Yokohama Highway Tyre Comparison 8% Further

When it comes to buying new tyres it's easy to choose on the tyre price alone. Who saves up for tyres anyway? Not many people. Spend a little time investigating your tyre choice and you could save more on running costs than you could on the initial tyre purchase price.

In this test we're comparing a good conventional tyre with a good fuel saving eco tyre. We imagine the difference between a cheaper conventional tyre and this eco tyre would be even greater.

Fortunately for the thrifty, and for the environment, tyre companies are focusing on fuel saving tyres. You can now buy car tyres and SUV tyres which can reduce your fuel bill by allowing you to drive further on a tank of fuel.

Yokohama's car tyre for everyday driving is called the BluEarth AE01. In March 2013 this “eco tyre” replaced the Yokohama A.drive “conventional tyre”. The A.drive was Yokohama’s biggest seller in 13 to 16 inch tyre sizes which suit small to medium cars. This is a quiet tyre that’s also economical and long lasting. Users regularly report in tyre reviews, on this website, that it achieves over 60,000 kilometres of tyre life.

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/x...okohama1-9.jpg

So Yokohama tested the fuel economy of the successful A.drive against the new BluEarth by fitting them to identical Toyota Corollas, with pressures set at the manufacturer’s recommendation (33psi), and driving from Sydney to Yass and back. The 515 kilometre round trip was done on cruise control, to remove the driver as a variable, with one car trailing the other by at least 100 meters so it didn’t benefit from an aerodynamic tow.

It’s a simple tyre test to perform. First you brim the tanks on both cars so you can see the fuel in the filler neck. Then you have two people drive them the same distance. On your return return you fill the fuel tanks to the brim again and take down the reading at the fuel bowser to see which car use the most fuel.

In this tyre fuel test the car fitted with the A.drive used 30.50 litres of fuel. The Toyota fitted with the Yokohama BluEarth AE01 used 28.22 litres of fuel. With the Toyota’s 50 litre fuel tank the car fitted with the A.drives could travel 844 kilometres per tank and the car fitted with the BluEarth AE01 could travel 912 kilometres per tank. That’s 8% or 68 kilometres further on a tank of fuel.

http://i762.photobucket.com/albums/x...kohama2-10.jpg

By doing some basic calculations we can theoretically see how much a fuel this tyre choice could save you.

A Toyota Corolla has a 50 litre fuel tank. If the price of unleaded petrol was $1.50 per litre it would cost $75 to fill up.

25,000 kilometres a year is fairly average for Sydney motorists who drive to and from work weekday. Based on the mileage from the highway fuel test above, if they fitted the A.drive tyre they would need to fill up 29.6 times at a cost of $2,220.95 for the year. If they had the BluEarth AE01 tyre they would only need to fill up 27.4 times at a cost of $2,054.93. The BluEarth AE01 would save them $166 per year.

Now consider that the recommended retail price of the 205/55R16 BluEarth tyre tested is $153. Over two years the money you save on fuel would easily pay for two of your four tyres.

The BluEarth AE01 was also tested independently at urban speeds where the fuel savings were even greater. The BluEarth AE01 tyre comparison with the Yokohama A.drive showed the new tyre could go 10% further on a tank of fuel.