That may seem like a strange statement, but the Yokohama Tire Corporation is mixing orange oil into its tires to create a more eco-conscious product that uses 80 percent less petroleum. These “orange oil tires” are the first ever of their kind. They use more natural rubber than traditional tires and they are also lighter. Both of these benefits contribute to about 20 percent less rolling resistance which leads to better gas mileage and other advantages all around.

Unfortunately, the tires are not colored orange and they just smell like regular tires. That’s good in a way because you won’t look like you’re driving around on four pieces of citrus. However, it would be fun to have bright orange tires on your used cars to show you care about the environment.

The tires are already scheduled to be used on the race cars in the upcoming 2009 Patron GT3 Challenge. Hopefully, the orange oil tires will be coming to a tire shop near you so you can use them as a way to be more eco-friendly. It’s just one of the ways we can help the earth by being more conscious about the parts we have on our cars.