Tire pressure. How much is too much or too little?

You’re tires will say (around the wheel) how much pressure they need.

@justn I’ve never seen a tire that says the pressure for the right application. They usually just say the max you can put in the tire, which is not recommended and I certainly wouldn’t put that 44psi as listed on my tires in there.

Your owner’s manual or the sticker inside the driver door will tell you what the cold (i.e. before you go driving) inflate pressure should be. Mine, for example, is 29 psi.

If you don’t use factory recommended tires, then idk.

I honestly don’t remember what the recommended PSI is for the tires on my car… but a few years ago was surprised to find that while most car tires will require around 34 psi… the tires on my road bike require 120psi. weird no?

@Dr_C Not that weird, because psi is a measure of pressure per square inch and not volume of air in a given space. My bike tires take a lot of pressure as well as my Yukon XL which requires 85psi (what we run it at when we’re towing with it)

@kevbo yea, I understand the “cold” thing. I’m no n00b to cars, lol. Although, I did forget about the door jam. I’m gonna check that out right now….. Under futher inspection of the door jam it wasn’t listed. Luckily I do have the owners manual and it said, “cold inflation is required to see the correct psi check the gas tank flap door.” It wasn’t there, lol.

In that case:

“European or African Golf?”

@kevbo Mexican! lol, the car was actually built in Mexico unfortunately, but it’s for American use, so european? lol I’m not sure.

Go by the car manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure. The cars chassis was designed around it.

The figure on the tire’s sidewall is the maximum safe pressure according to the tire manuacturer, not nearly as specific to your application as the car manufacturer’s suggestion.

Typically higher pressures improve fuel economy (lower rolling resistance) and better cornering (increased slip angle).

@Noel_S_Leitmotiv I know this, lol. I just am not sure where to find the manufacturer’s recommendation. It’s not listed in the owner’s manual or where it says it’s supposed to be listed. When I first got the car the pressure was low and I was getting 23mpg in city and when I asked my roommate (at the time) he searched on some website and it had suggested pressures that I tried until I got these new tires. On the old tires I got 27mpg and close to 33mpg on the freeway, but I want to know a happy medium for most correct according to manufacturer Fuel consumption and cornering. I like to corner, but I like to save money too, lol.

Try the car’s doorjamb, glovebox or center console box door, or sunvisors.

@Noel_S_Leitmotiv “Although, I did forget about the door jam. I’m gonna check that out right now….. Under futher inspection of the door jam it wasn’t listed. Luckily I do have the owners manual and it said, “cold inflation is required to see the correct psi check the gas tank flap door.” It wasn’t there, lol.” in a previous response.

There’s no glovebox, I know it’s very strange, lol. I could check the center tiny box and the sunvisors, but it’s looking slim, lol….. and that’s a nope and nope. I also checked the stickers under the hood and that’s also a no go.

If your tires seem like rocks when going over bumps, try lowering the pressue. Best bet is to lookup the tire on the manufacturer website and go from there.