Hey guys, what is the recommended tire pressure on my Goodyear Eagle RSAs? It's squealing when I corner with the pressure recommended by the manufacturer. I was thinking about 35 in the front and 33 in the rear. What are your opinions?? Thanks!

 

I had those same tires, they have notorously soft sidewalls. They give a comfortable ride but are lousy for handling.

I vary the tire pressure depending on the situation. Around town driving, I run 28 psi; nice, compliant ride. For highway trips, I bump them up to 32 psi; a little better gas mileage and not too rough a ride.

At the autocross track, I run 47psi in the front and 26 in the rear. Even with 47 psi, I still get some rollover on the front tires when pushing it to the edge.

 

Oooooh, I know what the problem is. Goodyear eagle RS-A tires SUUUUUUCK. Sorry, I had to vent. I threw mine out as soon as I possibly could and put on some Bridgestone Potenza RE730s. Those RS-A's are the worst tires I've ever seen, extremely crappy wet grip. I use to squeel all over the place, even when I didn't want to. My new tires are 10x better. Do yourself a favor and grab a different set of tires before something bad happens.
I really think the only use for those tires is for making drifting videos

 

Im in Chicago here and I was wondering what I should keep the tires at. right now isd about 30 degrees but last month it was around 0 so I wanna get it right. Get back to me
mark

 

Just go with the pressure recommended by Nissan; 29psi front and rear. Keep an eye on them, though. A 30 degree drop in temperature could drop the pressure a couple of psi.

 

My mom's 98 SE has had 3 RS-A's replaced due to sidewall separation.

 

I must agree.. Get rid of those RS-As now!! NOW!! They suck. The wet traction is terrible!! The dry traction isn't all that great either. Get new tires. Your maxima loves going 90mph on the highway. But it can't do that with those crappy RS-As.. =)

ZuM

 

So what other tires do you recommend that are within the price range of the Bridgestone's ?

 

I like the Dunlop SP8000's I have, but they are 225-50\16". I couldn't tell you how they might perform in a different size. Go to http://www.tirerack.com They have tire reviews and very informative tech articles.

 

Get some Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's from tirerack.com. around 80 dollars or less.
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Sinewave, how long have you had the SP8000s? I have them on my 96SEa as well, 225-50-16 on 16x7.5 OZs. The question I have is that how long do they last? I bought the car a little over a month ago. The ex-owner gave me a receipt for the tires. The receipt shows that the 4 tires were bought when the car had 55K miles. The car now has 99K miles and the tires have at least 1/3 of thread left. Are they THAT long-lasting??

 

when i had my rs-a tires, i had them at 35psi (cold, 60 deg?) i just put on two sp sport 8000 in the back and i have them at 37psi. im not sure if it is the tire or just the fact that these new ones have tread, but it is so much more quieter...

 

The dealer put mine to 35 PSI all around. The placard says to do 28 and 30 but 35 around feels better. These tires aren't the greatest, but hey...they're stock.

 

I've only had my SP8000's since June. Man, if I can get 44K miles out of them, I'll be happy! IIRC, the treadwear rating is 220. I know it's just a multiplier of an arbitrary base number of 100, but I was guessing that I would get around 22K miles. Of course, the way I drive, I may only get 22K.

 

There is a placard on the car for a reason. Tire pressure is determined by the engineers who designed the car taking all sorts of factors into account - weight of the vehicle, weight distribution, suspension, brakes etc. You will get optimal performance and wear using the recommended tire pressure on the placard - not the tire. All else being equal (no suspension or tire size changes) running at 35psi might feel better, but I think your tires will wear out quicker (especially the center of the tread) and you might even be missing a little traction. The reason they're quieter is because there is less rubber in contact with the road.
That said, when changing tire size or suspension components that all goes out the window. Of course stay within a few 5 pounds or so of the placard recommendation, but going with say a lower profile tire is going to result in a harsher ride unless you drop the pressure a few pounds. It's a matter of preference in some cases. I found that lowering the rear pressure on my Max after I installed the swaybar kept the rear end from stepping out too much, resulting in more neutral handling. We're only talking a few pounds here.