Max Gas Mileage Tire for Mavericks

[zen_]

I think everyone is way over thinking this. The vast majority of people buy a tire based on the upfront cost.

I'm sure most people do, and tend to pick a trusted name like Michelin, or just go for whatever the cheapest one is, but discerning vehicle owners don't.

The WeatherReady tires I had were the real deal, and were actually pretty close to snow tires in the snow, but the added fuel consumption was costly. IIRC it was something like a 42 average to 37, which is 40 gallons of fuel @ 12,000 miles a year. We don't get enough snow in Nebraska to justify the extra fuel cost, increased noise, and faster tire wear I found, for a driver like myself that can usually stay home when the weather is terrible.

A higher end tire that has good rolling resistance and longer tread wear will probably pay for itself, and more in cost per mile, and the other benefits.

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[SuperK401]

Maybe it’s just me and my situation but I’ve never liked Michelin tires. They were too soft, and they seem to dry rot and crack easy. The set that was on my Lincoln town car had little spirals cut into the tread after a while. Also, I live in a hilly curvy part of the country and I prefer a firmer tire..

 

[sunglint]

Any ideas what tire would give the max gas mileage on a Maverick? I heard the Michelin Defender 2 is a candidate.

According to Consumer Reports, the best candidates for stock sized SUV tires ( 225/65 R17 ) are Michelin CrossClimate2 and Vredestein HiTrac, having good rolling resistance and decent specs in other categories, like wet and dry braking. The stock Continental CrossContact are surprisingly good at everything except rolling resistance, where they are just average. There are several other good candidates, but none have better rolling resistance, except the Firestone Destination A/T2, an all terrain tire, which has the best rolling resistance of all in that size, but has poor wet braking. None of these are snow tires, something I ignore in Texas

 

[The Real Maverick]

Thanks for the reply but I'm curious why you say not to run +5 in below freezing temps. I'm in MI and we do get our fair share of below freezing temps and I guess I've never really thought much about tire pressure when it's cold unless I get a tire pressure low sensor alert

Softer (lower pressure) is better for snow and ice / black ice that may come up unexpectedly. But if you run about 40 psi in summer and do nothing as the seasons change, tires will be down in pressure at cold temperatures naturally.

 

[Cherokee]

yep ford over inflates them for shipping, i guess there's a reason. But i would suggest changing them to a cold psi as shown on the sticker (probably 35) you'll see when you open the drivers door

Over inflation means less tire movement and less vehicle movement while they’re strapped down in the car haulers, the rolling parking lots.

 

[Master Blaster]

I just picked up my AWD Hybrid two weeks ago and I noticed all four tires are at 40 (might be one at 41) cold PSI. My Ford app says they should be 35 PSI and I assume the sticker on the trip says the same but I need to confirm. So I guess I should lower them to 37 or so cold PSI as 40 PSI is probably too much?

The vehicle is shipped with extra-high pressure in the tires, to avoid flatspotting during the long delivery process and them sitting in railyards for months at a time. If the dealer did not reduce the pressure to the recommended value on the b-pillar, then they probably did not do any of the other pl/pd delivery items that Ford pays them to do. You have a bad dealer. Take it back to them and have them to the delivery work, like checking and filling fluids, lowering the pre-delivery pressures and checking for correct operation of everything.

 

[Master Blaster]

Ignore those replies stating that its good to run the tires at high pressure. The vehicle was designed to run at 35psi (36 on the Tremor) under all loads and speeds. At high pressure you will have less road contact and aside from the resulting reduced safety and poor ride quality, you will centre-wear the tires early. There's a reason why those owners are calling the factory tires poor...

 

[MakinDoForNow]

When I need new tires I'll be looking for soft ride, quietness and gas mileage. I would imagine Weight Wise. A 24 to 26 lb. Highway tread tire would be good.

I went with Continental True contact Tour54 225/60/R18 on my Lariat. An 840AA 80k tire with heat activated polymers full sizes 27lbs (if I remember correctly) MSRP $175/tire. Really like them. The 235/60/R18 was more $, heavier rating 103 instead of 100 and 29.1" diameter.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Ignore those replies stating that its good to run the tires at high pressure. The vehicle was designed to run at 35psi (36 on the Tremor) under all loads and speeds. At high pressure you will have less road contact and aside from the resulting reduced safety and poor ride quality, you will centre-wear the tires early. There's a reason why those owners are calling the factory tires poor...

Only persons at under 35 psi may consider tire life poor. And no one is talking about 70 psi which is what it would require to wear out the center of these tires. 40 psi may make them last 5-10% longer and yields 5-10% more gas milage. Simple science.

Surely you don't think "one size fits all" do you?

What do all these vehicles below have in common? They all "recommend" inflation to 35 psi. Do you think they all drive the same? Are used the same? Weigh the same? Behave the same?

So why the same pressure?
It's a good "average" all around starting point that will suffice for a wide variety of conditions while being sub optimal for most conditions

Unless you, like most owners consider "set it and forget it" to be optimal for the driver's convenience.

Not from a Maverick Manual. Just an example.

 

[Escapologist]

Chrysler frequently had statements like that, think they said max sidewall for high speed high load in the Neon manual.

I generally run 42 PSI... because back in the late noughts I tested 3 different cars, and I could feel the grip and braking distance start to deteriorate at about 43-46 on all of them, they were all slightly different, but the roll distance from coasting from 30mph improved drastically with every pound from about 34 psi and started to tail off, flattening curve from about 42. So all mine get 42 and a handling test to double check. Set to 38 psi in November generally before we get regular frosts, so probably droops to stockish in jan/feb, and air up again in April.

 

[zen_]

According to Consumer Reports, the best candidates for stock sized SUV tires ( 225/65 R17 ) are Michelin CrossClimate2 and Vredestein HiTrac, having good rolling resistance and decent specs in other categories, like wet and dry braking. The stock Continental CrossContact are surprisingly good at everything except rolling resistance, where they are just average. There are several other good candidates, but none have better rolling resistance, except the Firestone Destination A/T2, an all terrain tire, which has the best rolling resistance of all in that size, but has poor wet braking. None of these are snow tires, something I ignore in Texas

I honestly never noticed CR had a rolling resistance test, so I have to eat my own words on no independent testing, although they don't publish the actual data for the rolling resistance values. Super interesting that many of the pure winter tires are some of the best rolling tires, while the worst is a UHP summer tire that is also probably a very soft compound. The only regular old all-season tire to get 5/5 was the Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3.

 

[HenryFord]

To get a glimpse at some data for EV tires Tire Rack has been doing some video on them and comparing rolling resistance and performance of a wide cross section of tires. Here is the first installment of that comparison and they did a follow up with winter data too.

 

[Idahomaverick60]

So how much overinflated do you normally run your tires? Like I mentioned a few posts up my Maverick tires on my AWD Hybrid XLT came inflated to 40 PSI and the recommended PSI is 35 PSI.

My original at tires on my fx4/ 4k ecoboost say 51 psi max on the sidewalk. I set at 50 (like round numbers). I have been running tires at mex pressure for almost 40 years (except bead winter weather) my tires always last equal tor to 20% over stated wear (40k mile tire will get 49-48k). Milage has always improved by multiple mpg. Grew up riding in a 52 F1 flathead V8 4spd. EVERYTHING has a better ride than that! No matter what the tire pressure is

 

[Idahomaverick60]

Ignore those replies stating that its good to run the tires at high pressure. The vehicle was designed to run at 35psi (36 on the Tremor) under all loads and speeds. At high pressure you will have less road contact and aside from the resulting reduced safety and poor ride quality, you will centre-wear the tires early. There's a reason why those owners are calling the factory tires poor...

Idc about "ride quality " it's all comfortable to
me.i like the multiple mpg fuel economy improvement. Running stock pressure in tires in EVERY vehicle I've ever owned resulted in scrubbed off bald edges and half the treadmill in the center. Higher pressure equalizes wear across entire tire. Yes maybe you have 5 ft more braking distance and maybe your at the limit cornering speed is dropped 5 mph. I'm not racing

 

[Automan21]

Hyper inflating the tires would give you a smidge more mpgs. Think there was a vid about this.

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