Yup, nothing like refreshing a 2 year old thread!! LOL

To answer the question on tires, it all comes down to the rolling resistance. Higher rolling resistance == less MPG.

 

You canĀ“t think in a worse stop and go conditions as those which are present in Santiago de Chile commercial areas. I live close to my work (is a 1/4 hour walk, 1.3 km) but in the middle there are 5 lights, in two of them you need to wait two lights cicles, in the other you arrive when red is on, some streets are plenty of pedestrians here and there, etc. The engine reaches the correct temp at the arrival. Nothing worse is imaginable for fuel purposes. My 4WD gets exactly 5.2 kpl under that conditions and I measured the consumption several timesobteining the same value. 5.2 kpl is 12.23 mpg. The gas price here is aprox. US$1.3 per liter or $5 the gallon so the people usually do not want to run the big US cars. But they do.
Mymileage should be better under more permanent driving conditions as was described here.

 

Well, not to hijack the thread, but, this got me thinking about a article I read some time ago. About how Ford in 1933 (notice the year) had a V-8 engine place in a test car that would seat 11 people, go 120 miles per hour and get this..Drum roll...30 Miles per gallon.

Now that was in 1933...and look at the pitfull gas mileage we are getting now regardless of size of engine..

We have been had again by the big motor companys.