Tyre efficiency rating A

[benlovesgoddess]

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

[Draigflag]

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.

[benlovesgoddess]

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....!

[Draigflag]

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.

[Draigflag]

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?

[benlovesgoddess]

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!

[Draigflag]

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.

[benlovesgoddess]

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!

[Draigflag]

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!

[Draigflag]

"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!