Tyre efficiency rating A
 

Hi,
Sadly, it is just today that I have discovered tyres have a letter relating to their fuel efficiency, from A best to G worst.
My I20 blue drive seems to have come with C rated tyres, which at 20,000 miles are due to have the front ones replaced shortly.
I am able to find at best B rated tyres - I have 185/60R15 84H currently, does anyone knows of A rated tyres for this wheel size?
Many thanks
Ben

I'm not sure of the sizes, I know Continental make an ECO contact tyre, I had them on my Panda. Pretty hard compound though, be warned, they are a bit noisier than regular tyres. If you go on my tyres.co.UK or blackcircles.co.UK there are huge choices on there, you should be able to find a tyre you like.

Thanks, yes - noise not a problem, I'll just put Led Zep on....!
It was Black Circles that alerted me to the rating - I found several B rated tyres, and an auto Express test (but on a different tyre size) listed the top 4 as;
Goodyear Efficient Grip, Dunlop Sport bluresponsem Pirelli Cintaurato P7 blue and Hankook Vetus Prime.
These brands seem to have A rating in the larger tested sizes, but only B rating in my i20 size.....
I'll just pick the best of the Bs, but now I know As exist, I want some of them....!

Consider yourself lucky, the best I can get is E rating in my size! :(

To be fair, I doubt there's going to be a huge difference between A and B, in the real World you're probably looking at pennies per year in difference between fuel savings.

Just a quick question, been looking at your fuel logs. On the tanks you got 83 MPG, what kind of conditions/speeds/roads were they?

Well, that was when I drove to Liverpool and back at 56 mph...! Most of the miles that fill were motorway, but I had a couple of hundred miles of normal country roads and hills. I am very unimpressed with my economy, it seems too random - like a fault - as I always drive economically, and on pretty much the same routes. It seems I have a bit too much tread left to justify a tyre change right away. The advisor on Black circles said that the difference between an A and a B is it saves about a gallon over 625 miles (so a tankful!).
Dunno whether that is true, I'll see if I can find out if its the same difference between C and B.
If so, then its worth changing early I guess!

Your economy does seem a bit random, you expect big drops like that with a petrol engine, but diesels are usualy pretty consistant, regardless of where or how you drive. That gallon per 600 odd miles seems a big difference, but thats probably for an average car that maybe only gets 35 to 40 MPG, just my guess though.

To hell with it - helped by a wife who has the motto "if in doubt, buy it" and my own curiosity, I stuck a pair of the "B" rated bluresponse tyres on my front end. £130 the pair fitted, seems not much more than the budget rubbish I always used to buy (if not pulling wheels out the scrapyard!) - wish I had known about the mpg difference between tyres previously, who knows what my old ZX would have achieved on decent rubber!

Ok cool, now take it easy on them, im not sure how ECO tyres hold up in the wet, or on the twisty bits, designed to cause less friction, they might be a bit slippery!

"A tyre's rolling resistance score ranges from A to G. Over the life of the tyre, fitting an A rated tyre could save you up to 6 litres of fuel when compared to a G rated tyre"

6 litres of fuel is nothing in 15,000 to 20,000 miles, so I wouldn't worry too much about the efficiency rating!

Well the first new tyre tank result is in - from 54 MPG to 74 MPG.... obviously, a few more tanks are needed to get the full result. My 57 MPG tank was nearly all on the old tyres, apart from 50 miles, but it turned out the tyre pressures were down (straight out of the tyre place, 31 and 34 psi, sloppy...).
So, the 54 MPG result was half motorway miles at 56 MPH and the rest my rural and hilly commute. My 74 MPG result was about one third motorway, a third my commute and a third other rural roads.
I think I'll stick 2 more Bluresponses on the back end, despite a good tread left on 'em....! They are A rated for braking in the wet, and they are equal if not better than the Hankooks they've replaced for handling.

I'm also getting new tyres next week, I think they are E or F rated for fuel. If that quote from the tyre website is correct then it shouldn't make much difference anyway but time will tell. They are cheapo budget tyres I'm getting :)

For some reason i cant read back in this thread, but did you say e rated tyres were the best your alloys can fit? How about getting some nice steel wheels with plastic trims and fit some B rated rubber...?!

Well I did find some C rated, but the ones I'm getting are E. Nah thanks, I prefer alloys, the style and looks of the car are very important to me. Oh if you want to read back, go on page 1 ;)

Yeah, i used to care about the looks. The rover 75 was the most gorgeous car, but despairingly unreliable. I ve gone for function over form...or i d be driving an alfa romeo mito right now (or another 75)

That is a very effective cure for many noises in my car. :coolsmiley: