Do Larger Tires Affect MPG? We Put Our Ford Transit Camper Van to the Test!

Does tire size affect MPG and fuel mileage? We test whether larger tires affect the MPG of our 2021 Ford Transit camper van. We're trying to get better fuel economy by swapping out our BFG KO2s for the smaller factory wheels and tires. Van life can get expensive with all the traveling we do so we're looking for ways to better our miles-per-gallon.

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[functionalvanconversion]

Great analysis! Awesome van! We have same van (not nearly as cool) and we did notice a loss of MPG at speeds over 65 MPH and it progressively gets worse as you approach 80 mph (we went from Vanco stock 255 75 16) . Our van is a medium roof, but the tires gaves us almost 1.5" lift as it now barely fits in our garage. When our van tires were brand new our speedometer was off by 5 miles (6 at over 67 mph according to GPS). Our van is a 2017 and we get an average of 15/16 mixed city/hwy. We keep our speeds under 65 MPH and try to stay around 50 MPH on lonely roads and we can get up to 19 MPG (I GPS from gas station to gas station and use the miles driven/gallons pumped). Thanks again!!!!

[danielsuarez]

Awesome video, have the same van but the NA engine and consistently get about 18 mpg. Was wondering how the larger tires would affect it so now i know. In my opinion whats killing your mpg is that roof rack acting like a parachute. Keep up the interesting and informative videos! 👍

[harveysmith]

The larger tyres will up your gear ratio, it will slow down your acceleration and use more fuel to do that but once your up to speed you will use less fuel, the lower RPM is the confirmation of this.
The KO's are the best compromise for on/off road and last a very long time so they save you money there

[darrellbrixey]

Thank you for another awesome video guys! 😎🤙🏻🤙🏻

[klgbca]

Bingo: the lower engine RPM washes out the tread inefficiencies of the larger tire. I'm glad you did this test.

[bruceallen]

I really appreciate the work you have put into doing this. I drive a Jeep and put the factory size while being more off road aggressive, so this will give me a point of reference.
Thumb up for this.

[DavidJohnson-yyiu]

I think you experimental design was right on (same pump, exact same route at the same speeds). Your comparison numbers are what I would expect based on similar comparisons made over the years in my vehicles. I would expect larger wheels with the same tread design to be equal. And I suspect that the lower MPG for your KO2s might be a result of the more open tread pattern and higher rolling resistance. (There are alot of us Dave Johnsons ;-))

[gosmall.livelarge]

Great tips, as always. Thanks Joe n Kait :)

[reh]

Very interesting and I look forward to the next installment. There are 2 other questions I hope you answer. 1) how does each set of tire differ in handling, and road noise; interstate, 2 lane highway and off highway driving. I’ve been debating for a while if I want a more aggressive tire. I assume there is a lift on your van, was there any sheet metal removal in order to accommodate the larger tires?

[dondouglas]

looking forward to the results with the stock tires/wheels after your drive to Storyteller land. Thanks for the video!

[YT-MY]

Nice to have you do this comparison. I suspect there can be quite high variability in pump shut-off, especially with a few gallon test. Good to follow-up with a long distance test.
I wonder if you can share more on the likes/dislikes of a 4x4 B-class over the 4x4 truck camper. I imagine comfort, overall room, parking, driving and access while driving are big factors. Off-road capability may be similar? Your ranking of these would be interesting.

[johnwiltsey]

3 factors (minor) that you didn’t mention are tire and wheel weight, width, and the fact that the aftermarket wheels lift the van creating slightly more wind resistance. I have an Escape with 2.0 eco boost with a small lift and upsized Wranglers and the biggest difference is IN MY HEAD as the display shows average mpg about 10% lower than it used to. Of course I didn’t recalibrate Speedo so makes perfect sense. I also notice a little wind noise from under the front end now and suspect the air under the car is more turbulent.

[jamestiberiuskirk]

Been watching you all for sometime, and appreciate the content. Thank you.

[mikecolesvids]

Interesting and different from my experience with over sized tires. I’d compute distance with a gps for accuracy and bump that highway speed up to 75. Unless ya really take it easy through Kansas ha! Those motors will roll at 90 effortlessly. Great test and anxious to see the “real world” results. Thanks!

[travissmithoh]

Small test loops cause big variances. The TFL channel guys do the same thing. It's hard to get the true numbers until you can average out a few tanks. Interested to see how it works out. Staying east of the Rockies will have a big impact on your pocketbook if that's what you are concerned about.

[AJourneyOfYourSoul]

That seat belt cover is like snuggling up with Chewbacca every time you drive.

Thanks for doing this video. I am surprised too. I thought for sure you would get 1-2 mpg better.

Can’t wait to hear how the long term testing does.

[RichardCrabbe]

You can use an OBD tool to see actual real time fuel economy. The tool and associated software can see how much fuel is going through the injectors. The Everlanders use a similar device but I can't remember the brand

[eagleeatsmonkey]

a very good video info for us ... thanks

[MrGoodaches]

Answer is already available by looking at electric cars that offer multiple tire sizes. Ranges are lowered with the larger tires. It’s all the same physics regardless of whether your fuel is electrons or petrol. This is only true within a reasonable range - get too tiny on the wheel size and other problems occur.

[DavidSmith-lptz]

How was the ride? That would be an interesting comparison. Quite a challenge to set up criteria. I would think that a narrower tire would get better gas milage considering less friction and resistance.