Tire pressures and driving conditions

[IsaacCarlson]

I was just wondering if people would respond with their tire pressures and what their vehicles are used for and what kinds of roads they drive on and exactly why they chose that pressure.

2006 Rav4 4wd

45 psi front
45 psi rear

I drive in town, highway, dirt/gravel, and off road. 45 seems to be a good compromise for ride, mpg, and grip. It also seems to be near the start of the plateau for Crr so I'm happy with it.

[Shaneajanderson]

Originally Posted by IsaacCarlson

I was just wondering if people would respond with their tire pressures and what their vehicles are used for and what kinds of roads they drive on and exactly why they chose that pressure.

2006 Rav4 4wd

45 psi front
45 psi rear

I drive in town, highway, dirt/gravel, and off road. 45 seems to be a good compromise for ride, mpg, and grip. It also seems to be near the start of the plateau for Crr so I'm happy with it.

I have 3:

94 F150 used for hauling and heavy towing, I keep the tires at about 50 psi (55 max sidewall, new tires I'm putting on are back to standard size so will be 44 max sidewall, I will stick with 50 psi anyway)

92 Geo Metro is my commuter, tires are at 50 psi, will be going up to 65 when I get new ones on as these are nearly bald. High pressure for maximum fuel economy

07 Honda Odyssey is our family car (4 kids), also keep the tires around 50 psi for the same reason as the Geo, I may play with bumping it up but my wife is fussy about ride quality, so we'll see.

All of this is with the caveat that I drain the tires down to the car manufacturer's recommendation or 2-5 psi less on icy days.

[D.O.G.]

Vehicle - 2012 Hyundai i30, petrol, hatch.

Driving conditions - mostly highway and motorway commuting.

I’ve been running about 45 PSI until recently when my FE started dropping.
I realized I’ve been checking pressure on weekend afternoons when the weather’s mild (for winter time), but I’m driving late at night and early morning when temps are 10+ degrees less.

Now I’m running about 50 PSI and FE has stabilized again.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

I started with 44 PSI on my Civic, which was the max sidwall. I saw improvement, so I was encouraged. Tried 50 PSI then, was afraid of going over max sidwall. Was fine. Others ran 60 PSI so I tried that and was fine in the Civic, even ran 68 PSI for a while on the highway on roads I knew were good.

Started out at 60 PSI in the Insight and saw a huge improvement over the 32-40 PSI that were in them when I bought the car. Since then I've been running 80 PSI for several months now. Noticed a bit of an improvement over 60 PSi. Have been fine on all terrains, although I do drive carefully on "rougher" roads. Do NOT recommend 80 PSI unless you're an extremist. I haven't driven with 80 PSI enough miles to comment on tread wear, although I'm sure I'll lose a few thousand miles on the tires from running them that high.

My mom runs sidewall max on her Prius. For safety and tire wear she doesn't go higher

Increasing tire pressure didn't affect ride quality on the Prius or the Civic. However, the ride got significantly harsher on the Insight with increased tire pressure.

Also, be sure not to go to any crazy high tire pressure on tires that have been repaired, or are more than a couple years old.

[ksa8907]

I drive 95% highway with nearly no stops. Firestone FR710's
Front: 50psig
Rear: 48psig

I tested traction at different levels, not much of a loss at the higher pressure for my car and these tires, they just suck in wet traction no matter the pressure.

Ride comfort suffers a little bit over 40psig but this car has really good suspension so it's not bad at all. My favorite part with higher pressure is super light steering wheel and immediate feedback on the wheel.

[roosterk0031]

I just try to keep them all at 40, rides ok, wear's OK, easy to remember, going higher has minimal gains.

[Ecky]

I've run 45-50 in my Insight; basically max sidewall with the OEM tires, which are the best for fuel economy. Many run higher, but I've damaged tires twice just running at the pressures I do, and replacement isn't cheap.

Tire pressure really should be proportional to how much load/weight you have on them. My fronts have around 600lbs each over them and my rears have a bit over 300lbs each, but pressure is the same front and back. I could either run smaller/lighter/narrower tires in the rear at the same pressure, larger up front at the same pressure, or significantly inflate the fronts and leave the rears the same.

I have well north of 200hp in a <2000lb car, running 165mm width tires with high pressure, and even if I'm careful my front tires aren't long for this world. I'm going a little wider in the front as a test and keeping the 165's in the rear.

[California98Civic]

1998 Honda Civic DX (modified): 55-60 psi measured at home with my gauge in daylight but when tires have not been driven yet. Purpose is to stay at least 10 psi above sidewall even in cold weather conditions (when pressure inside tires will drop) and even after weeks not checking. Go much more than 10 psi over max sidewall and the FE gains are not at great.