California Energy Commission tire test results

 When I read the California Energy Commssion had tested over 300 tires
but didn't publish their results, I began to suspect something else
was going on. Then when the 'Governator' was killing programs in his
budget, I suspected he'd turned out their lights and the results would
never be known. Fortunately, they did and here is the URL:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/transportation/tire_efficiency/documents/2009-06-10_workshop/presentations/excel_files/CEC%20DATABASE%20195%20MEANS.doc

The full workshop data is available here:
http://www.energy.ca.gov/transportation/tire_efficiency/documents/#061009

The Prius is especially able to exploit low rolling resistance tires.
It has one of the lowest air drags and superior drive train so
reducing rolling drag from the tires pays at the pump.

Bob Wilson

 
Does a lower RRF index mean that a particular tire
      have a lower rolling resistance friction or a higher rolling
resistance friction?

 
The "RRF Mean (lbs)" is the drag force so lower is better. In my case,
Sumitomo T4s which came in at 8.53 lbs. The lowest drag, replacement
is the Bridgestone, Turanza EL41, 8.35 lbs. However, the Bridgestone
does not come in 14" which is the wheel rim size of our NHW11.

Bob Wilson

 
Thanks.
This will come in handy when I need to get new tires. :-)

 In article


The "drive train" isn't inherently superior at all, but it does have low
drag which shows itself when the operator uses LRR tires.