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I run my tires higher than MFG recommends at 44PSI instead of 32 (max sidewall is 50PSI) . Last winter I did some tests on my weekly drives home from school. Higher pressures increases my wet and snow traction by a good margin (over 15% better traction). I also tested stopping distance on wet and icy roads. I found that higher PSI was about the same to slightly better stopping distances.
My tire wear is better than when I was at OEM PSI. at 15K miles on these tires and they still look new, wear is very even (better than at OEM).
When I worked at a major auto maker I liked to put this topic up for discussion. The people who did track testing and noise testing came up with the same resign for the OEM specks on tire pressure: ride comfort and noise.
The idea is that it is a balance between noise + comfort + wear + MPG + cornering + users not checking pressure = the OEM recommended pressure.
From what I have personally found and what these people talked about, tire noise increases quickly above about 35 PSI on most tires. Also, most car MFG's have noise limits for their cars at certain speeds. keeping tire pressure lower is a cheaper way of reducing noise so that other components do not need to be as well noise insulated (which is expensive).
When I look at the US DOT, they warn about under inflating tires but do not have any complaints about over inflation (until you pass max side wall).
It comes down to personally choice between ride comfort (both noise and bumps) and increased traction & MPG. I found the sweet spot for my car to be between 42 and 46PSI, any more and the ride gets worse and the MPG does not improve.
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