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Old 01-23-2021, 02:36 PM   #1
Chi_San
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Default Tire Pressure: What to run, where to run it?

So, I do mixed driving. Dry pavement, wet pavement, ice, snow, offroad on gravel, offroad on dirt, offroad on rocky hellscapes.

The only surface I don't drive on is sand. (Cough. Anymore. Cough.)

So, I know that for best traction on wet pavement, using either summer tires, all season tires, or snow tires, higher, but still reasonable, tire pressure is ideal for grip.

I also know that when driving on loose surfaces, sad, dirt, or gravel, lower, but still reasonable, tire pressure is best.

And for driving on rough surfaces (the rocky hellscape), higher tire pressure is ideal, since you can wreck tires with low tire pressure (unless they're meant for this).

So, what about snow and ice? I've never seen anything detailing tire pressure for snow and ice driving... I usually just leave my tire pressure on the 'high' side, and normally don't have issues, but I'm wondering if this is ideal.
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Old 01-23-2021, 07:05 PM   #2
krzyss
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Mazda puts "use 3 PSI more in winter tires" but it may be more about ambient temperature.
Early morning temperature may be very different from mid day.

Myself I use sticker PSI + 10%.

Krzys
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Old 01-23-2021, 07:52 PM   #3
Chi_San
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Quote:
Originally Posted by krzyss View Post
Mazda puts "use 3 PSI more in winter tires" but it may be more about ambient temperature.
Early morning temperature may be very different from mid day.

Myself I use sticker PSI + 10%.

Krzys
I typically run 40PSI front and 32-34PSI rear. Baja's door frame says to run 32PSI front and rear... I like a little more oversteer. When I had my axle replaced, they did an alignment, and they set the tires to 32PSI all around, and I really didn't like how it handled.

But yeah, I guess it makes sense to run a bit more air pressure during the winter in a snow tire.
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Old 01-24-2021, 06:38 PM   #4
fullah
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Are these cold tire pressures you guys are talking about? I have tried running 37front and 35 rear cold on my 18" wrx and have crazy tramlining issues on the highway. How are you guys not experiencing this with even higher air pressures! I'm running 265/35/18 which probably has something to do with it.
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Old 01-25-2021, 12:24 PM   #5
Chi_San
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fullah View Post
Are these cold tire pressures you guys are talking about? I have tried running 37front and 35 rear cold on my 18" wrx and have crazy tramlining issues on the highway. How are you guys not experiencing this with even higher air pressures! I'm running 265/35/18 which probably has something to do with it.
If you mean 'road following', IE, it tries to steer itself to follow ruts in the road, or the grooves from tires make it steer by itself, then that's going to be caused by an alignment problem. Super wide tires, stanced BS, or most commonly, the wrong offset. I had a Legacy GT with +35 wheels on it, and it was scary on the freeway. Threw some WRX wheels on it, and it drove just fine.
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Old 01-25-2021, 05:46 PM   #6
krzyss
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All PSI cold.
Only racers care about hot pressures, AFAIK.

Krzy***347;
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Old 01-27-2021, 08:00 PM   #7
X49
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A larger contact patch (lower pressure) is better for ice grip.

A smaller contact patch (higher pressure) is better in snow in most conditions. Usually you want the tire to dig down to a grippier surface underneath.

In some situations it's better to try to stay on top of the snow with a larger contact patch though (more like a snowmobile). This is the case when the snow is too deep or maybe if there is a layer of ice underneath.

I would just run similar pressures to summer. If you get caught in some bad freezing rain you could think about maybe dropping the pressure by a few psi. If you're using winter tires in warm weather, higher pressure might be better to keep their temperature down for reduced wear.

I typically run 36psi front, 30 psi rear.
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Old 01-28-2021, 07:39 PM   #8
Ernest
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35 all around, no issues at all.
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Old 01-28-2021, 08:13 PM   #9
GK1707
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Quote:
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35 all around, no issues at all.
Same here
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