Low-Resistance Tires: Not Just For Hybrids

Automakers are scrambling to improve the gas mileage ratings of their vehicles. What’s a cheap and easy way to do that? Switch to low-resistance tires, which, until recently, were mostly found on hybrids. Ford is switching all of their compact SUVs to low-resistance tires for 2009. The Ford Escape will be getting Michelin Latitude Tour tires, which will improve the Escape’s gas mileage by 1 mpg. At current gas prices this will save the new Escape owner roughly $300 over the lifetime of the tires. However, low-resistance tires are more expensive to replace than conventional tires. And there are other trade-offs besides price: stopping distances will be a few feet longer, plus these tires don’t really work off road too well, which seems kind of silly for a tire that comes standard on a SUV. Source: Detroit News.