Date:         Fri, 13 Jun 2008 08:37:56 -0700
Reply-To:     Joel Sell <justthesells@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Sell <justthesells@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Better MPG - wheels and tires ?
Comments: To: rubatoguy@comcast.net
In-Reply-To:  <061320081528.25049.4852920C000E8722000061D92207020953979A09019B0E0D9A9D@comcast.net>
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This will be for a purely city vehicle. Little to no highways.
When you say "thin", do you mean thin as in tire width or sidewall heigth?
Joel in Philly


--- On Fri, 6/13/08, rubatoguy@comcast.net <rubatoguy@comcast.net> wrote:

> From: rubatoguy@comcast.net <rubatoguy@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: Better MPG - wheels and tires ?
> To: "Joel Sell" <justthesells@YAHOO.COM>, vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Date: Friday, June 13, 2008, 11:28 AM
> The taller tire will have more sidewall which will better
> absorb defects in the road.
> To the degree that the tire deflects, in theory, this would
> decrease mileage over a very thin hard rubber tire. (Take a
> look at the wheels and tires on high mpg specialty cars -
> they are almost like a hard rubber bicycle tire)
>
> However, a thin tire - much like the jokers who put
> 25" wheels with low profile tires on SUVs, is going to
> give you a bottom jarring ride.
>
> In theory the thin tire will give better mileage, however
> the question is if this would translate to any real
> practical gain in a real wold situation. Personally,
> I'd go for the tall sidewall - particulalry if I were
> going to drive on anything other than smooth freeway.
>
> Todd
> '88 Westy
>
> -------------- Original message --------------
> From: Joel Sell <justthesells@YAHOO.COM>
>
> > I am interested to see where the "under the front
> end aerodynamics" thread goes,
> > but I'm also wondering about wheels and tires.
> Short of purchasing racing wheels
> > which I think are illegal to use on the street, what
> are our options for
> > lightening up our wheels? Also, Is a 14" wheel
> with a tall tire better than an
> > 18" wheel with a low profile tire? I know that
> thinner is better, and it seems
> > that as wheels increase in diameter, they also
> increase in width ,but assuming
> > you could stay thin, is a tire with a tall sidewall
> better/worse than a tire
> > with a low sidewall? How about overall diameter?
> > August '06 Popular Mechanics says that
> "rotating weight of a spinning tire is
> > 1.5 times its actual mass- so this is an area where
> trimming pounds really pays
> > off".
> > Any thoughts on this?
> > Joel in Philly