Last week, i was at a party and some a$$Hole let the air out of my right front and rear right tires... I was ****ed and i had to get my car towed..

Anyhow, i inflated teh tires and noticed that the max pressure on my 2k2's tires are 44PSI. But my tires were only inflated to 32psi.

So two days ago, i inflated it up to 40PSI and noticed a slight improvement on fuel economy.

What are teh drawbakcs to higher inflation?? And aren't you supposed to be near the max PSI's??

ED

 

the more air in your tires the easier the tire will roll on the street surface. less contact with the pavement and less friction and resistance and all that good stuff.

it will improve MPG but your traction will deminish, both from a launch and around turns.

im not sure about safety but i'd say you're fine at 40 PSI. just dont take it to the limit and put it at 43 or 44 or above.

 

When it says max PSI, that means the max you should be running it at, and for the most part, the max the tire can handle. 32 PSI is the recommended PSI if you check out the manual or the bottom of the center armrest/console.

 

A couple of days ago I went to the store and noticed that my rear right tire looked very low, so i drove it to a near by gas station and filled up the tire pressure. I checked the tire for nails or anything that would cause it to go flat, but i didn't find anything. Has anyone else experienced this dilemma???

 

There have been threads on this, but two major reasons for NOT going near the max pressure are:

1. It is the MAX pressure for the tire, hot or cold...as the tire heats up from driving, air pressure naturally increases as well. If you are at 40 psi already, you only have a 3-4 psi margin before you have hit or exceeded the MAX pressure.

2. Higher pressure makes for a stiffer sidewall and also causes the contact patch of the tire to be reduced due to the center of the tread being 'pushed outward' more. This is how better MPG's happen, less rolling resistance...however, you are sacrificing contact with the road and often a tire overinflated feels 'squirrely'. Personal opinion but my safety is worth a measly couple of miles per gallon.

 

Let us not forget that it also causes faster wear to the center of the tire and slower wear to the outsides, costing you more tires faster. The saying "penny wise, pound foolish" comes to mind.

 

yep...that too!!

 

Economically speaking, if you are able to achieve better economy with tires that are inflated past their recommended levels, couldn't you use the extra money you save for purchasing new tires since these will wear out faster in the middle?

 

10% savings in gas, that only comes to approx 2 mpg. That would be a whole lot of driving on an iffy arrangement to 'break even'.

 

Yes, if the money you save is more than the cost of buying tires sooner.. You would then have to factor in things like taking the extra time to actually go and buy tires and the like.

If you want to save gas, slow down.

 

My general experience has been that tires running at recommended (not max) pressure wear more quickly on the edges. (At for least the front tires). I usually keep a couple of extra PSI up front and get more even tread wear.

 

You should feel a slightly bumpier ride due to less flex. And if you're worried about fast launches then you can't worry about fuel economy!

 

hm... my tech at hayward nissan inflated my tires to 30psi front and back... they're bridgestone eagers - nothing to scream about, but is 30 too little pressure?

 

in the back i put 30 because on bumpy roads...the back swivers like a ****, so i keep the PSI low for more contact with the road, in the front i put 33-35