1000Mi update (gas mileage)
Ok, so I've had the tires for about 1000mi so far and have gone on two small trips, 95% highway miles. Here's what I've encountered gas mileage-wise:
1- Start of trip, fill to top.
2- 35lbs psi in all tires
3- Average highway speeds are about 65-70, no lead-footing it.
3- At half-tank, my trip odometer reads 177 or 178 miles.
So, 15.9/2 = 7.95 gallons used
178mi / 7.95 gallons = 22.3mi / gallon
That's very rough math and I have a feeling that I'm getting a little bit better gas mileage than that. At one point I had about 1/3 tank left and the trip odometer read that I put on about 230mi since fill-up. The 225/70/16 size is only about 1% larger than stock, but also has a more aggressive tread over the stock tire. When taking that into consideration and now looking at the math, this was a solid choice in a tire for a few reasons:
1- Bigger tire fills out the wheel well a *touch* more.
2- Gas mileage is very close to what I was experiencing with stock tires.
3- More aggressive tread without the weight, significant rolling resistance, or "biting/digging" tread patterns like the BFG T/A KO or General Grabber AT2.
4- Sure-footed all-season tire with M+S rating. There's a ton of siping on this tire!
I would love to hear your feedback/comments/questions about it....
Overall, I'm super happy with the purchase and really believe that this actual tire should have been a stock tire or at the very least, a dealer installed option for an "off-road" package.
The best part?
$115/tire installed, out the door price with free lifetime balancing/rotation!
-S