I have an '01 SE. The book says 32 psi. Is that good or bad?

 

it all depends on how u drive and the conditions. There are alot of ppl on the forum with alot of info. Try doing a search and you should get good answers to your question. I have my stock 2k2 GLE tires at 30psi in the front and 40 in the rear.

Chung-Hsien

 

30 front 40 rear? sheesh. I have 34 all around, works well.

 

yea i went to the track a couple weeks ago and a veteran there told me actually to race with 25s in the front but 30s for street driving. But whatever works for you.

 

I always have heard that higher PSI in the front should occur, because that's where more of the weight is. Or perhaps not. Perhaps it's backwards day!

 

For drag racing you would raise the rear pressure and drop the front, for street use, road racing or autocross you would make the front higher than the rear.

 

And the tires you have, your suspension mods and the load you are carrying!

With my stock Avid V4's I increased pressure in front to 33 and dropped pressure in back to 31 to decrease the understeer the Max has. Once I put on my RSB and FSTB, the oversteering tendency was too much so I dropped the front back to 31 and brought the rear back up to 32. That provided a very good steering balance and feel.

If carrying a big load increase pressure especially in the rear. The full load rating of the tire is only obtained at the max pressure indicated on the sidewall (probably pretty high: 40-45 lbs or so). 4 passengers and a full trunk of luggage for a weekend trip with friends can easily exceed the load rating of the tires if you do not increase pressure... and that will lead to early failure at high speeds regardless of it's speed rating!

BuddyWh

 

You guyz will think I am crazy, but I run 45 up front and 40 in back. I have always run my tires "tight" but the car rides on rails, even on stock tires/rims. Yes the ride is harsh(by maxima standards) but I never get tire squeal around corners and I have 30000 miles with 50% tread left. Plus, when your tires are "tight" they resist punctures from glass and other sharp objects more. They wear nice and flat too, not rounded on the edges. The way I drive the edges would be bald by now if I didn't run the tires tight.



Go ahead, tell me I'm crazy...


"we are all crazy, only some of us get caught..."

 

OK you're crazy.

 

Tire pressure effects:

FRONT / REAR:

high / low : understeer (front of car will tend to push straight in turns)

low / high : oversteer (rear of car will tend to "come around" in turns)

For stock tires, I would start where the manual suggests, and adjust to your liking and driving habits.

For drag racing, you'll want the front lower and the rear higher (both near the limits, i.e.: F-25 psi, R-45 psi) to reduce weight transfer during launch.

For other types of racing, I don't know. I have never autocrossed or been on a road course (which I would absolutely love to do ).

 

My God Man are you out of your f&^%&ng mind!!!!! What the H^%L is wrong with you??????


















You asked for it

 

well everyone drives differently, so different pressure will work for different people.

 

Lower pressure in the front will increase understeer as the tire will roll over onto its sidewall and begin to deform the tread faster than the same tire with higher pressure.
For less understeer on a nose-heavy front-driver ala Maxima, higher pressures in front, less in rear is the ticket for reducing understeer -until you reach the tire's ultimate limit of adhesion at which time you'll plow off the road nose-first anyway.

 

the dealer always sets mine to 30 front, 33 rear... something about comfort over better gas mileage cause I always boost it back up to 33-34 psi.

 

OK, think about it.

Why do drag racers lower the pressure in the front tires in a FWD car? (Stay with me here) To gain traction. How? The lower pressure allows the sidewall of the tire to be more pliable under force. It also allows the tire's contact patch to deform under initial acceleration (so while the wheel is just beginning to move, the tire is still in it's original spot - think drag slick).

This same effect applies when going into a turn. Sure, the sidewall will roll over, but the contact patch will hang on longer (fractionally) than a tire that has a higher pressure because the sidewall will give before the tread does. The sidewall on the tire with the higher pressure will resist rolling over and apply more pressure on the tread to maintain contact. This will make the tread break loose before the sidewall and - voila! - understeer.

 

Yes, think about it - drag racers lower the pressure to get more traction by getting a larger contact patch, but the force is only applied front to rear. For cornering the situation is different - if the pressure is too low the sidewall deflects and the tire is running on the sidewall rubber, not on the tread. Additionally, for feel purposes, a shorter or stiffer sidewall (lower profile/more air) improves steering and cornering feel by transmitting force more quickly between the rim and the tread. Too much pressure is not good for cornering either as it gives a small contact patch and abrupt breakaway. Go to an autocross - you'll be amazed.

 

pressures apply for drag racing only...for lateral forces you need good sidewall rigidity which you'll lose with low pressures.

 

I run 40 frt and 38 rear, from previous autocrossing days and
experience with feel of car; tight is right !!

 

You mean everyday or just at the track? Crap, that high a cold pressure AND Florida heat...amazing they don't blow someday. What tires are you running these pressures in?

 

: cool :
stock POT RE92s (max psi is 44, i think)
when I ran stock pressure @ 32, I think valve leaked under low
pressure (in less than 2 wks) . At current pressure
all is FUN !!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wdave

I guess I should've conveyed my ideas a little differently. My simple "high/low" chart should've read "higher/lower from suggested tire pressures". I know that low (i.e.: 25psi) is not good for cornering. But I also know that 45 psi is not good either.

My thoughts were that any given tire might stick around the corners a little better at, say 32 psi than 37 psi.

 

looks like some people don't understand that the weight of the car is in the front so therefore you should maintain a good tire pressure in the front. .read your manual or the arm rest for correct tires pressures...and don't listen to other people

 

for normal road driving anything over 35 psi is completely unnecesary...you'll shake your fillingsn eedlessly 98% of the time for the other 2% of the time that you might need the added pressures.

Even then I might argue that if you're driving such that anything over 35 psi makes a difference, you should not be doing it on the street to begin with.

I keep the pressures on the Potenzas at 32 front, 30.5 rear, checked weekly with a digital pressure guage. These are rough, harsh tires and I find that anything over that brings about unnaceptable harshness. When my MXM4's come in I'll start them at 33/31, we'll see how they feel.