Trevor Boicey wrote:
>
> Todd Mullins wrote:
> > Yes, Kai's right. Optimum tire PSI depends not on the particular tire,
> > but on the overall weight and weight distribution of the car. The idea
> > is to keep the tire's contact patch consistent. Too little or too much
> > air distorts the tire's contact patch, thereby reducing it.
>
> Be careful though, if you are using radial tires on a
> car who specified tire pressures for bias ply.
>
> Without going out on a limb to say in which direction this
> affects tire pressure, suffice to say it throws the original
> spec out the window.
Well, I'll probably violate the first rule of holes. To wit:
"Once you find yourself in a hole, stop digging!"
But I was sorta thinking it was my car, my tires, and my money. If I
found a quantum difference in how my car rides or handles then the right
answer would be a) any setting that does not exceed the tire
manufacturers notice and b) that I like.
So you take a tire several sizes wider than stock and put the 'book'
pressures in it and the ride is squishy. (sp Todd?) Then you pump it up
a bunch and you discover the handling is much more crisp. I'd say both
(or either) pressures are right.
I did notice at Chanute that the wider the tires, all things being
equal, the slower the car. Wind resistance I suspect.
Bob Allen, Kansas City, pumped-up '69CGT, squishy '75TR6
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