[Vwdiesel] Tire pressure

[Chris Geiser]

I generally run my Jetta tires at 42 PSI front and back (max is 44).  I've
gotten over 100K miles on two sets of tires, and 90+K on the other set, so I
can't say that running them close to max PSI has had a big effect on wear.

I run my vanagon tires about 45-48 PSI and have over 60K so far on those
with a good amount of tread left.
And I usually only rotate them once in the life of a tire - front to back.

When you've only got 48 hp, every PSI counts...

My wife's '02 Eurovan - heavier vehicle, softer tires, has the power to
overcome recommended PSI, so that's where I run them (or slightly above):
We've gone through 2 1/2 sets of tires in 80K miles already.  Also the
"brake wear" warning light just came on so I'll be putting on the third set
of front pads in that span... consequences of the auto tranny and all of the
"improvements" in engineering over the years.

Chris



-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of David Cook
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 9:46 PM
To: diesel list
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Tire pressure

That is a good point, and one I've heard a lot of
times.

However, my thought is this:

For most of us, our cars were built in the early 1980s
or thereabouts, anywhere from 20 to 30 years ago for
the majority of our old diesels.

Tire technology has changed quite a bit since then
(different types of tires, rubber compounds,
durability, designs, maximum pressure range, etc), so
tires you buy today are probably nothing like the
tires that VW put on the car originally, which is what
the specs in the doorpost come from.  Even back then
if you put a different type of tire on the car, the
doorpost specs may not apply anymore.  That number was
also a compromise between many factors, such as noise,
ride comfort, grip, wearability, fuel mileage, etc.

I don't know for sure with a Rabbit or my Cabriolet
but I had a conversation with a VW Bus owner, and we
figured that the fuel savings alone more than paid for
the *possiblility* of a tire wearing out a little
quicker.  So, you theoretically could be spending a
little more money buying new tires, but you are saving
more than that with decreased fuel usage.

Generally I don't care much about a little harsher
ride, so I run the tires at the top of their max PSI.

Just my .02 YMMV,

David