What's your preferred tire pressure?

[himemsys]

Most cars that I've owned or looked at have a recommended tire pressure of 30-32 psi on the door frame. Just about every time I've gotten new tires, the tire shop fills them up to 35-40 psi, sometimes higher. What's your preferred tire pressure compared to the vehicle's recommendation? Do you factor in vehicle weight distribution when setting the front vs rear?

Personally, if they recommend 30 psi, I'll generally set them to about 32 psi cold (first thing in the morning when they're coldest). I try to check and adjust at least once a month.

 

[Oildudeny]

Winter usually 2-3lbs over summer spot on what door tag says

 

[demarpaint]

35 psi seems to work well.

 

[RooflessVW]

35 cold.

 

[SeaJay]

I believe my tire shop had been filling them to about 35. After the second time on of their tires was destroyed by the NYC metro area potholes and debris within a few months time, they filled to 40 to hopefully avoid a third incident. The tires lived a long life afterwards.

 

[skyactiv]

Wife's Audi A4 quattro 33 front 35 rear
My Hyundai Elantra Sport 33 front and rear

I inflate to whatever the decal says but will sometimes adjust for temputure extremes.
Say if it's a warm 70 degree day in mid November, I'll inflate 3 extra pounds because cold temps will happen within days.

 

[Eddie]

What's on the door seems to be the best compromise unless I have an unusual situation, like going off road for extended time. Ed

 

[RooflessVW]

My problem with following the placards is that in the US they're set for a fully loaded car.

For example, my Touareg specs 33F, 38R.

 

[Boomer]

My Passat door sticker says 35 and I use 36-36.5. The Alltrack calls for 38 psi on the door sticker and again I run about a pound to a pound and a half higher. I like the handling better but I cannot say it makes a difference in gas mileage.

 

[Bud]

Honda calls for 32, I use 35.

 

[UNC151]

Since I have oversized tires, standard tire pressure recommendations do not work very well. I perform the chalk test to find the best on-road pressure and will typically air down some from that to go off-road.

 

[RamFan]

Whatever is on the door jamb.

In the winter I'll generally increase by 2psi to compensate for decreased temps outside of the garage.

 

[Lubener]

I inflate to what is stated on my door placard.

 

[BigCahuna]

If your car is over 10 years old,chances are the tires your vehicle came with are no longer made. If 32 psi was called for, it's a safe bet your replacement tires will call for higher pressure. If you go by what the door jam says, your more then likely going to have a sluggish handling feel do to them being underinflated, especially when cornering. With that, your gas mileage will suffer and they will begin a strange wear pattern that once started, usually can't be corrected. I'm not saying if your tires say max fill is 44 PSI, that you should run it that high if not towing or running overloaded. But 40 psi may be what works the best. I went thru this myself and found that to be the sweet spot for newer tires. My 2 cents.,,

 

[Mainia]

38-40 PSI cold. 36 for non-high performance drivers. Door jam OEM tire inflation Can be badly thought out "suggestions" that fit a car driving style that makes Grandma and Grandpa comfortable while driving their car in a small town of 100 residents going 30 mph ( sarcasm) Some underinflated "suggestion" CAN actually be a dangerous suggestion for accident avoidance. Most times, people deviate with time from that very questionable "suggestion" by engineers that I think are following questionable guidelines by the manufacture. Deviate lower with time, say another 2-3 psi or more of an already too low suggested inflation rate and create a car that has dangerous handling characteristics. These pressures have risen with time so they are not as low as they use to be. Which is a good thing.

 

[slo town]

In general I run 2 or 3 pounds lower than what the door jam says. I set them overnight cold. Of course, if you have a full load in the car you should run them higher.

Perhaps a slightly different case, but the Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires on my E46, I set those at about 28 psi cold. With those tires Michelin says to check them hot and run them at around 32-34 psi. Lower pressures give better handling because the contact patch is larger. I've actually experimented with my infrared temp monitor and checked tread temp across the entire width of the tire. The 32-34 psi hot pressure gives a consistent temp over the width of the tread.

Scott

 

[irad]

38,39 psi cold. I stay 4 psi below tire max psi rating.

 

[yagciogullari]

as per the placard...which is often 240 kPa fronts and 220 rears

 

[Rmay635703]

Sidewall max except in winter

 

[totegoat]

For comfort I run my Jeep tires so low the warning light stays on. When towing or carrying loads with my other vehicles, I run max sidewall psi or close to it.