5 All-Season Tires With the Least Amount of Rolling Resistance
Choosing the best tires for your lifestyle is one of the most important vehicle maintenance choices you will make. They are a critical ingredients in your ability to brake, accelerate, and achieve optimal fuel mileage. That’s why it can be important to get the best tires for you. Rolling resistance is simply the force it will take to get your tire…rolling. Chunky off-road tires, for example, will have more rolling resistance than slick highway tires. The less rolling resistance a tire has, the more efficient the vehicle can be. So without further ado: here are the five all-season tires with the least rolling resistance.
1. Continental PureContact LS (10 pounds)
According to Consumer Reports, a tire’s rolling resistance can affect its fuel economy, and the less rolling resistance it has, the better its fuel economy. In general, a tire with 10% less rolling resistance will get a 1% increase in the car’s fuel economy. One of the all-season tires with the least rolling resistance is the Continental PureContact LS, which has a rolling resistance of about 10 pounds.
These tires cost about $142 each and are fairly solid overall. These tires are some of the best when it comes to how they handle. They also have a tread life of about 75,000 miles, one of the highest scores among all the all-season tires on our list.
2. General Altimax 365 AW (9.9 pounds)
The General Altimax 365 AW tires cost about $115 each and provide slightly less rolling resistance than the Continental tires. That slight difference doesn’t equal huge gains in fuel economy, but these tires are still solid all around.
These tires performed well in winter conditions but had a more modest performance in the dry and wet braking tests. They also have a tread life of about 60,000 miles, which is average.
3. Hankook Kinergy 4s2 (9.6 pounds)
There’s a sizable difference in rolling resistance between the Hankook Kinergy 4s2 tires and the Continental or General tires, and there are some significant differences in other areas too. These Hankook tires cost about $129 each, and just like the Altimax 365 AW, they performed well in the winter tests.
However, these Hankook tires also did well on dry braking tests. But they have two major downsides. These tires were noisy compared to the General tires, and they only have a tread life of about 55,000 miles.
2. Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II (9.3 pounds)
The Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II tire has a rolling resistance of 9.3 pounds; it is even more fuel efficient than the other tires listed. But it does have trade-offs.
These Pirelli tires cost about $130 each, and while they did well on dry, wet, and snow braking tests, they didn’t do well on the ice braking test. They also have a tread life of about 60,000 miles.
1. Nexen N5000 Platinum (9.1 pounds)
Finally, the all-season tire with the lowest rolling resistance is the Nexen N5000 Platinum, which comes in at 9.1 pounds. These tires are also reasonably affordable, costing about $116 each. On top of that, these tires are solid all-around.
These Nexen tires scored well on almost every test, which was true for the winter tests too. These tires have no major shortcomings if you don’t mind swapping early and often. The main issue with these tires is their tread life: they came in at about 55,000 miles. That isn’t the lowest amount of tread life for all-season tires, but it’s near the bottom.
Next, learn how you can get even more efficient summer-specific tires and save money on winter tires or learn more about how your tire choice affects your fuel economy in this final video:
