2001 Forester - lower gas milage with ComforTread

[Boris]

Hi,

I installed GoodYear ComforTread on my 2001 Forester recently. Before that,
gas milage in city used to be ~20 mpg. But after I installed the new tires,
it became ~18 mpg. Is this normal? Or maybe the tires were installed
incorrectly?
Btw, I like driving with these new tires...my only concern is this gas
milage difference.

Thanks for any hints,
Boris

 

[BobN]

Check the tire pressure. The numbers on the car door are too low. I'm
running mine at 36 psi all around.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Not too unusual for some tires to provide lower gas mileage in order
to get a better ride. I run my Forester at 32/30 which seems a good
compromise. Check your tires overnight cold with a good tire gauge.

 

[George Bame]

Similarly, I run my Michelin Hydroedges at 34 all round. Running them at
28-30 drops mileage a few mpg. Plus, I like the handling at the higher
pressure -- might be my imagination, but my Forester feels more responsive
at the 34 psi setting.

George Bame
Norfolk, VA

 

[Kevin Hall]

Chances are good that the circumference of the new tires is different from
that of the previous ones by enough to change your speedo and odometer
readings very slightly. It doesn't take much to alter the readings by 10%

KH

 

[Sammi]

I'm not sure what kind of tire you had last time. But Comfortread has more grip on the road for
sure. More grip means more traction means more friction and more gas.

 

[AS]

For what is worth, this would be the second Goodyear tire model that I
hear drops the mileage. The other one is the triple tread something.