Tyre pressure sensibility check

[JohnD]

I have recently started using a Peugeot 206. I wanted to check the tyre pressures, on the door pillar it says 2.4 bar normal, 3bar heavy loads

I converted this to psi and it is 35 psi and 45psi which seems rather high

I am used to driving bigger cars with wider rims/low profile tyres at about 26psi

Is it so high for the pug because it has relatively small/narrow tyres? They are Goodyear GT2 175/65R14 3T2 on standard steel rims

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

Hi, John. Isn't 1bar equal to 14.5 ib/sqinch? In which case the upper range would be 43.5psi. It does seem rather high. On exactly the same tyres as you have (size and brand) my mum's Yaris owner's manual specifies 35psi (front) and 30 psi (rear) + 2 psi for heavy loads.

Might be worth checking for sure on a Peugeot website.

 

[JohnD]

I looked in the manual, and it just says it depends on wheel and tyre type, refer to the label on the door pillar

So I will keep them at 35psi. It just seems oddly high to me.

 

[Stivino]

I once had a chart that gave you all the info needed if you were going to be fitting non standard wheels and tyres to your car. It was something like what's shown in the link but it also gave you the tyre pressures to be used. http://tinyurl.com/yzbpjvc
It's to keep the tyre footprint at it's optimum for the size of rim/tyre/weight of car.

 

[Burnerman]

Somewhat off topic but worthwhile anyway.....seeing that many of our roads are no better than cart tracks these days, do check your tyre pressures especially if you have alloy rims - I'm on to my 3rd alloy wheel replacement on behalf of the punters, and the last one was a Seat Altea -£264 for a new rim
All of the cars tyre pressures were well down.
John

 

[fushionjulz]

Tyre pressures can vary from tyre brand to brand for optimum handling and wear.
The stiffer the sidewalls, the higher the pressures the tyre will withstand. However, at the same time, a stiffer sidewall can mean that a lower pressure can be used to acheive the same level of ride comfort.

It also depends on the weight of your vehicle...Modern cars tend to be heavy for the size...
For example: A 1980s BMW 3 series weighs between 980Kg and 1300Kg depending on model and options fitted...
A current 1 series of about the same size and power weighs around 1650kg to 1800kg.
The same tyre on a modern car with an extra 500kg odd to carry around needs more pressure...

There is also the consideration of handling balance...
In general, reducing the rear tyre pressures will result in more oversteer reducing the front gets more understeer.