Rear Tire Air Pressure Question

[CanyonChaser]

The manual on my 01 says to run the tire pressure at 42psi on the rear... Is that right??!?! That seems extremely high. What are other folks running for tire pressure?

Thanks,
Dave

The manual for my 02 S3 says 32psi for the front and 42psi for the rear.

[Pablo]

Every tire is engineered to run at a different pressure. When I put the new Pirellis on my S3 I e-mailed them and was told if I want to get the maximum mileage out of them run the pressure at 41 or 42 but they grip the best at 36-38. That 42psi recommendation may be why those Bridgesones were such crap.

[CanyonChaser]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks those Bridgestones are crap! At least they seem to wear out fast so I can replace them with something of value!

And thanks for the tip about asking the tire manufacturer regarding the specific bike. I never thought of that, but it seems like a great idea!

Cheers,
Dave

[Pipes]

I think Bridgestones are great,I use 020`s coz 010`s wear out too quick and you can`t tell the difference on the road anyway.I usually run at 38.

Pete

[Knightshade]

I run a 010 front and 020 back on my SVS and have been pretty happy with them. Pressure is different because that bike is about 50 lbs lighter.

At any rate, when I took it to the track, I ran them at 30 F and 31 R and they gripped like crazy for me....but that was my first trackday, so I'm sure I didn't push them to their limits.

[Pablo]

Recently I heard a suspension guy talking about tire pressures. His suggestion was what he called a 4% rule. Check the tire pressure cold. Then after warming them up check them again. If they are within 4% of the original pressure you're good. But if the tire pressure change is above 4% your pressure is too low, below 4% means it is too high.

[Slinky]

Excuse me butting in here ( I just escaped from the Classics forum).

I have heard a variation on the 4% rule, it was that the pressure should only rise 1 psi from cold to warmed up. I always thought the recommended 42psi was too much on my T-bird and I run mine at 36.

[02Daytona955i]

On 2004-04-17 02:01, Pablo wrote:
Recently I heard a suspension guy talking about tire pressures. His suggestion was what he called a 4% rule. Check the tire pressure cold. Then after warming them up check them again. If they are within 4% of the original pressure you're good. But if the tire pressure change is above 4% your pressure is too low, below 4% means it is too high.

That would match the 3 to 4 psi increase I read in Cycle World a while back...........

I like the bridgestones, when I first got my bike I noticed it whitelined a bit, so I checked the pressures and the back was 38.. I put it up to 42 and the whitelining stopped. I've ridden all through this winter and so far the 010's haven't given me any reason to think about changing them. Rider weight probably makes a difference here though, I'm 230lbs, maybe a littler geezer may find lower pressures work better for them.