

What are car tires that save fuel ?
Increased public awareness to be more environmentally friendly, making attention to fuel consumption increasingly important. Car manufacturers are also competing to create products that are increasingly efficient. In addition to engine technology, manufacturers also create artificial technologies that can save fuel. Starting from eco mode, auto engine start-stop, to technology that can deactivate some engine cylinders when deemed unnecessary. Another way to reduce fuel consumption, is to use tires that are able to save fuel consumption. Yup, tires with eco labels are now starting to be found in the market. This tire is claimed to be able to reduce fuel consumption, thanks to low rolling resistance. What is rolling resistance or rolling resistance? Rolling resistance is the force that hinders the speed of an object. In essence, when there is contact between the tires and the road surface, the resulting friction actually slows down a vehicle’s speed.
The easiest way to detect whether an eco tire is or not is to look at the product description on the tire. If there is an embedded word eco or other information that refers to the intent of efficiency, you can be sure that the tire is an eco tire. Eco tires have lower rolling resistance than conventional tires. To be able to achieve low rolling resistance, various ways are done by manufacturers. Now, because the tread of the tire is the contact area between the tire and the road surface, this is the area that gets the most changes compared to conventional tires. The trick is to mix more silica content in the thread compound. Silica (silica) is a material that is also contained in glass. Why silica? “The surface of the glass is slippery when held. Now, with more silica content, the tires are expected to roll more easily and not provide too much rolling resistance when driving,” said Zulpata Zainal, Proving Ground Manager of PT Bridgestone Tire Indonesia. To compare the performance between eco tires and conventional tires, is to measure who has gone the farthest when the car is released on a downhill road with the engine off. Well, Ecopia EP150 tires are claimed to have a rolling resistance of 23.2% better than Bridgestone B250 (non-eco) tires. If converted into fuel consumption figures, these eco tires are claimed to be able to save 3% more than Bridgestone B250 tires.
- RollIng REsIsTAncE vs gRIp
It has been mentioned before, that tires with low rolling resistance are able to roll more easily. Due to the higher silica content, the tires are made to appear smoother like a glass surface. Then what about the grip that must be kept good? Even though it has to be ‘slick’, the grip or grip of the tires on the road surface must remain good. Because if not, tire performance will not be optimal and even threaten safety. Especially when it rains and braking becomes inadequate. For this reason, the design patterns or motifs for tire development and overall tire construction are also engineered to produce ‘slick’ tires but with good grip. For example, on the Ecopia EP150 tire, the pattern in the middle of the tread uses a design called RibLinked Blocks. With that, the tire grip when braking, especially in wet road conditions, remains good. In addition, at the end of the middle pattern there is also a slight indentation. This niche is named 3D Block Shape which is able to minimize the loss of contact between the tire and the road surface. Meanwhile, on the Ecopia MPV1 tires, an asymmetric pattern design is applied. This design is also claimed to be able to increase grip, especially on uneven road surfaces.
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If you are a person who is oriented towards saving fuel, then choosing eco tires or eco tires is the best step. However, that does not mean this step is always the most appropriate choice. About design for example. Even though there are more and more eco tires on the market, including Bridgestone Ecopia, Dunlop Enasave, GT Radial Champiro ECO, not all of them have a sporty or cool appearance. In general, eco tires have a thicker profile and a pattern that is not as dynamic as high performance tires. This, for those who like the sporty style, is a problem in itself. This problem is also inseparable from the fact that most eco tires are more targeted at mass consumers of passenger cars. Grips too. Eco tires are not bad, but when compared to high performance special tires, eco tires are so so. Even though at this point it can already be on par with high non-performance tires. That is, choosing to use eco tires is the next effective thing if you are trying to achieve driving savings. The technology used is also increasingly convincing to be able to provide the best compromise between good grip and low rolling resistance. But what needs to be considered is to adjust the tire size to the original tire size. Or if you want to change the size, make sure that the tire diameter (outer diameter) remains the same as standard tires.
- PRICE of Eco Tires vs Regular Tires
Besides being able to save fuel, the price of eco tires is also able to save expenses. As an illustration, the Bridgestone B250 size 196/65 R15 sells for IDR 1.037 million. Meanwhile, the Bridgestone Ecopia EP150 of the same size sells for IDR 896 thousand. Meanwhile, the GT Radial Champiro GTX size 195/65 R15 sells for IDR 636 thousand. What about the GT Radial Champiro Eco? With the same size, these eco tires sell for IDR 598 thousand