Tire Pressure...

[Dr Butcher]

Recently I had new rims and tires put on my car. The other morning I thought they looked a little low and when I checked the pressure they were all at 32 psi. The sidewall of the tire says to put in a maxumum of 51 psi. What\'s the correct amount of air you should have in your tires? Is there a set amount under the maximum you should stick to? I assume that the guys that mounted the tires thought 32 psi was enough, was it? I realize the more air you have in the tire, the harder the ride, but you\'d get better mileage as well. This is my first set of performance tires so I\'m new to the game. Usually I keep my all season tires just under their maximum psi allowing for a little expansion when they warm up.

What\'s the deal?

Thanks

[bluntman]

I have mine around the 30psi mark, give or take a few psi.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

mine: Front/Rear 38psi/36psi

people at auto-x events have inflated up to 55psi for their run (on stock tires).

when i did the Car Control School (www.carcontrolschool.com), i was advised to put them up to 44psi ...i drove around for months with 46psi (the ride was harsh as hell but got used to is)

i did notice that 34psi was hella comfortable but the sidewall used to roll too much if i took a corner too fast

[Xenon]

I keep mine at 32 psi all around, cold tires. As per the Owners Manual and the Tire Pressure SSticker on the Driver\'s Door.

I even have a digital Tire Pressure reader. Meaures it to 0.1 psi. I check my tire pressure once a month and match it to 32.0 psi every time.

[david3]

33, right rear a bit higher since it had/might still have a small leak.

[civiclad]

I stick with 32 psi for both front and rear tires.

[mazda3ride]

I stick with 32 myself.

[Dr Butcher]

What\'s the maximum pressure recommendation on the sidewall of the stock 17\" Goodyears?

[Xenon]

Originally posted by Dr Butcher


What\'s the maximum pressure recommendation on the sidewall of the stock 17\" Goodyears?

I just know that it\'s optimum is 32 psi.... I don\'t know what max is.

[billyfo]

it should be at the sidewall of tires.

but for my knowledge, just follow the sticker at driver\'s side door no matter what tire size you have change.

[Xenon]

Originally posted by billyfo


it should be at the sidewall of tires.

but for my knowledge, just follow the sticker at driver\'s side door no matter what tire size you have change.

Different tires may require a different PSI, especially if they are a difference width/size

[///M]

Lately I\'ve been running 40psi on the stock Eagle RS-As...I find that it gives a stiffer ride and lets me \"feel\" the road more, and looks better too...less tire squat. They don\'t seem to grip as well though (had them 35psi before).

Is it bad to run the tires at higher pressure? The maximum load if I\'m not mistaken is 44psi.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by autoexe


Lately I\'ve been running 40psi on the stock Eagle RS-As...I find that it gives a stiffer ride and lets me \"feel\" the road more, and looks better too...less tire squat. They don\'t seem to grip as well though (had them 35psi before).

Is it bad to run the tires at higher pressure? The maximum load if I\'m not mistaken is 44psi.

you\'ll find that the higher up the PSI goes, the more the middle of the tire will wear. as you go up in PSI, the tire begins to expand like a \"swimming pool donut floating device\" would....the tire will begin to cup outwards. that\'s why you feel like you have less grip, a less amount of the tire is contacting the road.

try 36-38 psi and see how it works for you. as for running tires at a higher pressure, for long distances, it is probably not wise to run at or above the maximum rated load on the tire. for something short like an auto-x run (less than 2 minutes) pumping up to 50+psi is quite common.