According to Commercial Motor’s latest Trucking Britain survey of UK hauliers, in response to the question, ‘What will you be doing to achieve fuel savings?’, only 12% of respondents stated, ‘Fitting lower rolling resistance tyres’. We, at Michelin, were quite surprised how low this figure was, especially when you consider the fuel savings that can be achieved with our new X Line Energy range. Please let us know your views or experiences of using low rolling resistance tyres, positive, negative and not necessarily Michelin related, and all respondents will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three ‘Michelin goodie packs’, including a limited edition X Line Energy jacket, solar charger and 2GB memory stick!
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I don’t know if Site Admin are allowed to enter, but I would like to see some actual figures, preferably road trials, to see how much fuel can be saved by using low rolling resistance tyres.
The competition is being run and admin’d by Michelin, so no involvement from here, also site admins are also members/volunteers not employee’s so no reason why not
i personally, have not used the low rolling resistance tyres
i have heard many stories about them and how good they are, but, never seen any actual figures based on road trials
what would the fuel savings be for an identical vehicle carrying an identical load on the same road journey?
and, how does that compare with the extra overall cost of the Michelin tyre compared to another tyre make, e.g. Uniroyal for the whole tyre life/fuel consumption?
i tried some hankook ecube drives, i was very sceptical as at the time i was on the poultry job ie backroads and farm tracks,went back on containers about 6 months after fitting, not having got stuck anywhere in particular, the first thing i realised was that they were probably not going to last two years (i got 3 years out of a set of bridgestones) so i wasnt too thrilled, then on further investigation, they only start with 14mm of tread compared to 22mm on th hankook dh05 block pattern drive tyre - and they cost less!!! so thats the last time i let a tyre firm influence my choice of tyres until someone proves to me the save you huge amounts of money in other areas!
To answer the questions above from Denis F and Shuttlespanker:
what would the fuel savings be for an identical vehicle carrying an identical load on the same road journey?
Depends on the vehicle, the tyres you are already running, the type of journey you make and the actual fuel consumption at the time, but we normally find in the region of 6% to 12%.
and, how does that compare with the extra overall cost of the Michelin tyre compared to another tyre make, e.g. Uniroyal for the whole tyre life/fuel consumption?
You are correct, we must look at the whole life cost of the tyre not just one aspect. We believe from our research that the cost of fuel is approximately 6 times the cost of tyres for most operators. On this basis, if by changing tyres a 10% fuel saving can be made, this represents the equivalent of approximately 60% of the tyre cost. Using the correct low rolling resistance tyres for your application should not result in any loss of mileage and may actually return an increase in life and a corresponding saving there too.
If they have less rolling resistance does that mean they have less grip ? ( I spend a lot of time on farm tracks)
You must choose the correct low rolling resistance tyres for your application. You need damage resistance and good grip on tracks which are very specific requirements and depend on tread block design. You may not be able to use tyres from the most fuel efficient tyre ranges as these are built for straight line motorway type work, but there are tyres available that will work in your application. The best thing to do is to contact one of our Representatives or a Michelin Technical Manager and discuss what tyres you are currently running and you will get advice on the best tyres from our range for your application and we should be able to predict the likely gains in fuel.
In terms of road grip, large deformations of the rubber in the tyre absorb energy and contribute to its rolling resistance. Reducing these large deformations helps to reduce rolling resistance. It is true that some very small deformations in the tread blocks are necessary in order that the tyre may generate grip by interacting with the road surface. However, these deformations are much smaller than the energy absorbing compression of the tyre rubber as it runs and therefore they do not significantly affect rolling resistance. The small deformations can also be isolated from the larger deformations by careful tyre design so that Grip and Rolling resistance can be treated separately. Low rolling resistance tyres can indeed have better grip than their predecessors.Â
so, what is the cost to a haulier to buy and have fitted a low rolling resistance drive axle tyre, majority of the work is motorway or dual carriageway driving?
or does info that need to be from a tyre supplier and not yourself?
shuttlespanker:
so, what is the cost to a haulier to buy and have fitted a low rolling resistance drive axle tyre, majority of the work is motorway or dual carriageway driving?
or does info that need to be from a tyre supplier and not yourself?
Hi Shuttlespanker,
Thank you for the question - the haulier would need to speak to their local tyre dealer.
Michelin Truck UK:
To answer the questions above from Denis F and Shuttlespanker:
what would the fuel savings be for an identical vehicle carrying an identical load on the same road journey?
Depends on the vehicle, the tyres you are already running, the type of journey you make and the actual fuel consumption at the time, but we normally find in the region of 6% to 12%.
and, how does that compare with the extra overall cost of the Michelin tyre compared to another tyre make, e.g. Uniroyal for the whole tyre life/fuel consumption?
You are correct, we must look at the whole life cost of the tyre not just one aspect. We believe from our research that the cost of fuel is approximately 6 times the cost of tyres for most operators. On this basis, if by changing tyres a 10% fuel saving can be made, this represents the equivalent of approximately 60% of the tyre cost. Using the correct low rolling resistance tyres for your application should not result in any loss of mileage and may actually return an increase in life and a corresponding saving there too.
If they have less rolling resistance does that mean they have less grip ? ( I spend a lot of time on farm tracks)
You must choose the correct low rolling resistance tyres for your application. You need damage resistance and good grip on tracks which are very specific requirements and depend on tread block design. You may not be able to use tyres from the most fuel efficient tyre ranges as these are built for straight line motorway type work, but there are tyres available that will work in your application. The best thing to do is to contact one of our Representatives or a Michelin Technical Manager and discuss what tyres you are currently running and you will get advice on the best tyres from our range for your application and we should be able to predict the likely gains in fuel.
In terms of road grip, large deformations of the rubber in the tyre absorb energy and contribute to its rolling resistance. Reducing these large deformations helps to reduce rolling resistance. It is true that some very small deformations in the tread blocks are necessary in order that the tyre may generate grip by interacting with the road surface. However, these deformations are much smaller than the energy absorbing compression of the tyre rubber as it runs and therefore they do not significantly affect rolling resistance. The small deformations can also be isolated from the larger deformations by careful tyre design so that Grip and Rolling resistance can be treated separately. Low rolling resistance tyres can indeed have better grip than their predecessors.Â
are these figures based on the X-line tyres fitted to the whole unit or just the drive axle?
thanks for that i see your question is still posted!
i asked a direct question and the post was removed, other members posts are still here whats the point of being a sponsor of the o/d’s forum if o/d’s are unable to ask direct questions regarding michelin tyres?
Moose:
thanks for that i see your question is still posted!
i asked a direct question and the post was removed, other members posts are still here whats the point of being a sponsor of the o/d’s forum if o/d’s are unable to ask direct questions regarding michelin tyres?
Your question is HERE in a more relevant topic,
However remember the guys from Michelin on here are from the technical side and not sales, as said if you want to discuss individual sales requirements then a call to your local distributor is what you need to do. This forum is not Michelins help desk/Showroom or customer service department. While Michelin may choose to give technical advice on their own products if relevant, I strongly doubt if they will get involved publicly on individual deals/cases or in discussions on competitors products. I do know that some members here have been contacted privately about their specific situation.
Also like any other user of this site it is entirely up to Michelin which topics/threads they interact with, there is no compulsion for them to answer any if they don’t wish to, They could have simply had their banner on the forum and left it at that, but have offered technical advice where appropriate.
Savings on low rolling resistance tyres rely very much on the work you are doing. I have tried Michelin low rr products before with a promise of 5 to 10% increase in fuel economy but unfortunately none of these savings materialised. The tyres cost more than Michelin “black” tyres and did not last as long.
My youngest truck, an 11 plate fh is 5 to 7% more economical than all my other older trucks. This sticks out like a sore thumb every week, it is obvious when calculating economy figures it stands out so clear.
The “green” Michelin tyres made so little difference to the economy figures that I would not try them again unless I altered the work the trucks do.
My advice - if you do a lot of mileage and motorway work, double shift trunking etc, give them a try. If like me you do regional trips 100 to 150 miles radius from base with an occasional longer trip then I would avoid them.
so no reason why not