Tire pressure?

[BailOut]

*MAD DOG*,

Tires blow out due to manufacturing defects or excessively hard driving. It is likely that the one tire you experienced this with one time would have blown out even at a lower pressure.

By your logic someone that had a blowout at the pressure on the door jamb could forever run around claiming that you should run 20 PSI lower than the door jamb.

[06silveryaris]

40 psi car feels good and when pushed hard I do not see any wear on the sidewalls.

[Doug007]

Originally Posted by 06silveryaris

40 psi car feels good and when pushed hard I do not see any wear on the sidewalls.

Agreed - for me 40 psi works well for my driving style and the roads I regularly traverse. My overall mpg is 41 so good fuel economy is present as well.

[KCALB SIRAY]

Originally Posted by Doug007

Agreed - for me 40 psi works well for my driving style and the roads I regularly traverse. My overall mpg is 41 so good fuel economy is present as well.

I run 40 as well, and average 42 on the highway. Not even a HM'r either

[*MAD DOG*]

Originally Posted by BailOut

*MAD DOG*,

Tires blow out due to manufacturing defects or excessively hard driving. It is likely that the one tire you experienced this with one time would have blown out even at a lower pressure.

By your logic someone that had a blowout at the pressure on the door jamb could forever run around claiming that you should run 20 PSI lower than the door jamb.

Look dude. I, as you have made my feelings quite clear on this topic. I you. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[voodoo22]

Originally Posted by *MAD DOG*

Look dude. I, as you have made my feelings quite clear on this topic. I you. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

A tire is more likely to blow out if it's under inflated than over.

When a tire is under inflated, this creates too much flex in the sidewall which in turn, causes excess heat to build up in the sidewall and then boom.

Regardless of what is safe or not, the psi on your tires will change the handling characteristics of your car and you should not go from one range to another in one fell swoop, but instead, get to where you want to be in small increments of maybe 5 psi at a time so you can get used to how your car handles.

The only thing which degrades on your car as you increase the tire pressure is ride comfort.

As you decrease your tire pressure you will lower your handling, increase hydroplaning properties of the tire, accelerate wear of the tires, raise the chance of a blow out, waste more gas, etc etc.

Anyone running less than the max sidewall psi listed on the tire is only gaining comfort. On todays tires you can safely run at 60 psi like Bailout does, but you should always, only setup your car in a manner you're comfortable with.

If you believe that running your tires at 50 psi will cause a blowout, it doesn't matter if this is fact or not, it's what you believe, so follow your rules. Facts gathered over 100's of thousands of miles dictate higher psi's are safer and will save you money, but facts also dictate that the market goes up and down and I'll be damned if I put one cent in stocks... ever!

Under inflated and overinflated mean different things to different people.

The only situation where under inflated makes sense is in extreme off roading or some kinds or rally racing.

To me, under inflated is anything under max sidewall listed on the tire and overinflated is anything over max sidewall. The psi listed on the door jam of the vehicle is nothing more than the best psi for ride comfort.

The most important thing is to form your own opinions by testing your setup and other peoples theories. Don't attempt to drive with something you're not comfortable with, but don't be afraid to push your comfort level in controlled conditions to learn the real facts about your car and it's equipment.

This morning I safely passed hundreds of cars driving in track bare and sometimes snow/ice covered conditions on my winter tires inflated to 56psi, because this is what I'm comfortable with. This is the setup which I find gives me the best traction, control and handling and 56psi is as high as my pump will go. I did start out at 32psi when I got the tires, but kept upping the psi by 5psi over the past 1 and a half winters. The most important this is that I have amazing control with this setup and thus am able to drive extremely safely, it's a side benefit that I also am able to get over 50 US MPG often in the winter now and that the tires are showing very little wear.

[smacky]

I run mine at 50 psi cold, though I really should check them more often. I am thinking about going up to 55 soon though. With all the miles logged by Bailout and everybody at cleanmpg.com have, I really don't think it is an issue at all.