Experimental Analysis of Tire Inflation Pressure Effects on Fuel Consumption and CO₂ Emissions in a Gasoline-Powered Light Vehicle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56904/imejour.v1i1.202Keywords:
automotive engineering, tire inflation pressure, fuel consumption, rolling resistance, CO2 emmision, light vehicleAbstract
Fuel consumption reduction remains an important issue in automotive engineering because it affects vehicle operating costs, energy efficiency, and carbon dioxide emissions. One of the practical factors influencing fuel consumption is tire inflation pressure. Under-inflated tires increase tire deformation and rolling resistance, which require additional engine power to maintain vehicle motion. This study aims to analyze the effect of tire inflation pressure variation on fuel consumption and estimated CO₂ emissions in a gasoline-powered light vehicle. The experimental design used four tire pressure levels, namely 26 psi, 30 psi, 33 psi, and 36 psi. Fuel consumption was measured using the full-to-full method on a fixed driving route under controlled operating conditions, including vehicle load, fuel type, route distance, and driving behavior. CO₂ emissions were estimated using a gasoline emission conversion factor. The experimental template shows that lower tire pressure tends to increase fuel consumption. At 26 psi, the vehicle recorded the highest fuel consumption, while pressure near the manufacturer’s recommendation produced lower fuel consumption. The estimated CO₂ emissions followed the same pattern because they were directly proportional to the amount of gasoline consumed. These findings indicate that tire pressure maintenance can contribute to fuel efficiency improvement and emission reduction without requiring modification of the engine system. The main contribution of this study is the formulation of a simple experimental framework for evaluating tire pressure, fuel economy, and emission relationships in light vehicles. This research is relevant for automotive maintenance practice, energy efficiency studies, and sustainable transportation engineering.
References
[1] S. Chandra, “A study on vehicle tire inflation and fuel consumption,” 2006. [Online]. Available: https://transweb.sjsu.edu/research/vehicle-tire-inflation-fuel-consumption
[2] M. Muñoz, M. Arenas, R. Rodríguez, and W. R. Calderón-Muñoz, “Effect of electrical load and operating conditions on the hydraulic performance of a 10 kW Pelton turbine micro hydropower plant,” Civil Engineering Journal, vol. 10, no. 7, 2024, doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-07-019.
[3] European Commission Joint Research Centre, “Review of in-use factors affecting the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of passenger cars,” 2016. [Online]. Available: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC100150
[4] J. Kim, D. Lee, and S. Park, “Assessment of energy consumption characteristics of ultra-heavy-duty vehicles under real driving conditions,” Energies, vol. 16, no. 5, p. 2333, 2023, doi: 10.3390/en16052333.
[5] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Evaluation of the effectiveness of TPMS in proper tire inflation,” 2012.
[6] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Tire pressure maintenance: A statistical investigation,” 2009.
[7] K. Jain, R. Singh, and P. Agarwal, “Development of a frugal onboard tire pressure monitoring control system,” Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series C, vol. 105, pp. 897–908, 2024, doi: 10.1007/s40032-024-01086-4.
[8] AAA, “The accuracy of tire pressure monitoring systems,” 2023. [Online]. Available: https://newsroom.aaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Report-Tire-Pressure-Monitoring-Systems-October-2023.pdf
[9] A. Papacharalampopoulos, P. Stavropoulos, and G. Chryssolouris, “OBD-II sensor diagnostics for monitoring vehicle operation and consumption,” Energy Procedia, vol. 157, pp. 1439–1448, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2018.11.309.
[10] G. Kostadinov and K. Penev, “Driving behavior analysis and classification by vehicle OBD data using machine learning,” The Journal of Supercomputing, vol. 79, pp. 19800–19834, 2023, doi: 10.1007/s11227-023-05364-3.
[11] H. Abediasl, A. Ansari, V. Hosseini, C. R. Koch, and M. Shahbakhti, “Real-time vehicular fuel consumption estimation using machine learning and on-board diagnostics data,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D, vol. 238, no. 1, pp. 98–113, 2024, doi: 10.1177/09544070231185609.
[12] S. Gota, C. Huizenga, K. Peet, N. Medimorec, and S. Bakker, “Decarbonising transport to achieve Paris Agreement targets,” Energy Efficiency, vol. 12, pp. 363–386, 2019, doi: 10.1007/s12053-018-9671-3.
[13] R. Kumar et al., “Transforming the transportation sector: Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions through electric vehicles (EVs) and exploring sustainable pathways,” AIP Advances, vol. 14, no. 3, p. 35320, 2024, doi: 10.1063/5.0193506.
[14] M. Shafique, X. Luo, and M. F. Javed, “An overview of life cycle assessment of hydrogen energy systems with renewable energy,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112499.
[15] A. Alghamdi and M. Alanazi, “Impact of driving characteristic parameters and vehicle type on fuel consumption and emissions performance over real driving cycles,” PLOS ONE, vol. 20, no. 1, p. e0316234, 2025, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0316234.
[16] A. Boggio-Marzet, A. Monzon, A. M. Rodriguez-Alloza, and Y. Wang, “Combined influence of traffic conditions, driving behavior, and type of road on fuel consumption: Real driving data from Madrid Area,” International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 301–313, 2022, doi: 10.1080/15568318.2021.1875984.
[17] R. A. Ibrahim and N. E. Zakzouk, “A machine learning framework for predicting fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in hybrid and combustion vehicles,” PLOS ONE, vol. 21, no. 2, p. e0342418, 2026, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0342418.
[18] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “The 2024 EPA automotive trends report: Greenhouse gas emissions, fuel economy, and technology since 1975,” 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/automotive-trends
[19] Scottish Government Transport Research, “Effect of road rolling resistance on carbon emissions,” 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.transport.gov.scot/media/ekjkyety/effect-of-road-rolling-resistance-on-carbon-emissions.pdf
[20] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Emission factors for greenhouse gas inventories,” 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2023-03/ghg_emission_factors_hub.pdf
[21] J. Thomas, B. West, and S. Huff, “Fuel economy and emissions effects of low tire pressure, open windows, roof top and hitch-mounted cargo, and trailer,” SAE International Journal of Passenger Cars - Mechanical Systems, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 862–872, 2014, doi: 10.4271/2014-01-1614.
[22] P. Sörqvist and M. Holmgren, “Reducing tire rolling resistance to save fuel and lower emissions,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D, 2022, doi: 10.1177/09544070221076694.
[23] K. Holmberg, P. Andersson, and A. Erdemir, “Global energy consumption due to friction in passenger cars,” Tribology International, vol. 47, pp. 221–234, 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.triboint.2011.11.022.
[24] B. Szczucka-Lasota, T. Wordal, and S. Blasiak, “Influence of tire pressure on fuel consumption in trucks with installed tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS),” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 19, no. 1, 2020, doi: 10.1088/1757-899X/19/1/012012.
[25] J. Eckert and F. Santiciolli, “Influence of the tires pressure in the vehicle fuel consumption,” in Congresso Nacional de Engenharia Mecânica, ABCM, 2016.
[26] S. D’Ambrosio and R. Vitolo, “Potential impact of active tire pressure management on fuel consumption reduction in passenger vehicles,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part D: Journal of Automobile Engineering, vol. 233, no. 6, pp. 1421–1437, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0954407018756776.
[27] X. Na and D. Cebon, “Quantifying fuel-saving benefit of low-rolling-resistance tyres from heavy goods vehicle in-service operations,” Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, vol. 111, p. 103432, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2022.103432.
[28] S. Bhat, A. Varghese, and B. E. Balachandran, “Study of two-wheel vehicle’s fuel consumption under the influence of tire inflation pressure,” Journal of Engineering and Sciences, vol. 3, no. 1, 2024, doi: 10.3126/jes2.v3i1.66243.
[29] A. Almusbahi, O. I. Azouza, and K. A. R. Masaud, “The influence of low tyre pressure on fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions: A practical experiment in Libya,” Journal of Pure & Applied Sciences, vol. 24, no. 3, 2025, doi: 10.51984/jopas.v24i3.3115.
[30] R. K. Das, M. A. M. Hossain, M. T. Islam, and S. C. Banik, “Effect of tire inflation pressure and wheel front toe angle on fuel consumption of a light-duty vehicle,” International Journal of Automotive Technology, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1235–1247, 2023, doi: 10.1007/s12239-023-0118-2.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 MA Hakim, RA Maulana, S Sukmara, E Heriyana, F Qudratullah; Tari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Abstract 26
- PDF (English) 5
