Do Underinflated Tires Kill Your Fuel Economy? Let's Find Out! | Ep. 1
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Published 2022-11-20
( www.allTFL.com/ ) Check out our new spot to find ALL our TFLstudios content, from news to videos and our podcasts! It's a question that's often asked: How much will deflated tires hurt your MPG. Is the difference even noticeable? Andre finds out in this real-world test!
DISCLAIMER: Regardless of the results, we obviously don't recommend deflating your tires when driving on pavement for your safety and that of other motorists. We conducted this test strictly to see how fuel economy would be affected if your tires were at a far lower than the manufacturer-recommended PSI rating.
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#ram1500 #tiretest #mpgloop
All Comments (21)
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Its not that it will cost you 9 dollars more to fill up, but that you will have to fill up 46.8 miles sooner.
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You guys should do over inflated tires also
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It would be interesting to have a temperature guage to see what the tire heat was after each run. It would be much warmer on the under inflated tires and that would lead to increased tread wear.
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That was interesting. I thought it would have made a bigger difference than 10%. Under inflated tires are costing efficiency for sure, but also they’d wear out a lot faster too.
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I love the series and reviews of basic trucks. Sure the Hummer is awesome to look at but there's zero chance of me ever buying one. This series will inform my next truck purchase
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Happy you guys are having so much success with the "Stubby" series. Here for it!
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Great test! Actually, before watching this I had actually checked my tires yesterday on all 4 of our vehicles- 2 Jeeps, a sequoia, and a crew cab Silverado, and all had gone down about 8lbs in the last 2 months because of the significant temperature drop we have seen in North Mississippi already. Nice to know the stats now 👍
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How about a comparison between running at the maximum inflation pressure on the tire versus the recommended pressure on the vehicle?
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I wish you added 1 more loop with overinflated tires, say 55-60psi. Thanks for the video!
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I think the test you should do is : one(1) loop with +5psi from sticker , and one (1) loop with -5psi from sticker. I own two(2) different Chrysler products with that 3.6, on both vehicules airing up to the prescribed psi door-jam sticker wears the tires in the middle and 'fast' , within a year the tires are done. So I run them 2psi lower in order to wear the tires evenly from one sidewall to the other.
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Deflating the tire increases rolling resistance, so it takes more fuel to turn to overcome that, resulting in less mpg. Great content!
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A more important consideration when running on underinflated tires is safety. The tires will get hotter which can lead to things like tread separation or sidewall failure. This leaves the possibility of being stranded or having an accident. The best thing, check your tire pressure regularly. You will save money and be safer.
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Should have done over inflated as well
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One psi change per 10 degrees Fahrenheit change (up and down accordingly), so check your pressures when winter sets it. And you should be checking pressures regularly anyway.
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That sounds about right. I studied this on my 100 mile commute and found you could change it 5-10%, depending how much more or less air pressure I had. Worn out tires also help, but it was 5% at best
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Not only will you get more MPG's with properly inflated tires you will also get a longer tread life out of your tires as well, a definite win win.
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I would also like to see with tires at maximum inflation pressure just to see if there is a small gain there. There should technically be a little less resistance at max inflation over standard inflation and it would be nice to see the result of that.
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Thank you for a real world test of something I have always wondered about!
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The 10%is significant enough BUT the real concern is in the safety as you mentioned. An accident can cost you a lot more than 10%.........and maybe serious injury or death.
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I think it’s important to note that 85 octane is less than the manufacturers requirement. EPA needs to mandate the minimum octane rating 87 nationwide.
