I have the facotry pilot's and they rate them at 41 psi max. I used to know a lot of folks who ran about 5-10 psi over the max rating for better performance; better handling.... What do you guys run at? Should I run more then 41 to hold corners better?

Thanks!

 

Best pressure for what? Straight line? Auto cross? Or just overall street performance? Assuming it's the last choice here's what I do. But first, Acura (recommends 32 PSI at all 4 wheels) which is a sheer joke! That's fine if you drive your CL-S like a grandma and want the squishiest ride. Forget any performance driving at these pressures.

From experimentation, the best overall performance/ride comes from running 3 PSI higher in the front that the rear. The level of pressure is up to you, but I usually run 38 PSI front, 35 PSI rear. If you want even firmer keep the ratio the same. Hence 40 PSI front, 37 PSI rear.

NOTE! I set my pressures when the tires are cool (been sitting all night). Also note, tire pressures will increase/decrease with temperature. SO, you don't want to start out with cold tires at max pressure then go ripping up the pavement on a hot summer day or you may end up ripping apart your tires!

These suggestions are for the stock tires on the stock rims only. Every tire has different specs. Experiment and find the "zone" for your particular tire/wheel setup. But since our cars are front wheel drive and very front heavy I believe in the 3 PSI rule on the fronts for most applications.

For all you out there still running on the stock CL-S rims/tires... what are your tire settings?

 

isnt the higher the tire pressure up front... the worst the acceleration gets? thats why most people here decrease their tire pressure to below 32 and raise the rear to 40-41 during a 1/4 mile run... correct me if im wrong.

 

Yes jucee187
For dragging, your suggestion of below normal PSI in front and above normal in rear is correct. Max forward grip from the drive tires (front) at low pressure and high PSI for minimal drag on the rear. BUT, hope you don't drive your car around with these setings for everyday driving!?

 

I go 35psi front and back. you have to experiment with your driving style, feel you want, and how your roads are.

 

I have nitto 555 235/45/19's...tire shop set it at 40. . . Any thoughts?

 

We're talking the factory CL-S Mich's here. What do you all have the "stockers" set at front and rear, and why.

 

35 psi cold is good.


it would be extremely stupid to run them at 10lbs over max.

 

you deflate the tire to gain traction, which helps acceleration off the line.

 

I run 36 P.S.I. For awhile i ran 40 then 38, i felt the car was a little too skittish.

 

Around 3 psi front to rear differential is right on the money. It is the best compromise for the street taking into account 1) handling, 2) tire wear, 3) safety. (This is true of most any FWD.)

The comments on lower pressures in the front for dragging are true too, but put the pressures back to street settings before you leave the strip -- or first corner at speed you'll be getting up close and personal with that telephone pole.

DON'T run max pressures on the street. It's great for autoxing, but will wear out your tires REAL fast and could be deadly in wet weather.

I've got stock tires & rims and go 35 F 32 R. My cars a commuter so I need a little bit of decent ride to go with handling. Different set ups will take a little adjustment, you have to play with it til it feels right.

 

35 psi all around for me for the stocks and my summer 18's

 

Truly I don't care about wearing out the tires... I just want a stiff side wall, but I want it to be safe too. Mine are at 41 hot all the way around. I'
ll probably check them cold tomorrow morning.... Then go to 40 cold in the front.

 

lol i have my fronts set at 29psi and the back at 35psi. I'd rather have better stright line ( I like racing light to light )

is that realy wrong ?

 

32psi cold in all 4.

 

Yes.

That's just fine if you only drive in a straight line. Decent handling in curves and, more important, emergency manuvers requires a more balanced set up. The little you gain in traction on the irregular surfaces of most streets ( don't forget the oil, water, dust, etc. on most streets) is hardly noticable and not worth the trouble.

By the way, 29 psi won't gain you any traction, that's only 3 less than stock recomendations, you need to go down to maybe 24 psi. Of course, now you're REALLY talking dangerous imbalance.

 

if u dont have traction problems on your stock mich,s what is the correct tire pressure you should have in them and still go to the track and race so my ? is i dont want to change my tire pressure i want to keep it the same road and track

 

Do much hard cornering? If so, you might roll the tires off the rims or pop the beads off the rims. If anything, you should run more pressure up front since there's more weight up front. Also, lower tire pressures mean less free rolling speed for tires, less straight line speed. You might have more traction off the line, but after that higher tire pressures will give you more rolling speed.

In other words, you need to find the balance between traction and free rolling speed.

 

The answer is that there is no one setting to do that. Everything, on all cars, is a compromise between different objectives. The pressures to get absolute best traction for dragging and decent handling are too different.

Assuming you don't want to adjust your pressures my suggestion is that you consider where you spend the largest part of your time -- street or track -- and set it for that. Don't worry about the tiny difference you'll lose in traction. Others on this board and some who've posted on this thread have no common sense. They would rather get that 1/100th of a second lower time than be safe. I think you're like most of us and your car is your daily driver. What do you do when some bozo pulls out in front of you or a ladder falls off the truck in front of you on the interstate? In the case of those with poor set ups its gonna be a big crash.

An investment of $50 will solve your problem. Buy a portable air tank and a good tire gauge and it's no big deal to set your tire pressures when you get to the track and reset them before you leave.

 

I had a 99 Solara before I bought my CL-S and I ran the car with slightly higher-than recommended air pressure for how I drove the car. At one of my maintenance appointments, the technician told me that my rotors were warped because I had the tire pressure set too high in the front. Can higher tire pressure cause warping in the rotors or was that guy just full of it?
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I have Dunlop Sp Sport5000's on my car (stock rims) and I try to keep it about 34 all around (cold). When I get it back from the dealer though, I have 32 front, 34 in the back.

I'm wondering how running at, say, 36 all around would effect tire wear--these 17's are not cheap! My OEM's went "out of round" (as I was told) because the pressure was too low (32 all around) and I've been trying to stay on top of these new tires.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

I started this post... And one of the first feedback's was to run 40 cold in the front, and 37 cold in the back. Anyhow I changed it yestday. They were at about 39 all the way around before I made the change. I tested it in some tight corners and I swear the rear felt loose after take that presure out. I'm thinking about going back to 41 hot all the way around. Just what the tire says is the max.

That and I was really ticked off this morning. There was a nice right bend in the road I took to work this morning. I had a Buick Regal in the right lane. I was in the left (outiside lane). He was holding with me around that turn...somthing was just not right. The roads were wet and I was holding back so I'm convinced if it was warm I would have smoked him. Guess I need to practice that road a little more.

 

When I had stocks I had 38psi cold all around, & found that fine.

 

40 psi all around right now on my stocks... about 35 on my 19's.

 

He said that with a straight face?? "Full of it" doesn't begin to describe him.

 

I'm probably going back to 41 PSI (WARM) all the way around on my stocks then. I'm not sure what lowering the rear tire pressure would do? Can anyone explain this?

 

Hey gsxr151 - I don't understand how you can properly set your tires at 41 PSI (WARM)? The tire's are best set (cold - not driven for several hours) so all tires are equalized. Setting warm or hot tires will eventually cool and your original settings will be way off, if not imbalanced.

It's pretty much a given that FWD cars are front heavy and hence "plow" thru corners. CL-S is no exception! The easiest fix to this is to balance the front heavy car with more PSI in the front tires than the rear.

The 3 PSI higher front rule works for most applications. How high of a pressure you want to run is up to you, just keep it at a 3 PSI differential. Like 40F/37R or 35F/32R etc.

The reason to run a higher front pressure is since the car natually plows when pushed in corners one would want an equal break loose point as of the rears. Higher in the front forces the car to grip a little longer on the fronts while lower pressure in the rear lets the rear drift to keep the car in it's designated direction! Got it?

 

40 cold in the front, and 37 Cold for the rear.... That's what I'll go with.