Euless mechanic performing tire services

How often do you set up tire maintenance services at a nearby tire shop? Euless, TX, residents might not always know the answer to this question, but you should know that taking good care of your tires will have a surprisingly substantial effect on your car’s overall well-being.

The condition of your wheels can actively increase or decrease your vehicle’s fuel efficiency. If you’d like to learn about the link between tires and fuel economy (and which services can help you save as much as possible on gas), read on for our thorough explanation of this topic.

Tires and Fuel Economy: Understanding Rolling Resistance

If you’re trying to understand how the condition of your tires can affect your vehicle’s fuel efficiency, start by reading up on rolling resistance. This measures the amount of power your engine needs to use to make the wheels on your car rotate.

Wheels with low rolling resistance are relatively easy to move, while tires with high rolling resistance demand a much larger “push” before they start to turn. Since tires with minimal rolling resistance begin moving right away, your engine won’t need to use nearly as much fuel to get them in motion.

How Tire Maintenance Can Improve Fuel Usage

The condition of your vehicle’s tires can also impact its gas mileage. You'll need regular tire maintenance work to keep your wheels in good shape, so be sure to add appointments for these tire services to your auto maintenance schedule:

Tire Rotation

Uneven tread wear can't reduce your tires’ lifespan, making it harder to stay safe while driving and lowering your fuel efficiency. Since tires don’t naturally wear down at the same rate, tire rotation service is the key to even tread wear.

Tire Balancing

If your tires don’t share the same weight, they could “wobble” in a way that affects your vehicle’s fuel economy and causes other problems. A reliable Euless tire shop can alleviate this situation by providing tire balancing service. While doing this work, mechanics will inspect the weight distribution of your wheels and attach small weights to them as needed.

Tire Alignment

Neglecting tire rotation is an easy way to suffer from uneven tread wear, and the same is true for tire misalignment —no matter how “minor” this alignment appears to the naked eye. When you get professional wheel alignment service, you’ll promote even tread wear (and better fuel efficiency) while enjoying a smoother ride.

Tire Repair

When one of your tires is punctured, you have bigger problems to worry about than fuel usage — most damaged wheels shouldn’t be driven on before you can get them repaired. Though mechanics can’t always fix damaged tires, tire repair is still possible more often than you think.

Finding Efficient Tires for Your Vehicle

Even if you take good care of your tires, they’ll eventually reach the end of their life span. You'll then need to find a set of replacement wheels, and fuel efficiency should be one of your top priorities. Factors that can have an impact on the fuel economy of new tires include:

Tire Size

Larger tires are normally heavier than smaller wheels, and that extra weight can come with a reduction in fuel efficiency. You'll also get added rolling resistance when you use bigger tires. While smaller tires might equate to better fuel economy, the truth can be a bit more complicated. 

In high-speed driving conditions such as freeway driving, larger wheels provide better fuel efficiency. Though small wheels will start rotating before large wheels, your engine’s job doesn’t end there. It will also need to continue running while you drive, and it takes less effort to travel a set distance with large tires than with smaller wheels.

Tread Depth

As many racing enthusiasts know, race cars often use tires with no tread whatsoever — after all, a tire’s tread can create up to half of its overall rolling resistance. Since racing tires have no tread, they can keep resistance to a minimum, making it easier for race cars to travel at high speeds.

Real-world driving puts different demands on tires than driving on the racetrack does, and that means “standard” tires can’t do their job without treads. Not every tire has the same tread pattern, and choosing wheels with deeper treads than you need could decrease your fuel efficiency. The knowledgeable employees at your Euless tire shop can help you find tires that will fit your driving habits.

Visit the Tire Shop Euless Relies On

Tire maintenance is dangerously easy to ignore, but tasks such as tire balancing, alignment, and rotation can be highly beneficial for your wheels. Since the state of your tires can partially determine your fuel efficiency, prioritizing these tasks can help you save money at the pump; however, you won’t be able to fully appreciate these savings if your tire shop of choice overcharges you for this work.

Whenever they need to visit a local tire shop, Euless residents stop by Parra Car Care. We offer a full lineup of tire maintenance and auto repair services, all of which are handled by ASE-certified mechanics for reasonable prices. Schedule your tire maintenance appointment ASAP, and be sure to save even more by checking our online coupons!