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Old 05-28-2009, 07:20 PM   #13 (permalink)
ShadeTreeMech
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One other thing to consider is raising the PSI will increase your stopping distance. Raising the PSI puts less rubber on the road, putting less potential friction on the asphalt should you need to stop. Especially in a heavy car without ABS, this can become dangerous. Nothing like trying to do an emergency stop in a 2 ton vehicle on overinflated tires to make you lose a few PSI at your first opportunity.

And besides losing stopping power, you have decreased the cars ability to corner and, in extremely high pressure, can rattle your vehicle so badly it has the potential to cause premature wear on the body and suspension. So making your car roll easier will come at the cost of making your car stop and corner efficiently. Otherwise, we'd all be driving cars with temporary donut spares on all 4 corners.

On a front wheel drive car, I would be more willing to overinflate on the rear but not the front, since your front tires provide most of the stopping and all of the turning. To sum it up, use a bit of common sense.
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