increasing mpg 101 - lesson 1: back to steelies

[93EXaesthetic]

well recently i just busted my rim on a pothole..and had to put my stocks back on...i found that they are a bit lighter prolly 5-6 pounds lighter than my black 18' rims...i also found that my gas mileage has increased!!. Im not sure on the exact figures but i found i can drive around town without refueling with my stocks on than i could with my 18'inch rims with kuhmo tires.
I have come to the conlusion that

1) the stock rims are lighter than the 18's
2) the stock tires have less traction therefore reducing overall drag on vehicle during normal forward driving
3)psychological -- effect of having stock tires and rims makes me drive slower

the combination of the above 3 have increased my mpg
so i recommend everyone put there steelies back on..unless your at the track or show..and you need extra traction...your also putting your car back into sleeper mode...putting you under the cops radar...just food for the cb7tuner thought.

[HondaGuy1212]

but i have ex alloys

[starchland]

I think it would be misleading to say that the stock have less traction and therefore increase mpg, I would lean more towards them having better rolling resistance, but I dont see that happening over a low profile tire?

[clarksterdotcom]

its basic trig man.. if you have a wheel that is 18" in diameter vs a wheel that is 14" in diameter it takes less force to move the 14" wheel a full rotation than an 18".

along with weight it depends on the wheels in question. rolling mass definetly plays a part in force needed to rotate the wheels.

and psychological effects are almost moot. dependant on typical driving (ie: highway, city, WOT) what you have going on in your own head about your ride isnt much of a determing factor when it comes to the numbers to figure MPG.

thanks for the info though.. im putting around at 26mpg right now

[Fearit22]

Traction has absolutely nothing to do with it. Something that weighs more requires more force to accelerate it. Now once the 18" rims would be in motion they would get better mileage on the highway because it's basically the same as being in a higher gear since they are larger, but for city driving where you have to accelerate a lot then you will lose gas mileage. One of Newton's laws, F=ma.... decrease the mass and you require less force for the same acceleration therefore using less gas.

[fac90]

Honda chose this particular 14" steel wheel and the tire size for best performance. For example, the driver's manual calls out 29psi for the front and rear steel wheels after much testing according to the manual. The steel wheels are not the most pleasing to look at, but they are meant for reliable operation.

[SenseiAccord]

Traction has absolutely nothing to do with it. Something that weighs more requires more force to accelerate it. Now once the 18" rims would be in motion they would get better mileage on the highway because it's basically the same as being in a higher gear since they are larger, but for city driving where you have to accelerate a lot then you will lose gas mileage. One of Newton's laws, F=ma.... decrease the mass and you require less force for the same acceleration therefore using less gas.

i agree with this guy. bigger wheels will do better on highways since its like having longer gears. but it will cause more of a load on the engine to move upon accelerating thus burning more fuel... opposite affects for smaller wheels. i dunno about that newman law shiet... i aint no scientist so i cant relate. i believe him tho LOL

[hak1990]

it could also be that the 18s may be throwing off the speedo which is registering less miles on the car when the stocks will obviously read the correct amount of miles.

My cb7 is running on 195 65 15 right now and i think its suppose to be 195 60 15. I get around 325-350 in the city but i know if i get the correct tire size put on i would be registering more miles which means better gas mileage odometerwise

[alb_accord]

weight its the only thing that matters.
size don't matter

[Fearit22]

Yeah, the size will throw off the speedo a bit too. Weight matters, but so does size for reasons like that.

BTW, I am a scientist heh ... Still working on my Physics degree, but I just got a job with the Physics department at Texas A&M too.

[93EXaesthetic]

intresting input from you guys....
im gonna re weight my tires when i have chance and try to figure out why im getting better gas mileage....
Force = Mass x acceleration... instresting...
hp = lbs x mph

[Gen4Acclude]

18's will throw the speedo off by ten miles an hour or more my 16's threw it off 6mph i know cause i had it tested my state patrol

[DeathFromAbove]

it could also be that the 18s may be throwing off the speedo which is registering less miles on the car when the stocks will obviously read the correct amount of miles.

My cb7 is running on 195 65 15 right now and i think its suppose to be 195 60 15. I get around 325-350 in the city but i know if i get the correct tire size put on i would be registering more miles which means better gas mileage odometerwise

those aren't the wrong sizes.....the DX/LX were spec'ed with 195/65/15 and the EX came stock with 195/60/15 .....i'm not sure if they adjusted the odos to match though. it's such a minute difference. but honda thinks of everything, so they prolly did.

[AccordWarrior]

those aren't the wrong sizes.....the DX/LX were spec'ed with 195/65/15 and the EX came stock with 195/60/15 .....i'm not sure if they adjusted the odos to match though. it's such a minute difference. but honda thinks of everything, so they prolly did.

My LX had 185/70-14 stock. When I put on my 92-93 Sedan alloys I went with 195/60-15, which is the stock size for the EX.

[Dirty Harry]

MSD IGNITION AND MSD COIL!!!

SINGLE BEST THING you could possibly do to increase gas mileage in my experience. I've used it on multiple cars with excellent results.

If you buy and properly install the above mentioned combination you WILL see results. The system WILL pay for itself before long.