Quote:
Originally Posted by CobraBall
... 50 PSI on 44 PSI tires. IMHO what you might save in MPG by overinflating the tires will be lost when the center of the tires wear out prematurely  .
Overinflating also decreases the tire contact area making the vehicle more likely to hydroplane  on a wet surface. Not a problem if you live in Mojave... |
I beg to differ on these two counts.
Please see this article:
Driving Under Pressure: Editorial & Features at Officer.com
Numerous hypermilers have run tires at higher than sidewall without center wear. Documented over many tens of thousands of miles. The concern is from old outdated information from the days before radial tires. I've driven 30K on my 44 psi tires, running at 50 and 52 psi, since putting them on last summer and I still have deeper tread in the center than out near the edges. My commute has been 50 + 60 miles each way (two different jobs) so my tires see a lot of miles.
Higher pressure has proven to be a great deterrent to hydroplaning. Reduced contact area = more weight of car per square inch of tire-on-road. This means it pushes through the water better. The opposite - more surface area - would make you hydroplane more easily, like getting up on water skis.
Please don't argue non-facts like hydroplaning and center wear.
You can argue that higher pressure will give a rougher ride. That's about it. Handling definitely improves. Some may argue that higher pressure reduces braking action BUT my theory is that the reduced contact area gives more weight per square inch so the friction per square inch is actually increased, probably a wash vs. "normal" pressure.