Quote:
Originally Posted by cbaber
Which is easier, designing a suspension to work better, possibly requiring more expensive parts, or simply keeping the tire pressure low for similar effects? While a lot of consumers are concerned about fuel economy, a bigger factor is price. It's cheaper for companies to keep pressures in the mid range to promote a better ride than it is to develop better suspensions and possibly have to increase the price of the vehicle.
|
Using the Camry as an example, Toyota will sell over 400,000 of them in the US this year. On a mass-produced vehicle like that, how much would it really cost on a per-unit basis to make the suspension a little softer so that an extra 10 PSI goes unnoticed by the new car buyer? Manufacturers tweak suspension / ride setups all the time.
Again, assuming higher PSI = better FE, manufacturers choose to ship their cars from the factory with tires set at 32-36 PSI. A lot of people on this site have noticed a 10% improvement in FE, simply by adding more air to the tires. I'd suggest that manufacturers could easily do the same thing, but don't. I still think safety & liability are the reasons - but in the absence of data, we can only speculate.