Tire weight - how much does it matter?

[Probity]

I had to reacquaint myself with unsprung vs. sprung - thank you CJ Pony Parts Sprung vs Unsprung Weight | CJ Pony Parts .

It matters but someone other than me will have to weight on specifics for the Maverick sizes and weights.

Doesn't help you, but found it interesting that on a large F150 forum, for 20215-2020 generation F150, when you search tires, unsprung, weight you get multiple pages of threads. Nothing definitive on ride quality, lots of opinions (but not so much hard data) on mpg loss. For the Maverick time will tell as experimenters list their wheel/tire swaps and discuss ride quality and mpg's.

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[MakinDoForNow]

Actually - I've been really curious for the Hybrid. Steelies aren't....light. Since the MavBrid is FWD I'm not overly concerned with getting bigger beefier tires on there.

But I am looking to get 17" or 18" black aluminum rims and placing some good all season tires on them (keeping the steelies for a winter set possibly). I assume the aluminum wheels would be lighter and the combo likely providing 10mm max extra tire width.

Will it see better mpg?

The weight distribution also affects the energy it takes to spin it so you have to take that into consideration. A heavier tire adds weight further out from the center particularly going to tire that has 10 mm further out and if it's a bfg ko2 with 4-6/32" deeper tread= harder to spin (maybe a lot of that energy can be recaptured if you very lightly brake, take more distance and not use hydraulic brakes. Also the aluminum wheel may have a greater percentage of it's mass further from wheel center. Take same factory tires do 0-60 several times on each set of wheels and compare that then repeat with bfg k02 on both sets of wheels and you will have something to compare.

 

[Captain]

Tons. But you only touched on unsprung weight. You left off rotational mass affecting acceleration, braking, turning, etc , etc.

Newton knew what he was talking about.

Yes Newton did… and I think he’s still singing in Vegas with Elvis..

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I'm well aware. Sell him on it.

I tried. Maybe he will post some results. Maybe he will test 20-30 combinations?

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Yes Newton did… and I think he’s still singing in Vegas with Elvis..

I think the one in Vegas is the expert in unsprung waiting and the older one was the expert in unsprung weighting.

 

[Darnon]

Coming from a Golf R, I was super concerned about minimizing unsprung weight. Not concerned about my 0-60 times in the Mav, but curious how much ride quality/MPG tradeoff I'd be taking when considering my 245/65/17 options:

BFG KO2: 45 lbs
Falken A/TW3: 39 lbs
Toyo Open Country A/T III: 34 lbs

Also check out the Nokian Rotiiva AT. In 245/65R17 they're only 31.2lbs.

 

[710-oil-614]

The weight distribution also affects the energy it takes to spin it so you have to take that into consideration. A heavier tire adds weight further out from the center particularly going to tire that has 10 mm further out and if it's a bfg ko2 with 4-6/32" deeper tread= harder to spin (maybe a lot of that energy can be recaptured if you very lightly brake, take more distance and not use hydraulic brakes. Also the aluminum wheel may have a greater percentage of it's mass further from wheel center. Take same factory tires do 0-60 several times on each set of wheels and compare that then repeat with bfg k02 on both sets of wheels and you will have something to compare.

I would not put K02 on my FWD hybrid maverick. I would put a slightly larger (wider) 17" or 18" all season - maybe even three season tire. Then use the steelies for a winter tire.

 

[Big Kahuna]

So physics question - a object in motion tends to want to stay in motion. So it takes more power to get it rolling but once it's rolling it will have more momentum than a lighter tire.

So for someone who does lots of stop and go driving would they see worse MPG with a heavier tire than someone who does freeway?

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I would not put K02 on my FWD hybrid maverick. I would put a slightly larger (wider) 17" or 18" all season - maybe even three season tire. Then use the steelies for a winter tire.

I don't think you will affect performance or mpg to any discernable degree with tires in that size range. Your pedal pressures will affect things much more. Braking with minimal usage of hydraulic brakes will require starting to stop earlier than you probably do now to hopefully capture more battery recharge. There again might not be enough to matter but if you brake hard at every light the hydraulic brake will do more and more resulting in less battery recharging. My driving is about 70% pavement 30% unpaved & 2 track. I prefer tire with stronger side walls and the current one I like will result in 29.1" tire height which I don't want. So will wait to see if a 16" rim will fit when I get mine and 235/70 with bfg trail-terrain. Good luck with your selecting.

 

[PortlandME]

I’m having a similar dilemma… I’m most likely going with the Toyo AT3’s but I can’t decide between 235 and 245. Either way it’s big jump in weight from stock, so it makes the 2-3lb difference between the 235 and 245 seem insignificant.

 

[James St. Patrick]

Above info is for 245/65/17

 

[vabchusa]

Remember every pound of weight added (sprung or unsprung) will lessen your load capacity the same amount so no upsizing your burger orders.

 

[Darksider]

The longer speed time has to do with the tires bring taller not the weight. With the taller tires you are actually gearing the vehicle high which should actually help gas mileage if the contact patch was the same. In this case its not 245 vs 225.

The weight does have an effect like on mpg just like any extra load you put on the car but 80 pounds on the wheel will have the same effect as 80 pounds in the cab.

The main difference is the contact patch on the road is larger. With the tires in question not only are you wider but since the you are taller there will be more contact patch length wise also and. The contact patch length will have more effect them the width in this case. So short answer is weight has just as much effect on tires as putting that weight anywhere else on the truck.

 

[TSAINTS1115]

So physics question - a object in motion tends to want to stay in motion. So it takes more power to get it rolling but once it's rolling it will have more momentum than a lighter tire.

So for someone who does lots of stop and go driving would they see worse MPG with a heavier tire than someone who does freeway?

You nailed it. It takes effort to get it spinning, that comes from fuel. Braking effort to slow, bye bye brake pad life. Then you have to get it spinning again.

 

[JASmith]

If concerned about weight and efficiency, biggest decision IMO will be to decide if you want the compromises of all terrain oriented tires.

When people rate the performance of these, its usually relative to other all terrain tires, and not road focused ones.

I mean, if you really want a cost savings tire you'd want to look at eco tires that are specifically made to reduce rolling resistance and stick to the 225 factory width and have a decent tread life since replacing tires often can be as expensive as buying a lot of fuel.

I have these Michelin Defender LTX for that reason on my Ram 1500 and have been very happy with them, especially in the rain: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Defender+LTX+M/S

In 225/65/17 they are 29lbs and 720 wear rated in spite of having pretty darn good dry traction and are $70 off right now.

I'm fairly confident these would be objectively better in most measurable ways on the street thanks to the street oriented tread pattern design, but they aren't going to have that rugged offroad look to them or of course be offroad capable tires, but for the type of dirt roads I've taken my RWD Ram down they'd had no problems.

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