I was wondering if a 215-55-15 tire will kill the mileage on a Neon. I know that when we put 205-45-16 on my girlfriend's Escort that it killed the mileage due to excessive road drag from the width of the tires (went from gettin 37-39 down to 22-26). Just wondering if I would go threw the same thing with the Neon.
fromanhb
10-26-2005, 01:45 AM
I find it hard to believe that a small tire change would almost cut mileage in half... It is likely some other problem.
rice_eater
10-28-2005, 04:42 PM
i've got 195/50-15s on my car... Kumho Ecsta SPT's (which i HIGHLY recommend). theyre really sticky to... so far i havent seen a mileage drop. remember... sportier tire are usually stiffer too so you dont see a huge increase in rolling resistance unless you go to a really big rim or put on drag slicks or somethin, LOL. I do notice that the car is more responsive with them on though... it accellerates faster and slows quicker (coasting) but that is likely do to the fact that i went to a shorter overall tire, not the width or rubber compound. (the correct size would be a 195/55-15, not a 195/50-15)
BTW... neons have a lot more power than the pathetic 1.9L escorts... so they are less affected by added weight, rolling resistence, etc... however.. they are more affected by you right foot... I speak from experience.
dodgeneonACR98
10-29-2005, 02:05 AM
I would say yes it will efect the take off and the mileage but it shouldn't be to awfull bad.
RadarLove
10-30-2005, 04:02 AM
Depends on which year/model Escort... could be anywhere from 88 HP to 130 HP (ZX2). Also depends on whether it was manual or auto on how much of that actually made it to the wheels.
I don't see how a wider tire would cause more rolling resistance. The total footprint doesn't change as long as you keep the tire pressures the same as before. That means less rubber front to back... May up the drag coefficient a tad, but we're talking like 0.01 here, not enough to drop mpg by 10+.
I don't know what size wheels were on the Escort originally, but I'm guessing they weren't 16's. And going up in size usually means going up in weight, plus the extra weight of the bigger tire. Rotational mass takes a huge toll on total torque loss. So if it a base model, mid-90's auto, that extra 5 or 10 pounds per corner is huge.
Same thing is going to apply to the Neon. If you're putting bliggity bling 20+ lb chrome wheels on an auto (DOHC or SOHC), then yeah, gas mileage is going to suffer, as will acceleration and braking, and even handling to some degree.
Best of luck!
lbeenken
11-07-2005, 01:57 AM
The Escort was a '97LX. Stock tire size was 185-65-14 and we went to a 205-45-16 with aluminum wheels. As I said. Mileage dropped from 35-40 down to around 25. Nothing else changed on the car. Same driving habbits and same roads.
