If you need to drive but still want to do your part to lessen your carbon footprint, environmentally friendly tires, otherwise known as green car tires, eco tires, or low-rolling-resistance tires, are a wise upgrade for your car. Whether you drive a typical internal combustion car, a hybrid or EV, eco tires are engineered to help you boost your fuel economy.
Readers of this site are more likely than most to rank environmental considerations high on their top 40 of buying criteria for tires. This post will walk you through the different replacement tire options on the market today that are designed to keep one eye on lessening your environmental footprint by using less gas.
Here are our picks for best green car tires to help you save on fuel. They are listed here in alphabetical order.
1. Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus
Engineered to be more fuel efficient so drivers get more miles from their tank of fuel (or fully charged EV battery), the Bridgestone Ecopia is available in a yaffle of sizes to fit most popular cars and minivans. The company says it offers a warranty on this tire of up to 65,000 miles.
The claims of fuel efficiency are based on in-lab rolling resistance testing using examples that are brand new. Over time, poor vehicle maintenance and damage caused by rough roads might erase this advantage, so it behooves the smart consumer to nip any tire or suspension related car problems in the bud as they can hit your wallet in more ways than one.
2. Continental TrueContact
Billed as a true all-season touring tire, this option from Continental features the company’s EcoPlus technology. This tire has garnered positive feedback from real-world customers, rolling up a 4.4/5 rating based on 285 reviews.
Continental’s EcoPlus efforts are said to offer significant savings at the gas pump by way of low rolling resistance. A specially formulated tread compound (the super-secret ingredients which comprise the rubber construction) and precisely engineered traction grooves provide extra grip in the wet stuff. The company’s 60-day customer satisfaction program offers some extra peace of mind as well.
3. Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter
The name Fuel Fighter might conjure up images of the final boss in Mortal Kombat but is actually the brand of Firestone’s entrant into the green tire game. This low-rolling resistance tire is backed by a 70,000-mile warranty, alluding to another advantage of a harder tire compound.
A newly designed tread pattern with sipes and grooves stretching the full depth of the tire’s surface also contribute to a long life. The claim of improved fuel economy is based on real-world data as compared to the company’s Affinity Touring tire, which is kind of like comparing your math grades to your brother’s instead of to the class average.
4. Goodyear Assurance CS Fuel Max
Based on internal testing, this wing-footed green tire is said to save up to 2,600 miles worth of fuel over the life of four tires. Assuming your vehicle gets an average of 20 mpg, that’s up to 130 gallons of fuel savings. At $3/gallon, the savings start to add up, offsetting the cost of purchasing these things in the first place.
Goodyear seems cognizant that the tire-sizing trend of OEMs, particularly on crossovers and SUVs, has permanently skewed towards the larger end of the spectrum. As such, the Assurance Fuel Max is available in sizes up to 245/55/19, a move sure to placate drivers of fancy-pants luxury machines with big wheels. The compound of this tire helps to increase fuel efficiency and, not content to rest on their laurels, Goodyear is actively doing research into the use of soybean oil as a tire ingredient in a bid to reduce the amount of petroleum-based oils presently used in tire construction.
5. Michelin Energy Saver A/S
Baking in some innovative compound materials along with a deeply researched tread design, the eco-friendly Michelin Energy Saver A/S is available in a variety of sizes. Its silica-based compound provides a combination of all-around traction and good rolling resistance properties.
The company touts a series of third-party tests, ones which put this Michelin up against a similar tire from Bridgestone. That scrutiny is said to have revealed that the Energy Saver A/S lasts up to 16,000 miles longer and stops up to 8 feet shorter than the Bridgestone. Michelin has literally been around for over a hundred years and, with a massive team of engineers and pro drivers constantly testing tires at their bespoke testing track in North Carolina, it’s safe to say the brand knows more than a thing or two about tire innovation.
6. Nokian eNTYRE 2.0
Nokian Tires is a Finnish company. Given the sheer number of rally racing champions from that country, your author is confident is saying these people know more than the average bear about how to keep a car on the road. The spellcheck-vexing eNTYRE 2.0 is specifically designed for North America, keeping in mind our climate and cratered roadways.
A wide variety of sizes are available, from diminutive 185/60/R15 piano wheels to 255/60R19 hula hoops. A few are even V-rated for speed. Low rolling resistance (are you sensing a trend with these green car tires?) is achieved via what the company calls a High Modulus tread compound, which is either a fuel-efficient silica base or the title of a new Transformers movie. Its production process is also green, using purified oils with no toxic or carcinogenic chemicals.
7. Toyo Versado Eco
One of the only tire makers to do so, Toyo markets their Versado Eco sub-brand as a rubber specifically created improve fuel efficiency for hybrid, electric, and other environmentally friendly vehicles. Tread sipes are molded in a wave pattern to promote rigidity and minimize irregular wear, while a quartet of circumferential grooves evacuates water faster than a government employee leaves the office at quitting time.
Without giving away their secret sauce, Toyo says the Versado Eco uses naturally derived tread compound materials to help make daily driving easier on the environment. This presumably means that the little bits of rubber shed from the tire and left on the pavement over the course of normal driving is less toxic to the environment than what’s found in other tires.
8. Yokohama Avid Ascend
The Avid Ascend is Yokohama’s take on the eco-friendly tire. Featuring a series of tread block bridges to reduce tread movement, its primary deliverables are even treadwear, reduced noise, and a jump in fuel efficiency. Sipes, those handy little guys which are designed to provide extra gripping surfaces, are specially shaped to deliver all-season capabilities which make this more than just a fair weather tire.
It’s always tough to get tire companies to disclose what they’ve baked into their rubber compounds – that’d be like getting the Colonel to tell us his eleven herbs and spices – but Yokohama does brag that their compound technology is exclusive to the industry and contributes to low rolling resistance. That’s a key component to improved economy and long life.
What You Need to Know About Green Car Tires
There is a very good chance that all the tires on this list will not be the cheapest options a driver will find when going tire shopping. The extra research and development plowed into making these eco-friendly rubber hoops is definitely an extra expense, the majority of which is passed on to the end consumer.
However, as we’ve seen with the test results presented by a few manufacturers on this list, eco-friendly tires stand a good chance of producing some long-term savings on your fuel bill. This can offset the initial bite of a higher sticker price. Even if the savings are small, an extra few bucks at purchase time could be a small price to pay for leaving a smaller footprint on the earth.
When shopping for a new set of tires, always make sure to know the exact size of tire required by your vehicle. If you’re not sure, chat with a pro. Buying a full set of four tires may be costly but is the safer bet as, over time, all four of them will exhibit the same amount of wear and tear. This will prevent a situation whereby the front two tires on your vehicle have good grip but the rears do not – or vice versa.
Remember that the contact patches of those four tires, each about the size of your fist or a notepad, are technically the only part of your car that actually touches the road. Cheaping out here is not a great idea. With a bit of research and an eye towards the environment, you’re sure to make the right decision.
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