Is this not a perfect example of clueless one source media?

[imzjustplayin]

http://www.kval.com/news/consumertips/19534679.html

For those too lazy to click the link:

Sky-high gasoline prices have people looking for various ways to squeeze more miles out of every gallon.

But be careful. There are a lot of bogus advice going around. For instance, the suggestion that you should over-inflate your tires all the way up to the maximum load listed on the side wall is not a good idea.

Yes, over-inflation will reduce rolling resistance, which might boost your mileage ever so slightly. But that's just part of the story.

"Your tires will wear out quicker and you're going to pay for it on the backside with replacing your tires sooner," said Dave Armstrong with AAA Washington.

Over-inflation reduces the tire's footprint - the rubber on the road - which increases stopping distance and negatively impacts cornering.

"Also in the wet, you're going to skid a lot easier if you have to slam the brakes on in a panic stop," Armstrong said.

Over-inflation can also be dangerous.

"If you've over-inflated your tires and overloaded your car, it's going to put a lot of stress on those tires and a blow-out is definitely a potential bad side effect," Armstrong told me.

So play it smart. Keep your tires properly inflated. Follow the recommendations from the manufacturer.

Ugh. I can't believe there isn't a single point about this article that is correct.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

That's not even over inflation. I DO have mine over inflated, and you know what, it seemed to slow wear A LOT. Also handling is MUCH improved at max sidewall.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I keep the tires on The Beast at 45psi. They wear even and it still rides and corners great. What the heck are they talking about?

-Jay

[almightybmw]

I remember reading that somewhere else, different site. I found it laughable.

[soletek]

Except for the sidewall point that Roadwarior made, everything stated in the article was absolutely true if this article was originally posted in 1972 or earlier.

Original pneumatic, or baloon tires were made with a uniform ratio of rubber and plys throughout the cross section of the tire. That's to say: if you cut a tire in half with the tread facing toward you you would be viewing the resultant upside down and right side up u shape of the cut face. When focusing on the bottom u, the portion that is contacting the ground, old tire processes allowed a cup in the tire at that point. Since pressure always seeks equal the only portion of the tire that had a difference in force against it was this portion. So increasing the air pressure more and more would definitely decrease the affected area at the contact point of the tire.

Today's tires, however, do not have a uniform pattern and/or wall thickness viewed through a same cross section. They have a natural baloon curve on the inside surface and a rounded corner square shape on the outside surface. When inflating today's tires to greater pressure levels, the tire does not distort its shape as qreatly as old tires used to for the same reason: pressure always seeks equal, and the internal surface area already mimics the uniform baloon shape. With an increased pressure on today's tires, the contact patch will decrease more in the leading and trailing edges than in the side to side edges. The old tires did the opposite where high pressure generated a narrower contact patch adversly effecting cornering. This is why, with increase of pressure on today's tires you can decrease rolling resistance and not lose as much handling ability. Today's tires are specifically designed to maintain their shape even with heavy lateral loading as experienced when taking corners at high speeds. The internal construction provides a structure not unlike the Golden Gate bridge. It ties flexible portions of the tire to more resistant portions resulting in load transfer. When one portion of the tire is receiving high contrations of force the structure transfers some of this load to other portions of the tire resulting in a more uniform shape change keeping you in better contact with the road.

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

I think they are more inclined to "cup" underneath under heavy braking and cornering if inflated poorly which might be at the car manufacturers recommended "Mushy ride for delicate little snowflakes" pressure vs the tire manufacturers sidewall pressure.

edit: to see what I mean, push your flat hand on a smooth surface in the direction the fingers point, and let your fingertips "catch", your fingers if not stiffened will bend, in a poorly or marginally inflated tire, the leading tread blocks will catch and without sufficient pressure the tire surface following will tend to cup away from the road.

[SolidLiquidSnake]

Well, this article only made me make up my mind, yep, I'm airing my tires up to max sidewall pressure. Thank you for the rediculous news and the critisim. Haha

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by SolidLiquidSnake

Well, this article only made me make up my mind, yep, I'm airing my tires up to max sidewall pressure. Thank you for the rediculous news and the critisim. Haha

How about 5 psi beyond the max sidewall pressure?

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Recommending a specific PSI beyond sidewall cannot be done due to huge number of variables in weight of car, make and model of tire etc etc. I have tested 42 PSI in my Marshall/Walmart/Kumho Touring 791 tires to be safe on Marvin, 44 PSI or so aquaplanes and slips too much. 42 may not be so safe on the same tires in a lighter vehicle.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

Recommending a specific PSI beyond sidewall cannot be done due to huge number of variables in weight of car, make and model of tire etc etc. I have tested 42 PSI in my Marshall/Walmart/Kumho Touring 791 tires to be safe on Marvin, 44 PSI or so aquaplanes and slips too much. 42 may not be so safe on the same tires in a lighter vehicle.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...e.jsp?techid=3

Hydroplaning is more likely to happen on an underinflated tire than overinflated, but if you have tested your car in the exact same puddle, same speed both at 40psi and 44psi and saw that 44psi lead to more hydroplaning, then more power to you I guess.