Home News Models Alternatives
 
Smart Car of America - America's Largest Smart Fortwo Enthusiast Community   Smart Fortwo, smart car, smartcar
HOME FORUMS GALLERY

Go Back   Smart Car of America Forums > Smart Car Technical > Smart Car Wheels & Tires

Notices

» Supporting Partner
» Recent Threads
Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-09-2009, 04:27 PM   #1 (permalink)
BigGoofyGuy
SCOA Club
 
BigWarpGuy's Avatar
 
Location: East Windsor New Jersey
Drive: Smart Fortwo Pure
My SCOA Gallery
Hankook's enfren low rolling-resistance tires deliver 5 percent fuel saving

Could these low resistance tires increase the MPG of the Smart car?

BigWarpGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 04:34 PM   #2 (permalink)
Moderator
SCOA Club
 
jwight's Avatar
 
Location: Kettering, OH
Drive: 09 smart; 03 Z06; 76 Mini
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Also, some tires trade-off key performance features like tread-life and wet-grip for low rolling resistance."
No thanks.

jwight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 04:52 PM   #3 (permalink)
 
Brabus's Avatar
 
Location: CT
Drive: 2009 Smart Brabus Cabrio
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy View Post
Could these low resistance tires increase the MPG of the Smart car?
Yes, I think they could!

I have a feeling that in time we are going to go back to those Model T size tires like you see on these ultra high mpg vehicles and solar vehicles.

But I don't think most people are looking for a 5% savings until going to the grocery store starts costing more than the groceries. When gas got to nearly $5 a gallon, I started realizing going to Starbucks in the morning in my 2 1/2 ton vehicle was costing more than the coffee I started questioning my addiction.

People still want performance (pseudo safety) and big wheels (pop culture). I'm the perfect example of that sad fact.

Brabus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 05:07 PM   #4 (permalink)
 
Godfather's Avatar
 
Location: huber heights
Take a good long look at the tiny meats a stock smart calls front tires. Then look up low rolling resistance in the dictionary. If there's not a picture of a smart's front tires, there's no justice.

Godfather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 06:04 PM   #5 (permalink)
 
Brabus's Avatar
 
Location: CT
Drive: 2009 Smart Brabus Cabrio
I need to contradict myself again.

One thing I've noticed is the small tires up front on my Passion locked up quite easily when I brake hard. I suspect bigger tires up front not only handle better but are safer in this regard, but a narrower tire likely handles better in the rain/snow. Which is a good reason for me to use my 15s for snow tires and 17s for the other 3 seasons.

Brabus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 06:18 PM   #6 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
John_H's Avatar
 
Location: Orlando, FL
Drive: Merlot Red Cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
I like the idea of low rolling resistance designs, at least for the non-driven tires.

While I understand low resistance tires *tend* to grip less well, there should be an ability to have the tire behave differently under torsion (braking) compared to the normal operation where the tire wants to provide the least resistance for best mileage.

Would low resistance tired provide problems handling in rain? Or would the need for improved rain performance only be during braking?

Deformable tires? Perhaps in our future.

John_H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 06:36 PM   #7 (permalink)
 
Brabus's Avatar
 
Location: CT
Drive: 2009 Smart Brabus Cabrio
I just did a search on tirerack for run-flat tires ranging from 145/40-15 to 215/70-15 and there aren't any run flats for 15" within that range! However, I did found run-flats for my Brabus 17s, which I'll post on the Brabus wheels thread as I don't want to hijack this thread.

Just wanted to say tirerack doesn't have a 15" run-flat tire FWIW.

Oops, I posted this on the wrong thread. I mean to post this on the spare tire thread. Sorry

Last edited by Brabus; 06-09-2009 at 06:41 PM..

Brabus is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2009, 07:03 PM   #8 (permalink)
 
Padawan's Avatar
 
Location: Smartville, NJ
Drive: Silver BRABUS Cab "Smoky"
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy View Post
Could these low resistance tires increase the MPG of the Smart car?
I'm sure they could, and I'd definitely be willing to try them out if Hankook releases them in proper sizes for the Fortwo (and they don't cost twice as much as the stock Conti's).

Padawan is offline   Reply With Quote
Today
 


This ad will not be shown if you are logged in.

Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Wind Resistance Experiment for Scangauge owners JD10367 Smart Car General Discussion 8 04-19-2009 08:27 PM
Road & Track - Fuel Saving Suggestions saronian The Car Lounge 1 08-10-2008 08:35 PM
David Diette of Rolling Tones fame visited us today.... Bremer Speck Smart Car General Discussion 8 08-03-2008 03:39 PM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0.1

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 08:25 AM.


Smart Cars of America, LLC is not affiliated with, authorized by, associated with or have any connection with G&K, Zap, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Mercedes-Benz McLaren Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, smart Canada Division, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler LLC, DaimlerChrysler AG, Maybach, smart gmbh, a division of Mercedes Benz LLC, the manufacturer of SMART automobiles, smart USA Distributor, LLC, a division of Penske Automotive Group, Inc, the exclusive authorized U.S. importer and distributor of the smart vehicle or any of their official dealerships


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0
Ad Management by RedTyger