What pressure do you have in your tires?

[gherikill]

Do you use the recommended 30 psi for your 2000-2005 Impala? Wondering if I can get away with a higher pressure since I am the only one in the car 90% of the time?

[adamace1]

i use 34-32 seems to help a bit with MPG.

[SpinnerCee]

Gauge accuracy, hot vs cold, and tire design/size matters...

It's really important that the pressure is equal side to side on each axle (front and rear) -- If you experiment you may find that the fronts like a different pressure than the rears, because of the weight difference front to rear.

Really hard tires ~40psi will save gas but create a harsher ride (increasing tire pressure has a similar effect to increasing spring rate) -- with radial tires side bite also increases when tire pressure is increased because it prevents the sidewall from rolling over.

Softer tires ~24psi will drag (less mileage), probably wear faster, and have a softer ride -- so soft that a pothole or curb may find its way to your rim -- at highway speed the wheels may wobble or bounce and feel like they're out of balance -- this means the pressure is too low. The tires may also squeal under moderate turning when the car's weight is on the sidewall instead of the tread. In snow and ice, low tire pressure is ok (cold temperatures actually lower tire pressure anyway), but only at low speed.

Start at the recommended 30-35psi and work both up and down -- try 40, try 25 -- a small change can sometimes make a big difference in how the car feels.

Don't follow my recommendation, but I like the way the '01 Impala feels and drives with 40psi front and 30psi in the rears -- in general, for FWD cars harder tires in the front help make steering more responsive.

[gherikill]

Thanks for the info. I'll try your suggestion - maybe not so extreme 36 front, 30 back.

[ogre73]

Originally Posted by SpinnerCee

It's really important that the pressure is equal side to side on each axle (front and rear) --

Absolutely. And something I see EVERY DAY around here (central Maine) is people who have their driver's side tires (front and rear) at a lower pressure than the passenger side.

When I asked a mechanic about that once, he said because of the crown in the roads. Yes, a lot of our roads do have a substantial crown, for runoff, but these people are under the impression that their tires will wear more evenly if they keep the driver's side lower. Hmmm, maybe if they are driving a wagon with no suspension...

Unfortunately, once something like that gets started, it *seems* to make sense to people and they do it because their mechanic, neighbor, buddy, whatever told them about it. Hell, it's probably the tire companies who started the idea so that tires would wear faster!

[dwalmop]

HAHA! Geez, never heard of that one! If people keep their tires rotated when they're supposed (and the correct rotation) there should be nothing to worry about! I personally like about 34 f/r. I've heard of people wanting as much as 50 psi in their standard load/sidewall tires. They say they want the gas mileage. It's rediculous to have pressure that high in a daily driver car. At high pressures, the centers of the tires will wear quickly, offsetting the mileage savings.

[SpinnerCee]

On Impalas with traction control and low tire pressure monitoring -- the ABS wheel speed sensors determine when to kick in traction control or throw a tire pressure warning based on the difference in wheel speeds -- a large difference in tire pressure side-to-side will make one wheel travel faster than the other, when this difference is small, traction control will kick in, when the wheel speed difference is larger, the computer will assume that a tire is going flat -- obviously, a flat tire running on the rim has a smaller diameter and will roll faster than a fully inflated tire.

[crazy Jim]

34 front 32 rear

[bigwaynester]

34 all the way around, but will try what some of you guys are doing

[Camshäft]

32 in the front 36 in the rear.

[Lenta]

I kept 35 front and 33 rear< but wonna try 36 front (since they say 40 (!) is good) and in place of 32 rear before, the 33 now would be perfect.
So i will not do neither 40 and 30, but will do 36 and 33! Two rabbits by one shot! Thanks. Man it si good site can know evetything suffered before/

[surrender]

First of all, I think it depends on the type of tire and the conditions you plan on traveling. I have Bridgestone Insignia SE's and run them at the specified 44lbs :O But my car is strictly a pavement monster and doesnt run gravels.