Yeah you should be nowhere near max inflation. Mine was at 42 PSI on stock tires and the car was on its tip toes. At 33/32 cold in non winter conditions they ran at 35/34 while warm/hot and not only did it handle correctly, but the tire wear was even across the tire, so to me, that's the correct setting.
Of course then I went up to 245/45, upped the load index to 100 from 95, dropped the pressures based on a load index chart provided by ammcinnis, and took it to the track so my current settings notwithstanding, when I WAS stock, the manu settings felt appropriate, and the evidence that they WERE appropriate was the even tire wear.