Tire pressure = MPG gains?

[milesgallon.com]

I got a several MPG improvment when inflating somewhere half between the car manufacturers recommendation and the max sidewall pressure of the tires. I think around 38-40psi is what I use.

I have seen the recommendation somewhere to start with the tire sidewalls max pressure minus 10%, then test, change, test, change until you feel comfortable.

You will often lose a bit of comfort at high pressures though.

I have not notices ANY loss of traction on snow and ice with a higher than normal pressure in the snow tires. One would assume the tires are made to have good traction up to the max sidewall pressure?

Simon

[GasSavers_SD26]

Snow and rain you'd want a smaller contact patch to drive through the snow and water anyway. More weight on a smaller area is going to be an advantage.

[milesgallon.com]

There's people telling me the tires will wear uneavenly when inflated over the (cars) recommendation.

The idea is that if overinflated the tire surface gets round and wear is only accumulated in the middle and you'll have to buy new tires quicker.

One would think the max pressure printed on the tire would work for that tire right? Any ideas?

Simon

[kamesama980]

Originally Posted by milesgallon.com

There's people telling me the tires will wear uneavenly when inflated over the (cars) recommendation.

The idea is that if overinflated the tire surface gets round and wear is only accumulated in the middle and you'll have to buy new tires quicker.

One would think the max pressure printed on the tire would work for that tire right? Any ideas?

Simon

They've never tried it then. maybe if you run it at 70-80psi on a metro for 60k miles... there are guys here who ran 40-50 psi in civics and other light cars and got 50k miles out of the tires with no uneven wear. It's partially a holdover from bias ply tires and early radials.

as mentioned in 100 other places here, the sidewall pressure is the max cold inflation rating of the tire itself. this accounts for heating on the highway and abuse not to mention a hefty safety margin. many people here run 40-50psi in 35psi rated tires for many thousands of miles.

[pushycruze]

It's a tradeoff, just like LRR tires. If you have less resistance, you do have LESS grip. You can't expect to lower the contact patch of the tire without negatively affecting traction as well, so try to find a good compromise.

[TL-Super]

Originally Posted by baddog671

Oh, and BTW, not too stray away from topic or anything, but how do you like your tires...mainly in the "dry traction" area? I'm considering something similar for my Mustang since they are a decent bang for the buck..

I'm probably not the guy to comment as I drive it easy. I picked those tires mainly for their traction in snow. I really should run snows here but I seem to get by with all seasons. They were also decently priced