Lowerer air pressure

[Billy10mm]

I'm still commuting daily on my stock rims and tires while I wait for my winter rims to get here (should be here mid Jan). At my summer pressures (40PSI cold), I'm having a very difficult time getting any heat into the tires. Even after 10 solid minutes of 60+mph highway driving in 35 degree temps, the G2s are hard and offer little traction.

So in an effort to get some heat into the tires, I dropped my pressures to 32PSI. The result? Within 5 minutes of mixed highway/city driving, the tires are up to an acceptable temperature and offer significantly increased grip. Whereas I could spin the rear tires at will in 3rd gear at anything over 1500 RPM before, I can now do a full-throttle pull in 2nd gear without tire spin. That's the good part.

The bad part is that I can't figure how anyone daily drives at this pressure or anything below it. The car follows every spec of sand on the road. The steering is nervous and I'm fighting the wheel almost constantly. Where before I could relax while commuting and hold onto the steering wheel with the fingertips of one hand, I'm now forced to leave both hands on the wheel at all times, no exceptions. There is an especially bad 2 to 3 mile section of road on I-287 in White Plains that is deeply rutted from trucks and congestion, and the car acts like a cocaine-riddled canine. It darts and bounces and jerks and whips and scares my wife (who commutes with me, we work only about 2 miles apart) something fierce.

I'm going to go up to 36PSI and see how that works, but I'm just amazed to read that some of you actually run your 1LEs at this pressure all the time.

[Cleancoupe]

I run 32psi in my car all the time with no problems. The reason the tires follow every groove in the road is because of the width of them.

[gajagfan]

I also run at just under 32 (30 psi) so after driving a short while the tires are at 32 psi. This is the recommended pressure for the Goodyears. I will add that I am on my second set and got about 15K miles out of the first set and look to be on that pace for this second set. We are in flat coastal Georgia though, so not a lot of turning fun to be had.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by Cleancoupe

I run 32psi in my car all the time with no problems. The reason the tires follow every groove in the road is because of the width of them.

Yes I'm quite aware. What I was referring to was the stout difference in tramlining between 40PSI and 32PSI. Run 40PSI for a few weeks and see how much less nervous your car feels (not to mention the other benefits that come along with running higher air pressure).

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by gajagfan

I also run at just under 32 (30 psi) so after driving a short while the tires are at 32 psi. This is the recommended pressure for the Goodyears. I will add that I am on my second set and got about 15K miles out of the first set and look to be on that pace for this second set. We are in flat coastal Georgia though, so not a lot of turning fun to be had.

30PSI cold is a great track pressure, but it is a TERRIBLE street pressure. The benefits of running significantly more air are plentiful.

[markgws6]

Lowerer? :-) On stock rubber I was running about 36-37psi (cold) in the fronts and 32psi cold in the rears. It seemed to be okay for me, but the temps here have not gotten that cold lately. I noticed this morning (about 46 deg) that my car "pulled" to the left more than normal. I know it does this when warm out too, it just seemed to be more noticeable this morning and I found myself working to keep the car in my lane at speeds below 40mph.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by Billy10mm

30PSI cold is a great track pressure, but it is a TERRIBLE street pressure. The benefits of running significantly more air are plentiful.

Are you referring to improved fuel economy? I agree it would help, but the majority of the miles I have put on the car are the 10 miles to and from work. I am more concerned with even tire wear (these things are expensive), which is what I have found, and was not terribly upset with 15K miles out of the tires. I should note that I saved the fronts which I say have a good 5K left on them, and will run them out on the back once these back go (about another 5K miles or so).

Keep in mind that I have little to none of your tracking issues either, which is either me being used to driving wide tired vehicles for the last 25 years or better road conditions. You pick your reasons for the pressure you run, but I will opt for even wear and great grip over an additional mile or two per gallon.

[ST1LE]

Originally Posted by Billy10mm

30PSI cold is a great track pressure, but it is a TERRIBLE street pressure. The benefits of running significantly more air are plentiful.

This is 100% correct. Everything I read suggests street pressure on these of high to mid 30's at the lowest.

I run mine at 35 cold, and they get to about 37-38 when warm and they feel MUCH better on the road than when I ran 30 psi cold.

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by ST1LE

This is 100% correct. Everything I read suggests street pressure on these of high to mid 30's at the lowest.

I run mine at 35 cold, and they get to about 37-38 when warm and they feel MUCH better on the road than when I ran 30 psi cold.

I ask this to try to learn, but what improvements are you finding at the mid to upper 30's that were not present at the 32 psi point.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by markgws6

Lowerer? :-) On stock rubber I was running about 36-37psi (cold) in the fronts and 32psi cold in the rears. It seemed to be okay for me, but the temps here have not gotten that cold lately. I noticed this morning (about 46 deg) that my car "pulled" to the left more than normal. I know it does this when warm out too, it just seemed to be more noticeable this morning and I found myself working to keep the car in my lane at speeds below 40mph.

You like my new word, don't you?

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by gajagfan

Are you referring to improved fuel economy? I agree it would help, but the majority of the miles I have put on the car are the 10 miles to and from work. I am more concerned with even tire wear (these things are expensive), which is what I have found, and was not terribly upset with 15K miles out of the tires. I should note that I saved the fronts which I say have a good 5K left on them, and will run them out on the back once these back go (about another 5K miles or so).

Keep in mind that I have little to none of your tracking issues either, which is either me being used to driving wide tired vehicles for the last 25 years or better road conditions. You pick your reasons for the pressure you run, but I will opt for even wear and great grip over an additional mile or two per gallon.

Actually, the improved wear is a major reason I run higher pressures. Been doing it for 20 years now and I get significantly more mileage out of tires than others running the same tires on the same vehicles. Other reasons include less tramlining, improved braking stability, rim/tire protection from potholes/debris, and the aforementioned fuel mileage.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by gajagfan

I ask this to try to learn, but what improvements are you finding at the mid to upper 30's that were not present at the 32 psi point.

Here's a thread we had on the topic a few months back: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371327

[gajagfan]

Originally Posted by Billy10mm

Here's a thread we had on the topic a few months back: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371327

Thanks for both posts, and you and I shared posts on the older thread as well. I am not sure what your terrain is like in NY, but I am sure it is a lot less flat an boring than it is here in coastal GA. I mention that because I am curious how many miles you are going to get out of your tires, and how they will wear over their life. I know coming from the mountains of North GA to this area extended tire and brake life exponentially, but significantly reduced the fun factor!

PS: As mentioned, I have not had much tramlining issues (some, but it is very road dependent), stability issues with hard braking, and mileage mixed has been 18.3 over vehicles life (about 23 at 79 MPH on interstate), but what I have had was a car that bit when I put the coals to it. That is why I bought the car, and the improved traction / reduced tire spin has to have been a help on reducing rear tire wear. I guess everyone will find their sweet spot.

[Billy10mm]

Originally Posted by gajagfan

Thanks for both posts, and you and I shared posts on the older thread as well. I am not sure what your terrain is like in NY, but I am sure it is a lot less flat an boring than it is here in coastal GA. I mention that because I am curious how many miles you are going to get out of your tires, and how they will wear over their life. I know coming from the mountains of North GA to this area extended tire and brake life exponentially, but significantly reduced the fun factor!

PS: As mentioned, I have not had much tramlining issues (some, but it is very road dependent), stability issues with hard braking, and mileage mixed has been 18.3 over vehicles life (about 23 at 79 MPH on interstate), but what I have had was a car that bit when I put the coals to it. That is why I bought the car, and the improved traction / reduced tire spin has to have been a help on reducing rear tire wear. I guess everyone will find their sweet spot.

It's tough for me to say how much mileage I'm going to get out of these tires. Within weeks of picking up the car (back in April when the auto-cross season here in NY/NJ wasn't open yet), an apartment opened up in our building that we had been waiting to open up, for years now. So all of this year's racing money went into the $250K renovation we just did on that new apartment. So with 8K miles on the car right now, all four tires are in great shape. But when I take my winter wheels and tires off come April/May, I expect to be auto-crossing or tracking weekly - so tire life will be measured in weeks, not distance.

But at 8K miles right now, my tires have little noticeable wear. I'll take a full set of measurements next month when my winter wheels and tires come in and can give a better approximation of tire life at that point.