Tire inflation for gas mileage

[stevenvillatoro]

One of the most basic hypermiler tricks is to inflate tire pressures above the suggested PSI to improve gas mileage. Has anyone done this in the smart yet?

I just checked my pressures this morning, which had been 29/36. They had already dropped 4 PSI. I'm going to try 32/39 this time (3 PSI over standard).

[Gene_SD]

We should track this to see what the best tire pressure is for mileage and handling. Currently at 29/36 and getting 38.5 mpg on second fill.

[jonnysan]

Originally Posted by stevenvillatoro

One of the most basic hypermiler tricks is to inflate tire pressures above the suggested PSI to improve gas mileage. Has anyone done this in the smart yet?

I just checked my pressures this morning, which had been 29/36. They had already dropped 4 PSI. I'm going to try 32/39 this time (3 PSI over standard).

It's not worth it. Not only is the ride damned hard and ofcourse more uncomfortably bumpy, but wearing out the center of the tires due to overinflation will defeat tire longevity, another factor in economy overall.

I think the little you may gain in gas mileage would be washed out with hard ride and tires prematurely worn down in the centers. On wet or slippery roads, they would offer less traction, too.

JMHO

John

[Lgaruti]

When I overinflated the tires the ride became very harsh but of greated concern @ high speed was the effect of wind guests & passing large vehicles on the handling. Dropping the front tires to spec fixed the handling issue.

[vibrato]

Just a question here........Do you all just use those $2.00 little pen like gauges to determine tire pressure? Are they accurate? Just a girl here asking for a little info....Thanks

[JThw8]

Originally Posted by vibrato

Just a question here........Do you all just use those $2.00 little pen like gauges to determine tire pressure? Are they accurate? Just a girl here asking for a little info....Thanks

I personally dont but I have some high dollar gauges because I race.

The accuracy on those pen types can vary greatly. Some are better than others but none are perfect.

That said they better ones of the bunch are good enough for the average commuter car. If you really want some good accuracy look for dial type gauges, AccuGauge makes some good equipment. But again, not really needed for a daily driver type car.

[GoMXracing]

just a bit to ponder.....

if you do use either an expensive gauge or a non expensive one........just use the SAME one every time....... then at least you can be consistent.
if it is a pound or two off either direction........ wont really matter once you find the sweet pressure you like... yo can duplicate it every time from that point on.

[Dunerunner]

Gee, I wonder if any of the engineers at smartUSA or PAG tinkered with tire pressure? We may be on to something new here!