Tires: Getting new tires, Fuel Economy, Rolling Resistance

Question
Have you every had any complaints about mileage dropping after the purchase a Uniroyal (Tiger Paw) tire made by Michelin.  I'm shopping for new tires and am afraid of risking a change from a Dunlop Tire to the Uniroyal tire because previously, I changed from a Dunlop Tire to a Cooper HT tire and my mileage went down by about 3 or 4 miles per gallon.  Don't want that to happen again. I have a Toyota RAV4 that needs four new tires. -- Kay

Answer
Kay,

You should be aware of a couple of things:

1)  New tires have worse fuel economy than worn out tires - even if the tires are otherwise identical.

2)  OE tires will give you better fuel economy than replacement market tires, but the OE tires will not wear as well.  

My opinion is that you will pay more in the long run with the OE tires.  I think it is better to have long wearing replacment tires.