What is the proper tire pressures supposed to be on a 05 Leg GT ltd sedan?

Right now, my pressures are:

 

Front Left - 27.5 | Front Right - 26.0

Rear Left - 26.5 | Rear Right - 28.5

 

What should they be?

 

- Mike

See you're putting that new AccuCheck Gauge to good use.

 

34 front/32 rear - set at "cold" condition. You'll find the sticker on the driver's door frame (B pillar) just to the right and down below the door latch. You may want to bump them up a couple pounds front and rear, just keep the same f/r bias.

 

Check 'em every week for optimal wear and handling performance.

 

SBT

32 front/30 rear - set at "cold" condition. You'll find the sticker on the driver's door frame (B pillar) just to the right and down below the door latch. You may want to bump them up a couple pounds front and rear, just keep the same f/r bias.

 

Check 'em every week for optimal wear and handling performance.

 

SBT

 

I just checked them now, while they were cold. Outside temp is in the high 20's.

 

Thanks for the numbers, going on a trip tomorrow, want them to be optimal.

 

- Mike

Oh jeez.. mine says 35/33 but that's way too low, you creep up on sidewalls on spirited drives.. I run 38/36.

 

26=sidewall blowout level.

OMG http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5735&highlight=blowout

I thought Bridgestone was gonna check them all.... gahhhhh even the tire they replaced wasn't filled to what it's supposed to be.

 

oh well.

 

I'll just do it in the morning.

 

- Mike

I just checked them now, while they were cold. Outside temp is in the high 20's.

 

Thanks for the numbers, going on a trip tomorrow, want them to be optimal.

 

- Mike

I think 20 something degrees F will get them to "cold" condition pretty quickly.

 

Are you going to be loading the car for this trip you're taking? Extra people, extra weight, etc., then I'd definitely recommend increasing the TP by a couple extra PSI front and rear. You'll notice a little harsher ride but the handling should improve accordingly because you're stiffening up the sidewalls with the increased pressures.

 

There is a point of diminishing returns on air pressure and you certainly don't want to compromise the tire and/or your handling by having too much pressure. Check your sidewalls for MAX pressures - and don't exceed that. Deer Killer runs pressures that are consistent with many on the board who are looking for increased handling from the tires. His settings are what I setup for Auto-x. For normal daily driving I use 34/32 or 35/33. Anything above that and I get thumped too much through the steering wheel. Comes with age...

 

General rule of thumb with Subarus (all else equal) - increase the rear pressures over the fronts and you dial in oversteer, decrease the rears significantly and you dial in more understeer. IMHO, that's mainly why the TP bias is there, to keep the car reasonably neutral but also to keep it at understeer so unaware drivers don't get into handling troubles.

 

SBT

Damn, I'm off by a lot. No wonder why my rear tire blew - must've been low and I had three adult passengers.

 

I'll increase the pressures tomorrow.

 

Thanks.

 

- Mike

It's probably better that you checked your tires since they were probably "warm" when Bridgestone put the new tire on for you. So even if they set them to spec, as soon as they cooled, the TP dropped. Check 'em weekly (Saturday morning or whatever day you can get to it regularly before you drive the car or the sun can get to the tires).

 

FWIW - I always specify on any tire work order (rotation/balance/replacement) the TPs front and rear and the torque (~80 ft-lbs) for the wheel. Then when I get the car home, I let it set overnight and recheck the TP in the morning to make sure it's where I want it to be.

 

SBT

Earlier in the fall I was running 37 psi front, 35 psi rear.

I'll post a visual since I see so many threads regarding tire pressue with the LGT, and people still don't seem to get it.

 

http://celicaman.f0e.net/albums/Legacy/DSCN3166sm.jpg

 

right out of the manual, since i'm sure there are plenty of people who haven't even cracked the sucker open.

http://celicaman.f0e.net/albums/Legacy/DSCN3167sm.jpg

Oh jeez.. mine says 35/33 but that's way too low, you creep up on sidewalls on spirited drives.. I run 38/36.

 

26=sidewall blowout level.

I run 38/36 (or 37/35) like Deer Killer. I find another +1-2 psi is too rough a ride and anything -2 psi or less reduces handling.

I waited a little while to see what everyone else posted. What I'm about to post is my opinion based on some solid feedback from a couple engineers I spoke to at two Manufacturer tire test days that I attended. My questions to them were based on the fact running higher pressures during autocrossing with non-race compound street tires produced much better handling. They agreed and said that for enthusiast drivers higher pressures were fine, they said most other drivers would not accept the harder ride and I agreed. I run 47 PSI cold front and rear, it really improves handling and makes the tires more consistent. Recommendations from the engineers were 3-4 PSI from the maximum rating on the sidewall for 225 and under, 5-8 PSI for 225-265 and 9-10 PSI 275 and up. The wider the tire the more you'll wear the center out faster so being too close over increases the center wear. The ride on my GT is a little harsher but then again it makes the car feel much more responsive and gives better feedback. I've been doing this for 6-7 years now on various vehicles and it has wroked like a charm. I will recommend for those willing to have an open mind that you watch the wear for rotation purposes. You have to rotate at regular intervals, say 6 months to 9 months depending the amount you drive. The pressure also helps with fuel economy by significantly lessoning the rolling resistance. The engineers said, although they would not be willing to quote it publicly, that they test the tires to twice their rated PSI as the benchmark. In their words "its not over pressure that kills its underpressure." Now I varied pressure front to rear slightly on other FWD or RWD cars but since I don't have much experience with AWD I'm not sure if I want more pressure up front or in the back (+ or - 1-2 lbs.), anyone?

 

Respectfully,

Shawn

DM runs 39/37.

Reminds self to check air pressure after work.

Unorthodox, I completely agree. I run 42 f/ 40 r on my LGT. IT does make for much sharper handling. I ran higher pressures on my WRX with the exact same tire on it. I did not notice any extra tire wear in excess of what I do to tires do to my 'fun' driving. The extra pressure really reduces the sidewall mush you feel when the pressures are at the 'recommended' settings, which are for the most part a compromise. IF you want more performance crank up those pressures.

 

My michelins are quite happy at elevated pressures... Oh I am not running RE92's, I switched to Michelin Exaltos and have been in love with these tires ever since!

 

SCRAPPYDO

Now I varied pressure front to rear slightly on other FWD or RWD cars but since I don't have much experience with AWD I'm not sure if I want more pressure up front or in the back (+ or - 1-2 lbs.), anyone?

You'll want teh fronts a tad (read: approx 2lbs) higher than the rears.

for RE92s during autocross days I run 44 front and 42 rear.. if the car is not settling too well through the slaloms and based if the tarmac is cold, warm or hot, I'll run 38 in the rear. For the rainy days, I drop a good 10 to 14 psi all the way around and let the heat [psi at warm operation temps] come up to spec (the friction of air between the rim and the tire will warm the rubber up faster as well as raising the psi.. it's also a lot easier to drive with softer suspension in the rain as well). It's very rare that I run OEM spec numbers unless I have to.

 

Keefe

Found this thread before posting a new one and almost all of my questions have been answered- 'cept this one.

 

I live in Oregon (read ALWAYS RAINING). I was going to up my tire pressure to the 42/40 or 39/37 range- will that be bad for the permanently wet conditions?

Running a "softer" tire pressure should help the wet driving, as any real autox veteran will tell you that for more grip. I would just run the stock pressures as that is the lowest I would go anyways for public driving on a the set of RE92s.

 

Keefe

Thanks! Will do.

I usually end up running about 2-5 lbs above the recommended tire pressures. I have seen some center tire wear on my truck above that level. I haven't noticed anything like that on my miata, but recommended tire pressure on that is about 26lbs front and rear. I usually run 28-31, depending on the ambient temperature changes during the day.

 

I have the hardest time convincing my brother-in-law (My wife's brother, an auto-body repairman and painter, and quite good at what he does.) that one should start with the recommended tire pressures that are listed on the CAR, and then adjust upward from there, if necessary.

 

He firmly believes that the maximum pressure listed on the tire is what ANY vehicle with those tires on it should be inflated to. If the tire says Max Pressure 45 PSI, then the tire should be inflated to 45 PSI. He claims he learned this from a freind of his who works at a dedicated tire retailer. That is scary.

 

He hasn't really responded to my question about why different cars with different curb weights, or FWD versus AWD versus RWD, would need the same inflation pressure.

Or why if you have tire A that says 45 PSI, those wear out (and quickly) and are replaced with tire B, which says 42 PSI, why the tires should be inflated differently on the same car.

I also asked him theoretically, if a truck were to get the wrong weight-rating tire installed, and the max tire inflation pressure would be actually BELOW the recommended tire pressure for that truck, why one should trust the pressure listing on the sidewall, rather than correctly returning the tires for ones with a proper weight rating, and a max pressure somewhat above the vehicle's inflation recommendation.

 

He didn't quite grasp that different vehicles of different weights, (especially a wide range of passenger cars) would require different inflation pressures when running the exact same tires, because a few different tires fit on MANY different cars.

 

He still thinks that if you don't inflate to the maximum rating, that the tire is under-inflated, period. I haven't got him convinced yet, and although I know quite a bit about cars, I am not in the profession, so I am not sure how much credibility he gives me.

 

Oh, well. I tend to research tires extensively, and put the best performance grade tires on that I can afford, on my vehicles. If there is one area of my car I will over-spend on, it is the rubber on the road.

 

He tends to put the garage clearance special tires on his cars. On the other hand, his car isn't nearly as new or nice as my wife and I. We are paying two multi-year car loans,(on the cars listed in my info) he just bought a car for less than $1500 cash. Just a matter of personal preference, understanding, and cashflow, methinks.

I have been to two driver's schools and I had alwyas been taught that in wet conditions you should increase air pressure in the tires. Letting air out means more contact on the gorund and thus more likely to hydroplane. the opposite is true for dry driving. just watch any rally video and you can see in wet conditions the tires are always much less wide.

40 F

37 R

 

Inflated and adjusted after a hot run (highway, warm day). I ended up just adding like 2-3 psi per wheel. It handles somewhat better.

Went up to 39-37 this morning for my run in of 50 miles. I already find it steers easier and is smoother in general. Next is 42-40!