Your Tires and Saving Gas
There are a couple of ways to get the best fuel efficiency out of your tires: choose the right tires and keep your tires filled to the right level.
Choose Wisely. First things first: choose a tire that meets your needs. If you're driving through ice and snow, or it rains every day where you live, get a tire that works well in those conditions. It's not worth spinning out on an icy bridge or sliding through a stop sign into a busy intersection to save a few bucks on gas.
However, if you have more than one type of tire to choose from that meets your needs, pick the one with the lowest rolling resistance. Rolling resistance measures how easy the tire rolls on the road. I think. Anyway, Consumer Reports found "a 1- to 2-mpg difference in rolling resistance between the best and worst replacement tires" according to their July 2008 issue. Now you know.
Fill 'er Up. Having your tires under-inflated does wonders for grabbing the road, I'm told. However, if you don't have to race in the Indy 500 anytime soon, fill them up to the vehicle manufacturer's recommended pressure, or psi. And drive a little more carefully around those corners. You'll save gas and tire tread.
What's the right psi for your tires, you ask? You might guess that it is the maximum inflation pressure embossed on your tire's sidewalls, but you would be wrong. Instead, look for a little sign on the driver's door jamb. If it's not there, check the owner's manual for where the sign is on your car. You'll probably find that in the glove compartment. (Heck, it might even tell you the right psi without making you bend over and squint at your car in your driveway.) Then, get out the tire gauge and check the tires every month.
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