. As Dylan meant to say, “The tires,
they are a changin’.”
It’s not important that most people still aren’t aware
that today’s tires are scientific marvels, holding up under
extreme heat and freezing conditions, cruising over pavement, rocks,
dirt, water, snow, mud, gravel and all sorts of road hazards. It is
worth noting, though, that these hi-tech tires, with their advanced
tread designs, sidewalls, belts and compounds, are beginning to garner
more public attention as gas prices escalate.
According to Dan Guiney, Technical Manager for Yokohama Tire Corporation,
which manufactures everything from ultra-high performance tires for
passenger cars and SUVs to tires for buses, trucks and airplanes,
“Tires that are under-inflated by 6 to 7 psi (pounds per square
inch) increase tire rolling resistance 10% or more, increase tread
wear rates and tire fatigue.
“When a tire is under-inflated, the tire’s road contact
zone and cyclic stress level changes resulting in undesirable loss
in tire and vehicle performance.”
To prevent the above, Yokohama and the Rubber Manufacturers Association
recommend the following in maintaining proper inflation level (a vehicle’s
proper inflation level can be found either on the door or on a placard
in the glove box) and in checking tire wear:
- Check tire inflation pressure (including the spare) at least once
a month and before every long trip. Tires must be checked when they
are cold; that is, before they been run a mile. If you must drive
over one mile for air, before you leave home, measure the cold inflation
pressure of each tire and record the actual under-inflation amount
for each tire.
- Upon arriving at the service station, measure the inflation pressure
of each tire again, then inflate the warm tire(s) to a level equal
to the warm pressure plus the under-inflated amount you measured when
the tire was cold. If the cold tire inflation pressure matches the
placard recommendation, then no further adjustment is necessary.
- Tires should be rotated at least as stated in the owner’s manual
every 6,000-8000 miles and the alignment should be checked once a
year. Misaligned tires can cause the car to drag, which lowers mileage
and causes unnecessary tire wear.
- At least once a month, the car owner should inspect the tires closely
for signs of uneven wear. Uneven wear patterns may be caused by improper
inflation pressures, misalignment, improper balance or suspension
neglect. If not corrected, further tire damage will occur. Most likely,
the cause can be corrected at a tire dealer/seller or other service
facility.
- Consumers can go to (http://www.yokohamatire.com/csunderstand.asp)
for additional tire care and safety tips.
The Auto Club reports that as many as 86 percent of drivers don’t
check their tire inflation properly. However, this percentage is starting
dropping as gas prices under-inflate consumer pocketbooks and former
tire novices learn how to maintain proper pressure levels.
“Even though tire technology has advanced as much in the past
decade as almost any other facet of automotive engineering, only discerning
consumers will ever care about high-tech matters such as adaptive
sipes and new tread compounding featuring silica used in Yokohama’s
Avid TRZ tires,” says Guiney. “However, with escalating
fuel prices, the time is fast approaching when drivers are going to
focus on simple things like proper tire pressure to maximize tire
performance, increase fuel economy boost treadwear.”
