At Accurate Auto Body, we strive to be known as Denver’s best auto body repair shop. We love helping you save money by providing tips and tricks you can use when you leave the shop after having your car repaired from a collision.
Among the auto care tips and tricks that will yield real savings with minimal effort is tire pressure maintenance. Maintaining optimum tire pressure offers a series of benefits. Fuel savings, better performance, and longer tread wear can all be enjoyed with just a little disciplined attention to this often overlooked matter of tire maintenance.
Fuel Economy
Stay focused on the maintenance of proper tire pressure, and fuel savings will range from 5-7 percent, according to most estimates. That doesn’t sound like much, but certain households are more vulnerable to wasted fuel expense than others. For example, let’s say that there are two vehicles in the household, and one is a SUV averaging 18 mpg. The other is a car averaging 24 mpg. Each is driven about 18,000 miles each year at an average of 21 mpg. This amount of driving requires about 1700 gallons of gas. If you save six percent of that fuel each year, you can put an extra $400 back in your pocket.
Performance
Performance tires are engineered in part to offer great cornering. That ability is immediately compromised when tires are under-inflated. If you paid for luxury performance, why not ensure that you’re truly enjoying the benefits of that investment? Safety is also an issue. Under-inflated tires will under-perform in both cornering and emergency maneuvers.
Tread Wear
Properly inflated tires will wear better than those that are over or under-inflated. On average, one set of tires will be saved during the life of a vehicle when tire pressure is consistently maintained. More is at stake if you have ‘sticky rubber’ high-performance tires. The softer rubber on these tires wears more quickly even under the best of circumstances.
Try Nitrogen
Filling tires with pure nitrogen is one secret to maintaining tire pressure at optimal levels. Nitrogen-filled tires retain their pressure as much as 40 percent longer than tires simply filled with compressed air. Nitrogen is not as temperature-sensitive as plain old air, so it does not contract as quickly. With regular compressed air, tires may lose several pounds of pressure merely because a cold front passes through.
Those leasing vehicles for 24 or 36 months will usually not have to replace tires during the lease term. However, if tread wear reaches a certain point before the vehicle is turned in, there is no option other than to put a new set of tires on the vehicle during the lease period. High performance tires and larger tires can easily run $600-$900 a set. Even regular all-season tires typically exceed $300-$400 a set.
We hope that these tips will help you make some extra room in your budget this year.
