[A3 8Y] Correct Tyre Pressure

Encode_GR

Encode_GR

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I bought my car almost a year ago and it came with "Nexen N'Fera Sport SU2" tyres. Not a bad tyre to be honest, but it felt a bit numb and too understeery if you know what i mean. I also had kinda low feedback from the road, and driving was not so enjoyable, so i decided to keep them for a bit but eventually change them. Long story short, after 6000km i got a puncture, so i went to replace them with "Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6".

Current tyre size: 225/45/R17
Rating: 91Y

After replacement was done, i asked the guy who replaced them what pressure he inflated the tyres to and he told me 32 psi.
I told him that the manufacturer's recommended minimum pressure is 36 psi, as shown at door sticker, and asked him to inflate them to that pressure.

To this, he replied that "36 psi is too high", especially for summer in Greece, and that i should use 30-32 psi now and only use 36 psi during December and January when it's cold. I was a bit sceptical to that, but didn't argue at that point and left them at 32 psi.

I don't want to sound like a smart-pants, and i may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure 32 psi is the wrong pressure, no matter what the weather is, as the manufacturer would have taken this into account when recommending 36 psi, or at least have included it as a seperate criteria, just like with the car load.
Any thoughts about this ? Shouldn't i inflated them to the recommended 36 psi (asssuming standard car load) ?
 

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Encode_GR said:
I bought my car almost a year ago and it came with "Nexen N'Fera Sport SU2" tyres. Not a bad tyre to be honest, but it felt a bit numb and too understeery if you know what i mean. I also had kinda low feedback from the road, and driving was not so enjoyable, so i decided to keep them for a bit but eventually change them. Long story short, after 6000km i got a puncture, so i went to replace them with "Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6".

Current tyre size: 225/45/R17
Rating: 91Y

After replacement was done, i asked the guy who replaced them what pressure he inflated the tyres to and he told me 32 psi.
I told him that the manufacturer's recommended minimum pressure is 36 psi, as shown at door sticker, and asked him to inflate them to that pressure.

To this, he replied that "36 psi is too high", especially for summer in Greece, and that i should use 30-32 psi now and only use 36 psi during December and January when it's cold. I was a bit sceptical to that, but didn't argue at that point and left them at 32 psi.

I don't want to sound like a smart-pants, and i may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure 32 psi is the wrong pressure, no matter what the weather is, as the manufacturer would have taken this into account when recommending 36 psi, or at least have included it as a seperate criteria, just like with the car load.
Any thoughts about this ? Shouldn't i inflated them to the recommended 36 psi (asssuming standard car load) ?
Click to expand...
You ask: "Shouldn't i inflated them to the recommended 36 psi (asssuming standard car load) ?"
Answer: Yes, and then monitor wear across the tyre surface i.e., 'too hard' and the tyre will wear more across the centre tread

Tyre wear


​
 
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Correct tyre pressure is the one printed to the car sticker.

I did the same swap for the same reason, though my car came with Bridgestone Turanzas, same size. My previous 8Y had Pirelli Cinturato P7s which had way better steering feel than the Bridgestones. I put the sticker pressures, it feels fine, and we have quite bad road surfaces here.

How do you like the Goodyears? I think the steering feel got much better by Goodyears compared to Bridgestones, road noise didn't change much.
 
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JKP said:
Correct tyre pressure is the one printed to the car sticker.

I did the same swap for the same reason, though my car came with Bridgestone Turanzas, same size. My previous 8Y had Pirelli Cinturato P7s which had way better steering feel than the Bridgestones. I put the sticker pressures, it feels fine, and we have quite bad road surfaces here.

How do you like the Goodyears? I think the steering feel got much better by Goodyears compared to Bridgestones, road noise didn't change much.
Click to expand...
Yes, i'll probably stick to the manufacturer's recommended pressure.
I love them ! Indeed. I haven't properly tested them yet, as i got them yesterday, by my initial impressions are excellent !
The steering feel is simply superb and responsive. I can now get some very decent feedback from the road and feel the limits of the tyres when cornering. The comfort did improve a little bit, very decent i would say for an UHP tyre, can't complain. Noise, as you said didn't improve much, but it's not worse either. In fact, i would consider this totally acceptable, since the Goodyears are way more sporty tyres, which manage to maintain very good comfort levels, decently low noise while at the same time offering very accurate and responsive steering.
Oh and yeah, grip is just unreal, in a good way... even if the tyre is brand new. :)

Overall, I found them quite impressive, a big improvement for sure!
 
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Remember that the air in your tires expands as temperatures increase. if you inflate to the regular maximum pressure from cold, it will mean that a 15-20 degree ambient temperature increase during the day will likely lead to a 1.5-2 psi increase over the manufacturer's recommendation. Thus it makes sense to drop the psi a tad or two in the hot summer months, in order to stay closer to the manufacturer's recommendation in the extreme. Vice versa, in the winter months it makes sense to overinflate a tiny bit in order not to stray too far below the recommended settings.
 
vatdim said:
Remember that the air in your tires expands as temperatures increase. if you inflate to the regular maximum pressure from cold, it will mean that a 15-20 degree ambient temperature increase during the day will likely lead to a 1.5-2 psi increase over the manufacturer's recommendation. Thus it makes sense to drop the psi a tad or two in the hot summer months, in order to stay closer to the manufacturer's recommendation in the extreme. Vice versa, in the winter months it makes sense to overinflate a tiny bit in order not to stray too far below the recommended settings.
Click to expand...
But the type temperature increases when driving not just the ambient outside temperature - If you were to check your tyres after having driven the car they will have increased by 2-3 lb

I always stick to the Manufacturers guidelines and set at cold
 
I guess going from a 'mid-range' tyre to a premium tyre is quite a big step up (for the better).
Did notice that earlier 8Y A3s off the line were with Turanza 005 / Pirelli p7 C2s where as newer ones were only with Nexens.
My opinion is that 36psi are the 'eco' tyre pressures for max fuel economy on these tyre/rim combination. Previously had a Seat Leon with a 2.0TDI engine (vs 1.0TSI on the A3) with same tyre/rim combination, and the recommended pressures were 32/29psi on a much heavier car!
Also like you, i did tend to let them settle to 36/35(rears) PSI (would pump the warm tyre to around 38, and release accordingly until down to 36/35psi next day when cold). Now it has covered just over 7k miles and using a digital tyre tread measurer did measure the middles are margianally (like 0.33 to 0.5 a mm) lower tread compared to the other grooves (fronts only). Rears were even (well to within 0.25mm), and overally around 1mm more tread than fronts (and I put them 1PSI lower), since it's 95% just myself and my OH, no cargo nor rear passengers.
So perhaps there is some truth that 36 is a bit on the higher end (at least from my experience car is 1.0 engine, larger engines might be just right).
I only tend to top up the pressures just before winter, check every month (digital pressure device), or top up as required if they fall to 33psi, would top up to 36/35 and forget about it, until it goes down to 33.
 
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The 30TFSI engine is lighter, maybe that's why it's still 36 fully loaded. Might also be that the rear axle pressure differs from the fronts because the 30TFSI rear axle is torsion beam while 35TFSI is multi-link.
Edit: Just checked, the weight difference between the two engines is just 35 kg, doesn't sound like much to me. So the reason might also be the difference in power to driving wheels.

My current car has the sport suspension, the previous one was standard. The sticker pressures were the same on both cars.
 
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