285 to 255 thoughts

[markymark191]

Back story - As of right now I have 285/75r16 ko2's. I like them, they handle well, are quiet, perform well etc.. The fact is I don't need an E rated tire. My off roading consists of mild trails and logging roads. Also, I will be taking some 500-1,000 mile trips occasionally and my MPG is pretty awful. Being winter and having remote start, I haven't been able to gauge it as accurately as fall, but even then its been pretty bad.

TO my questions. I am looking at getting 255/85r16s. my K02's weigh in at 59lbs. There aren't a lot of options with 255/85r16 tire size. I have ran across some cooper ST in that size. Seems like the ST Maxx have kind of taken over the St's, but there still seems to be some out there. The cooper st come in at 48lb. The wheels I have right now are 8inch. Do you guys think I could gain back 2mpg or so by switching to a narrower lighter tire like that? Another reason for the possible switch would be the acceleration. Or are there other options to improve my mpg without stepping down from 33's? I feel like the Cooper st is my best shot as of right now. I have the 2004 V6.

I have checked the search and read some information on tacoma forums and expedition forum.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Double check the weight- Cooper ST Maxx is a heavy tire, and I thought the 255/85/16 were closer to 59 pounds. The tricky thing with the 255/85r16 or 255/80r17 sizes is that pretty much everything is an e rated tire. Maxxis makes the bighorn in that size at a C rating, but I still got bad mileage with those- probably because of the mud tread pattern.

The BFG KO2 285/70r17 in C rating would be a good option- a 33” tire that is 50 pounds. I plan on running those after my 255/80r17 ST maxx wear out.

The best tire for MPG would be the Michelin LTX in 285/75r16- not the burliest tire but great for a rig that sees mostly street use and not too much mud.

 

[ElZilcho]

Do you guys think I could gain back 2mpg or so by switching to a narrower lighter tire like that? Another reason for the possible switch would be the acceleration. Or are there other options to improve my mpg without stepping down from 33's?

Short answer, no. Long answer...

Without knowing exactly what kind of fuel economy you're getting now, I would say that, unless you lost 2mpg when you made the switch from stock to your current setup, there is no combination that will get it back... short of returning to stock.

I do recommend going with a lower load range. Not becuase of fuel economy, but becasue of ride comfort. Unless you're towing, E rated tires are unecessary, and usually require higher pressures to achieve their full rating; denigrating ride quality and off-road compliance.

As far as acceleration, there is a direct correlation between tire radius and applied torque. That's a personal decision. My Vespa will beat a Porsche from 0-4MPH (yeah, four) but my Vespa has 10" wheels. In the time it takes me to shift to second the Porsche is doing 40.

Then again, I'm six beers in right now, so if anyone tells you I'm wrong, make sure they're in for four beers or less.:cheers:

 

[970mtnrunner]

Short answer, no. Long answer...

Without knowing exactly what kind of fuel economy you're getting now, I would say that, unless you lost 2mpg when you made the switch from stock to your current setup, there is no combination that will get it back... short of returning to stock.

I played this game with an '05 Tacoma and I agree thats pretty much right on the money. Its the weight of the LT tire that kills the mileage more than the size.
I ran 285/75 and 255/85 and they were both 2-3 mpg. When I first got it, I put 265/75 on Ivan Stewart TRD wheels from my '01 Tacoma after about a week and even with those I lost 1-2 mpg.
All the tires were LT rated. I think the 265 and 285 were D load and the 255 E load.
The only acceleration changes I noticed was that it was obviously slower from a stop once I took off the stock setup.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Silly question but are you factoring in the additional radius of the taller tires when calculating MPG? What type of driving do you do most? City? Highway? Offroad? I think you would see a little better MPG with a 255/85. Unfortunately, it looks like most tire companies are scaling back on their 16" tire offerings and the 255/85 is the first to go. If you can find an all-terrain 255/85 would be your best bet if you still want a 33" tire. Your best bet may be the Cooper ST in the 255/85 size.

FWIW, I run 255/80/17 ST Maxx and I still get pretty decent mpg as long as I don't drive too fast. The item that had the biggest effect on the mpg was the front bumper. The ST Maxx has been a good tire all around, really impressed with them offroad but I don't find them to be very good on wet or icy roads.

 

[markymark191]

Double check the weight- Cooper ST Maxx is a heavy tire, and I thought the 255/85/16 were closer to 59 pounds. The tricky thing with the 255/85r16 or 255/80r17 sizes is that pretty much everything is an e rated tire. Maxxis makes the bighorn in that size at a C rating, but I still got bad mileage with those- probably because of the mud tread pattern.

The BFG KO2 285/70r17 in C rating would be a good option- a 33” tire that is 50 pounds. I plan on running those after my 255/80r17 ST maxx wear out.

The best tire for MPG would be the Michelin LTX in 285/75r16- not the burliest tire but great for a rig that sees mostly street use and not too much mud.

Thanks for the reply. I was referring to the cooper discoverer st, not the st maxx, I should have worded that better. There only seem to be a couple places where I could get the cooper st because the st maxx has taken them over i believe. The older st come in at 48lb and the st maxx does come in at 59lb, so the same weight as my k02s. Its too bad how few options there are 255s especially in the 16 inch rim. Makes me kinda wish i got 17s. I agree with you on the E rated tires. I understand a lot of people are going to need the E, but I feel like C rated would be enough for a lot of us who still do some trails and such and want a better tire but aren't doing rock crawling etc... Ill check out those michelin too, thanks

 

[markymark191]

Short answer, no. Long answer...

Without knowing exactly what kind of fuel economy you're getting now, I would say that, unless you lost 2mpg when you made the switch from stock to your current setup, there is no combination that will get it back... short of returning to stock.

I do recommend going with a lower load range. Not becuase of fuel economy, but becasue of ride comfort. Unless you're towing, E rated tires are unecessary, and usually require higher pressures to achieve their full rating; denigrating ride quality and off-road compliance.

As far as acceleration, there is a direct correlation between tire radius and applied torque. That's a personal decision. My Vespa will beat a Porsche from 0-4MPH (yeah, four) but my Vespa has 10" wheels. In the time it takes me to shift to second the Porsche is doing 40.

Then again, I'm six beers in right now, so if anyone tells you I'm wrong, make sure they're in for four beers or less.:cheers:

When I had purchased the vehicle it had a spacer lift. I drove it up from arizona and got about 21-22mpg highway with 265/70r17 cooper tires(I forget what kind of coopers but they were more of a highway tire). What I have done since is keep the spacer in the front and switched out the spacer in the rear to new shocks and springs at 2" and switched wheels and tires to the ko2s in 285/75r16 and get about 16.5-17 highway. And I should have kept better track in the fall of my mpg because winter it wouldn't be accurate because I start my car and let it warm up just about everytime I use it. I would say when I did make the switch to the ko2 I lost about 3mpg. Thanks for the reply!

 

[markymark191]

Silly question but are you factoring in the additional radius of the taller tires when calculating MPG? What type of driving do you do most? City? Highway? Offroad? I think you would see a little better MPG with a 255/85. Unfortunately, it looks like most tire companies are scaling back on their 16" tire offerings and the 255/85 is the first to go. If you can find an all-terrain 255/85 would be your best bet if you still want a 33" tire. Your best bet may be the Cooper ST in the 255/85 size.

FWIW, I run 255/80/17 ST Maxx and I still get pretty decent mpg as long as I don't drive too fast. The item that had the biggest effect on the mpg was the front bumper. The ST Maxx has been a good tire all around, really impressed with them offroad but I don't find them to be very good on wet or icy roads.

Yes, I have factored in the additional radius for calculating mpg. I do a 50/50 mix of city and highway I would say. Every once in a while I will go camping and mild off roading and logging roads. Nothing too crazy. Being in Minnesota, a decent amount of snow and ice. If I could find a mild light a/t tire in 255 that would be ideal. I know the skinnier tire will help with mpg along with lighter, but if I switched to a lighter 285 I'm not sure the mpg would be worth it. After the ST maxx wear out are you thinking of keeping the 255 size? Curious to see how you like it being I have never bought that size.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Yes, I have factored in the additional radius for calculating mpg. I do a 50/50 mix of city and highway I would say. Every once in a while I will go camping and mild off roading and logging roads. Nothing too crazy. Being in Minnesota, a decent amount of snow and ice. If I could find a mild light a/t tire in 255 that would be ideal. I know the skinnier tire will help with mpg along with lighter, but if I switched to a lighter 285 I'm not sure the mpg would be worth it. After the ST maxx wear out are you thinking of keeping the 255 size? Curious to see how you like it being I have never bought that size.

I really like the 255/80/17's and I think it works with the 4th gen platform well. I'm considering running this size again but I also have the itch to jump up to 35's next. Still have quite a bit of life in the ST Maxx so I have a while to decide. Either way, I'll probably go with the Toyo RT or Nitto Ridge Grappler next.

 

[LOSTR4]

MY Cooper ST MAXXs are amazing...but I did lose MPG when switching from 265/70s to the 255/80s....lots of grip in all climates and they do incredibly well on ice too...but we've dropped from an average of 15MPG to 13MPG since the tall & Skinny upgrade...

 

[oldmansimek]

I run 255/75 duratracs on the wifes car C-rated love the width great in the snow, I noticed no mileage change. I know some genius is going to have something to say about this but running E rated tires on any 4runner is real dumb. They are meant for towing and hauling (a lot) on an already heavy vehicle, they do not help with offroad or on road or anything in between for a light vehicle that is not meant for towing or hauling.

 

[Drunner97]

I run 255/75 duratracs on the wifes car C-rated love the width great in the snow, I noticed no mileage change. I know some genius is going to have something to say about this but running E rated tires on any 4runner is real dumb. They are meant for towing and hauling (a lot) on an already heavy vehicle, they do not help with offroad or on road or anything in between for a light vehicle that is not meant for towing or hauling.

I'll second the 255/75/17 Duratracs if you aren't doing anything that's running in rocky terrain. Otherwise the sidewalls are a death trap and you better have a warranty. I went through 1 tire every 2-3 months over 1 1/2 years before I upgraded to 255/80/17 KM2s. The guys at discount knew me well. I was getting decent mpg while I had them and lost a few when I went to the KM2. I stopped counting mpg a long time ago, it's a truck with a big engine, not a 4 cyl civic.

 

[oldmansimek]

That is because you had the light duty p-rated duratracs which are pretty much for a car, they just started making them in c-rated sometime last year.

 

[Drunner97]

That is because you had the light duty p-rated duratracs which are pretty much for a car, they just started making them in c-rated sometime last year.

There's plenty of reports from P to E rated of still having sidewall issues. It's a 2 ply sidewall and if you're going to be in anything rocky you risk cutting one open. I sliced up a 10 ply KM2 sidewall and continued to wheel on it, drive on it, and generally abused it for another 5k miles before I upgraded to 35s.

 

[markymark191]

I run 255/75 duratracs on the wifes car C-rated love the width great in the snow, I noticed no mileage change. I know some genius is going to have something to say about this but running E rated tires on any 4runner is real dumb. They are meant for towing and hauling (a lot) on an already heavy vehicle, they do not help with offroad or on road or anything in between for a light vehicle that is not meant for towing or hauling.

I should have gone with 17 inch wheels, many more options. There isn't a lot to choose from that isn't E rated for 285 or 255 for 16 inch. With the options I have I will probably just stick with what I have for now and when these wear out hopefully some more options are available and if not perhaps switch to 17. We will see.