McCain mocks Obama about Tire Inflation

[MazdaMatt]

Originally Posted by bryn

soooo,
how about that tire inflation thing. i've heard it helps

Hahahaha... thanks... we needed that

[jesse.rizzo]

Wonderworm: I'm getting the sense that you are for Obama. Well, you aren't doing him any favors by calling everyone who opposes him a racist.

[wonderworm]

I certainly did not "call everyone who opposes him a racist" and I'm sorry you took it that way Jesse, if so, I apologize for the misunderstanding. That part was solely to Bror because he said he agreed with Obama's energy plan and disagreed with McCain's ideas that tire pressure was worthless and otherwise commented that he did not want to vote for McCain but was forced to vote for him because voting for Obama is somehow "not an option".

And we do know that there are many whites out there (like my father, and uncle) who simply will not vote for Obama even though they agree 90-100% with his ideas, solely because they see him as Black. So I was just pointing out that Barack is actually much more closely aligned with his white ancestry and upbringing than black to provide truthful information to people who may be fearful and thus susceptible to the classic GOP scare tactics that revolve around race or religion. I hope you understand. Truth be told, I donated to Ron Paul and support him for President but am smart enough to know that Obama does have good ideas for real change and being one of the only 2 Congressmen to speak out strongly against the war way back in 2002 does mean something. It was only Ron Paul and Barack who had the balls to stand up for what was the right decision during a time when Americans rightly wanted retribution for 9/11. We just took out our anger on the wrong country due to the greedy self interests of the war and oil profiteers who are running this administration and America was manipulated into invading Iraq when we should have been sending another 100,000 troops to Afghanistan to eliminate the taliban once and for all and destroy all traces of Al Qaeda's leadership.

[whitevette]

Originally Posted by bryn

soooo,
how about that tire inflation thing. i've heard it helps

You heard correctly...now, go try it! How much do you pump them up? What are they now? If they were mine, I would put in 40 psi ( cold) to start. Worn, damaged tires are "riskier" than newish tires. New tires ( fresh tire cord) get 44 psi (cold). Aged tires get less, since their tire cord adhesion qualities are questionable. Seven years is a "rule-of-thumb" age for tires to become "old".

[wonderworm]

Originally Posted by whitevette

You heard correctly...now, go try it! How much do you pump them up? What are they now? If they were mine, I would put in 40 psi ( cold) to start. Worn, damaged tires are "riskier" than newish tires. New tires ( fresh tire cord) get 44 psi (cold). Aged tires get less, since their tire cord adhesion qualities are questionable. Seven years is a "rule-of-thumb" age for tires to become "old".

I would agree based on first hand experience. I put the stock tires that had been sitting in storage back on my vehicle after 3 years and after reading many posts on tire pressure, I slowly increased the pressure up to 60psi. My mpg immediately went up 10% when combined with a slight change in driving style. However, months later, one day a particularly nasty speed bump caused one of the steel belts to break and a lump formed on the tire ruining it. Could be just a random manufacturer defect (as the other 3 are still fine) but the tire's age combined with high psi probably helped the failure. They were goodyears and I have now eased the pressure back on the others to 50psi. I would be curious as to others experiences with higher than recommended PSIs.

[Bror Jace]

wonderworm, I threw that brief, one-liner at the beginning of my first post so people had some idea as to where I am coming from as I stated my opinion of McCain's stunt ... not as an opening salvo to take the thread off-topic and into pure politics.

As you should have gleaned from my simple post, I am no great fan of McCain. I think most people figured this out.

I am a classic/conventional conservative ... read up on the Heritage Foundation's website if you want to know how I view most issues. I won't go into them here.

And jesse is right. Assuming people who disagree with you are racists is not the way to go if you want to be an effective debater and/or advocate. Instead of making assumptions about me, you could have asked for clarification ... even in a PM if need be.

Back to topic: while I'd like to see more people adopt hypermiling techniques (and increased tire inflation is a good place to start), it isn't a complete substitute for increased energy production.

[ATaylorRacing]

Originally Posted by Bror Jace

[b]

I am a classic/conventional conservative ...

Back to topic: while I'd like to see more people adopt hypermiling techniques (and increased tire inflation is a good place to start), it isn't a complete substitute for increased energy production.

Me too and dittos....on Back to Topic

[wonderworm]

Originally Posted by Bror Jace

wonderworm, Instead of making assumptions about me, you could have asked for clarification ...

Uhh, did you read the very first sentence of my first post? I did ask for clarification:

Originally Posted by wonderworm

"Bror, just why is it "just not an option for you?"

What I find interesting is that many evangelicals have been moving to Obama because he more closely represents their true family values while McCain represents a man who rewarded his wife, who loyally and steadfastly waited for him for years to be rescued from a POW camp, by committing adultery and later leaving her after she became injured herself in a car accident. Plus the fact that McCain has publicly called his current wife a vile curse word in public also shows he does not reflect the values and respect that marriage entails.

And I am for limited government too, but it has been the Republicans who have increased the size of the government by a staggering 60% since Bush took office and broke yearly deficit records (over 750Billion deficit this year alone!). Obama will create millions of new renewable energy jobs and end the wars and deficit spending that is killing our dollar and our economy. If a Ron Paul guy can give Obama a chance to make things better, then a Heritage guy can too. So let's join forces and let the guy have a shot. Because without voting Barack, one thing is guaranteed, we will be getting much much more of the same last 8 years and that would really suck.

[Lazarus]

Guy's this site is for discussing fuel economy related issues. Political banter that is not related to that topic sucks the life out of the boards and almost always turns nasty and turns a lot of folks away.

So instead of getting the last word in If you want to discuss politics that are not related to fuel economy then take it elsewhere or do it by PM please.

Back to topic the press is reporting 3% increase in FE with proper tire inflation. I would say that is quite high unless you are running 20 PSI to begin with.

[dcb]

Originally Posted by Lazarus

the press is reporting 3% increase in FE with proper tire inflation. I would say that is quite high unless you are running 20 PSI to begin with.

Given the huge number of cars that operate below the placarded pressure, 3% is as good a guess as any. Do you have any data that relates 20psi to 3% imporovement?

TIRE PRESSURE SURVEY AND TEST RESULTS