Snow tires and gas mileage.

[Iceracer]

Since I installed my Blizzaks it seemed that my mpg had decreased.
I gues not.
Yesterday, a friend and I went up to Tupper Lake to check the ice for our next weekend ice races.
Total for the trip was 235 miles, average speed 50 mph. All two lane rural roads. Temps were around 32, some rain. Almost no traffic.
MPG. 40.3



btw: ice conditions were perfect.

[Neely2005]

There are a few factors that affect your mileage in the Winter:

Winter Gas (it has additives to stop it from freezing, it also causes worse mileage)
Winter Tires (the rubber compound is softer and more sticky)
Temperature (mileage gets worse when it's very hot or very cold)

Now some people claim that since Winter Tires are usually not as Wide as summer tires it can help to offset/improve mileage. Not sure if this is true but you'd have to think that if it was it would be offset by the softer/stickier rubber compound.

[BRGT350]

yeah, I don't see any decrease with MPG with the snow tires. I do see a drop when I have lengthy stints down slushy or snow covered highways. I am averaging 32 mpg combined with an ECU average speed of 42 mph, so there is a lot of highway. MPG goes up to 34 when we have a good period of dry roads. It drops to 30mpg when conditions are really bad.

[Voleurz]

I just took a road trip to Vancouver with my winter tires. It was dry most of the way. I averaged 6.0 L/100km

[Audrey]

I don't notice a significant change in MPG with my snow tires on verse my normal (stock Fiesta) tires.

[Norm201]

Just came back from my trip to Lebanon, PA. Going there on Saturday morning was a bit dicey. The roads on US20A were snow covered and icey. The stock tires seemed to do OK. But I did notice a little bit of slippage. I'm not sure if it was the tires sliding or the Fiesta compensating or the TC control (no TC light came on). The winter gas definitely proved to be lower MPG. I could not get pass 38.5 MPG no matter how I drove. But I can't complain. The wipers are excellent. I know some people have had complaints. But mine are original and did not chatter or streak. In spite of the compactness we managed to fit myself, my wife in the front with several bags of snacks and drink with her. In the back seat we fit two large sleeping bags on one side of the seat and the 60 plus pound dog on the other side. And we had plenty of spare room. The dog can curl himself up quite small and be very happy. If it was up to him he would live in the car. The hatch was full with our luggage and other crap that my wife insist on bringing.

[ironlion]

I've put ~5,500 mi on my Blizzaks and have been tracking my mileage and ave. speed since they went on. I am currently standing at 40.4 MPG at an average speed of 42 MPH.

All of those miles have been over the same route I use year-round for my commute to work. With the original LRR Hankooks on I average the same speed but see a 4-5 MPG increase. So, for me, there is definitely a marked difference in fuel economy between the winter set and the non-winter set.

BTW, there's been relatively little snow/ice in my region of the US this winter, so the driving conditions (excepting temperatures) have been remarkably similar to other times of the year.

[sliver]

I can't comment on winter tires themselves since I've only had mine on for a week. I will say however, that during spring and summer I was getting combined 39.6mpg. Since the change to fall and now winter, it has been steadily dropping. Now sitting at 38.3mpg and still dropping.