What’s up with the Republican attack on having properly inflated tires?

Question

Is it true that properly inflated tires and a regular tune-up would save America more oil per year than drilling offshore/in ANWR could produce?

Answer 1

No.  Cars today utilize computers to constantly adjust timing ... so the tune-ups of yesteryear are not needed.  This has been the case for over 20 years.  Obviously Obama is not an automative mechanic.

The "properly inflated tire" claim is based on assumptions of underinflated tires, how many miles these underflated tires may be driven, ignoring local air temperatures, and mostly being a "WAG" (wild-assed guess).  Show me the data, that automobiles were selected at random, that properly inflated tires increase mileage x miles per gallon, underinflated tire drivers are typical of the driving population, etc. and maybe it would be credible.

This is ridiculed because it does not address new sources of energy.  Conservation is nice, and everyone conserves since it is in their own self-interest, but it doesn't discover new sources of energy.

Alternative energy sources have been researched since when Christ was a corporal, and nothing significant to date.  Nada.

So what is Obama's energy policy?  Nuclear and drill are technologies available today and proven.  Alternatives may never pan out.

Answer 2

Dana,

Interesting numbers.  Does the math assume that all vehicles tires are improperly inflated?

Answer 3

I'm answering your addition first. Of course regular vehicle maintenance makes sense, what doesn't make sense is Obama's assumption in his statement that no one is doing that now, which is blatantly untrue. So his idea that it will save as much oil as what we can drill from ANWR is also false. So if McCain did attack what Obama said it's on that false assumption.

So tell me how can we save more oil by doing that if we already are doing that? We can't.

Answer 4

"who attacked"

Obama pointed out in a speech the fact that we could save as much money on gas by properly inflating our tires as we could by coastal drilling.

The McCain camp promptly attacked and ridiculed the statement.  Faced with the facts proving that the statement is absolutely true, they have retracted their criticism.  Once again, they look like fools.

This is truly the gang that can't shoot straight.  They used Paris Hilton in a campaign ad.  Her answer is hilarious.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536...

When Paris Hilton makes you look stupid, you're in real trouble.

EDIT - Dana - Save as much MONEY, not as much gas.  Different analysis, requires looking at the world market, etc.

Answer 5

The answer to your question is NO.

A little piece of advice.  Take anything said by a democrat for a gain of salt.

Answer 6

No, that would not save more oil than we could drill in ANWR and offshore.  Even if every car had low tire pressure, inflating them wouldn't do much at all.  Drilling and refining more is the only solution.  There are trillions of barrels available in the Dakotas and Colorado as well, so there's no reason we shouldn't be allowed to get it.  Why allow foreign countries to drill but not allow the US?  That's insane.

And no one said inflating flat tires with air or getting tune ups is a bad thing.

It's just that stating that this is the solution to high gas prices and will solve our dependence on foreign oil shows complete ignorance.

This just adds to the perception that Obama is pretty much a complete moron when it comes to economics.  He doesn't even appear to have any common sense either.

I used to think he was intelligent, but he's proved me wrong.

Obama will go down in history as the dumbest candidate ever to run for the office of the presidency.  Even dumber than Jimmy Carter, and that's saying something.

Answer 7

"What’s up with the Republican attack on having properly inflated tires?"

Who attacked?

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Edit:

Ahh, John McCain (why not say John McCain rather than all republicans?)

But really, I have yet to see where McCain attacked having properly inflated tires. I did see him attack Obama for acting like proper tire pressure will cure all our energy needs (essentially an attack on Obama for not supporting offshore drilling).

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Edit2:

Bob wrote

"EDIT - Dana - Save as much MONEY, not as much gas. Different analysis, requires looking at the world market, etc."

No, Obama specifically said we could save as much oil, not money. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L29yBMay...

Obama was wrong.

Answer 8

Hah the ironic thing is that soon after mocking Obama for making the tire inflation comment (and after the Republican Party released the Obama energy plan tire gauges), McCain said he supported AAA's recommendation to inflate tires to the proper pressure.  But when Obama says it, then it's mockable.  Nice double standard.

Let's figure out how much oil it would save - I've read that properly inflated tires can save up to 3% on fuel efficiency.  So let's say the average person can improve their fuel efficiency 2% by properly inflating their tires.  The average fuel efficiency in the US is around 25 mpg, so on average a person can save 0.5 mpg via tire inflation.

Americans drive about 3 trillion miles per year

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2...

So that 0.5 mpg improvement from 24.5 to 25 mpg will decrease fuel consumption from 122.45 billion to 120 billion, saving 2.45 billion gallons of gas per year.

42 gallons of oil make about 19.5 gallons of gas

http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html

So you're saving 5.28 billion gallons of oil.  There are 42 gallons in a barrel, so that's 126 million barrels per year saved via tire inflation.

There are about 7.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil in ANWR.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028-01/fs-00...

So it would take about 60 years of tire inflation to save the amount of oil that could be recovered from ANWR alone.  So I'd have to say Obama's statement is inaccurate.

Nevertheless, saving 126 million barrels per year is nothing to sneeze at.  The only reason he's being attacked is because Republicans want to increase offshore drilling because it's a popular proposal.

*edit* Bob - oh, well Benjamin asked about oil savings.  If you're talking about money savings, then inflating tires wins, because increasing oil drilling will have little impact on gas prices.  Less than the ~2% improvement in fuel economy from inflated tires.  Estimates generally put the gas price decrease at ~3 cents per gallon eventually, which is less than 1%.

BB - my math assumes that the average person's tires are not properly inflated.  Estimates have up to a 3-4% fuel efficiency improvement from inflating tires, so I cut that down to 2% on average.  It may be an overestimate, but it's probably in the ballpark.

For example, the last time I had my oil changed, they said the tire pressure was at 33-34 psi.  Max pressure rating for my tires is something like 44 psi.  So I was underinflated.  I keep meaning to check to see if they inflated my tires or if they just left them at 33 psi, but I keep forgetting (I don't drive it very often - wife usually has it).

Answer 9

If you call it an "attack" it only because the statement is false...

The figures for this statement are based on unrealistic situations.  For example, they take the fact that properly inflated tires can get X more miles to the gallon.  Then they figure that there are Y number of cars in the U.S.  X times Y= Savings  HOWEVER, are we to assume that absolutely nobody has properly inflated tires?

Just another way to shock us voters.

Answer 10

You have to define tune-up. Points plugs and condensers ain't what they were in 1985. Most cars aren't tuned up anymore.

The tire inflation statement is made assuming all vehicles tires are under-inflated and in any event, it would not save the amount of oil he leads you to believe it will. He basically has said tune you car up and keep the tires inflated and that will give us the oil we need over 10 years. Totally misleading/false statement. How about those that over inflate and get killed because of a blow-out and early wear on tires making replacements needed more frequently.

Last I knew, oil is used in rubber production for tires. Taking care of your vehicle is and having proper maintenance is not just a "conservative value" You're confusing "value" with smart use.

There is no way to determine even a ballpark figure of what inflated tires would mean as far as oil conservation. There is no way to test this and therefore, it is expected no-one will doubt what he said. I do.

Answer 11

No because ships, trains and airplanes use more oil than cars and trucks and they do not depend on inflated tires. Power plants and other sources also have no tires and they use more oil than cars and trucks do. The democrats do not want to do the drilling for more oil because the price of oil will come down and so will their profits from the current prices.

Answer 12

they're bashing Obama because they think this solution is simplistic and won't make much difference.  they'd like to think that we've all thought of and implemented it already.  pitiful

Answer 13

Because it is a DUMB idea--- that will not solve our energy crisis. Americans are not that stupid-- everyone that drives knows that tires must be properly inflated or gas mileage will suffer and-or the tire will wear out prematurely.

I don't need a SENATOR to tell me to do this...... and then go on vacation.

Answer 14

if you look at Obama's energy plan, itdoesn't't include drilling here in the US WHERE THE OIL IS. he wants alternative energy, electric cars, etc, and he wants it done in 6 years. mr Obama, while being intelligent, is naive at best. the infrastructure is not in place to support alternative energy sources, and wont be for sometime to support a large number of alternative energy powered cars.

Mr Obama suggests that merely inflating your tires to the proper pressure, and tuning up your car will save this magical amount of fuel. like somehow if you inflated your tires properly, and tuned your car up its fuel economy would jump from 15mpg to over 30mpg. the problem is that his numbers dont add up. the second problem is that the numbers he is using is way out of date. in fact they date back well before the early 80's when engines did need tuning on a regular basis, and tires were not as good as they are today. for example, my 76 el camino needs regular tune ups to maintain engine efficiency, but my mothers 97 sable wont need to be tuned for another 50k miles.

yes regular maintenance on todays cars will maximize fuel efficiency, but no where near what Mr Obama suggests. what this country needs is a comprehensive energy plan that has as its goal energy independence for this country. that will need to include drilling for more oil, building new nuclear power plants, liquefying coal to make gasoline, continued development of solar cells, geo thermal energy.

Answer 15

Politics at work. The energy crises is now resolved. I can now sleep at night. Knowing my bicycle tires will no longer contribute to GW.  

Answer 16

There's nothing wrong with keeping your tires inflated - - - but your car is inspected once a year for safety, and in most states that includes tire pressure.    And when you take your car in for an oil change, most places check the tires along with the oil, the lights, the filters, the fluids.....    

In short, your tire pressure is already being checked 4-5 times a year.   5-6 if you drive enough miles that you get an oil change 4-5 times a year.

Of course you should maintain the air pressure in your tires - - the issue is that Obama seemed to be suggesting that we weren't already doing that and that doing it more than we do now would have a significant impact on gasoline mileage, significant enough to have a noticeable effect on quantity demanded, and thus drive prices down.

As for Amy's comment about offshore drilling being "less sensible now than ever" perhaps she shouldn't comment on industries she doesn't know about.

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=RIG#c...

Answer 17

I am hearing a lot of public service ads advising people to keep their cars properly maintained which will boost mileage, but I haven't heard any Republican attacks along these lines.  As to the drilling, they will never let up, and it makes less sense now than it ever did, and doesn't solve any problems.  If someone crunched the numbers and put the facts into the kind of equation you're mentioning, I'm sure there would be a rebuttal just for rebutting's sake, I suppose.

I try to keep my head down where attack ads are concerned, but I'll try to keep one eye open so I can see what you're referring to.

Answer 18

The answer to the first and last questions is that there is no attack on inflating tires.

The answer to your second question is no.  To be honest, I'm surprised Obama said it but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt in that he wasn't thinking and it was just off the cuff.  But the right found that statement ridiculous and attacked that.

The answer to your third question is that people do these things on their own, either in response to high gas prices or lower tire pressure.  You can't make other people constantly check their tires, unless you're trying to increase fuel prices.  They'll take care of the auto maintenance on their own accord.

Answer 19

ANWR has only 2 years of oil at most. Get off the oil idea and move on to other things. I have. My cars run on natural gas (methane). It's cheap, clean, and there's plenty of it here in the USA, so our money stays in our own economy. Wish everyone had one.  

Answer 20

Primarily because it is a rediculous statement. Properly inflated tires will save a small amount, but not what we need. The majority of cars have properly inflated tires because this fact has been known for many years. Most people have their oil changed and it is always checked. Most people also know to have it checked or check it themselves.

Even my wife knows that, and she will drive a car with the fender falling off and not pay attention.