skooby_999

Hey all,
I've noticed that the TLS tire pressure max out at 44PSI on stock tires. Just wondering what you folks usually set them at for front and back....Thanks.

JackSampson

iTrader: (2)

35 psi cold.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Factory recommendation.

enigmaos

iTrader: (4)

a little more than factory. ~34-36.

S PAW 1

Factory says 35F, 32R (they are inside your door jamb)

I set mine at +1, which is 36F, 33R @ average ambient cold temps. with a very good quality gauge (not a pencil)

navarretg

I have nexen n3000 performance tires, I have them all set at 38 psi. Im trying to achieve the most mileage and best mpg with these tires. Any recomendations??

S PAW 1

Since you have the TL, and not the TL-S, you should be OK (TL-S takes different pressure settings).

Be sure to rotate. If you find the center of the tire wearing quicker, you may want to drop closer to the recommended, which is 35/35 I believe.

If you overinflate much, you've pretty well cancelled out any savings in fuel mileage or tire mileage, as they will wear out quicker, and given you a rough ride to boot for no reason.

smarty666

I am assuming that 35F, 32R your quoting is for the Type-S? Because I have the Base TL and the sticker on the door jamb says 33F, 32R cold. I typically keep the tires at 34F, 33R cold.

skooby_999

Thanks folks, this will give me an idea of what to set it at. I am kind of surprised at how much the tire pressure jumps after warming it up. My speculation is probably because it's a heavier car. Before my TLS, I used to own a GSR. And the pressure would only jump about 2PSI after warming up. On the TLS, it ranges from 3-5 depending on how you drive.

smarty666

I'm just curious guys, for the Base TLs, do you recommend following the door jam recommendations by keeping the front 1 PSI higher than the rear's, or making all 4 tires the same PSI around?

I'm asking because I'm having wear issues and I've heard that keeping all four tires at the same PSI helps to prevent or reduce that and that keeping the rears lower is unnecessary? Is this true?

If so, I might make it 34 or 35 all the way around!

avs007

Pressure change has nothing to do with weight of the car... All gasses obey PV=nRT, regardless if you are looking at "plain air", or "Nitrogen". If you see bigger fluctuations with temperature than normal, it's because the air in your tires is contaminated with water vapor. Water vapor does not obey PV=nRT across the same temperature range, because condensation inside the tire (ie liquid water) is NOT a gas. So when it changes into a gas when it evaporates and when it condenses back into a liquid, makes it so the total pressure variation doesn't conform to the above equation.

There are two ways to solve this:

1. Use a Nitrogen Filling stations and fill your tire with 100% nitrogen, because 100% nitrogen is free of water vapor.

or

2. Buy your own air compressor, and install an in-line line dryer, to remove moisture from the air. You can buy such a line dryer for < $20.

I did option 2, and my pressure variation is muuuuuch smaller then when I used gas station air. In fact at gas stations, in the mornings, I could often spray my hand with the air, and see water droplets flying out... So many in fact, my hand would get drenched and drip with water....

nfnsquared

I highly doubt following the OEM tire pressure recommendation is the cause of your wear.

What kind of wear issues? Which tires are wearing? Even or uneven wear? When was the last time you had the alignment checked?

6spdtl-s

iTrader: (1)

while your physics are correct, you forgot to account for volume lost within the tires due to the car's weight pushing down on the tire's contact patch. lowering the volume will increase the pressure within the tire.

smarty666

Don't worry about the wear issues, I've already addressed them on this board. I'm just curious, and you never answered my questions about the tire pressures. Do you guys on the base TL just keep it the same pressure all the way around or do you follow the sticker in the door well that states one more PSI higher on the fronts then the backs?

nfnsquared

Uh, OK, but you just said you were having wear issues. I'm a bit confused:

I can't answer for the base TL, but for the 6MT, the Acura pressure placard is 35F, 32R. I follow it and haven't had any wear issues whatsoever due to pressure.

avs007

That's irrelevant. Extra weight will lower volume, but it will not effect the rate at which the pressure changes...

6spdtl-s

iTrader: (1)

WELL, in theory, a heavier car will mean more friction which equals more heat.

But yea, it has nothing to do with pressure change, I mis-read, sorry.

smarty666

I have the base TL with the automatic and the door well sticker says 33 Front and 32 Rear Cold! I've been keeping it at 34 front and 33 rear for a while but was thinking of changing it to 35 Front and Rear? What do you guys think?

I've typically, on all my vehicles, kept the tire pressure 1-2 PSI above recommended on the door!

Will Y.

I always use 37F/34R or 36F/33R to sharpen steering response and road feel on my stock 5AT with stock 17" wheels.

One can use tire pressure to alter the steering response, road feel and oversteer/understeer of a car-- increasing rear tire pressure (relative to front pressures) will increase understeer/plow/push in the TL.

Street tires should be fine at 40 psi or less cold pressure; it's then up to the driver to determine if the sharpened steering response and road feel are worth the incremental added ride harshness or noise compared to the OEM pressure recommendation.

I hate cars

We just had a nearly identical thread.

Once you change the brand of tires, the door jam looses much of it's meaning. It's not a bad way to gauge the percent difference front to rear but that's about it.

Different brands have different construction, load rating, etc. The best way to find out the ideal pressure is to call the manufacturer of the tire.

I chalk my tires and roll the car until I get the maximum contact patch but that's just for maximum grip.

More weight will make more heat because the tire will flex more and this is what generates the heat. More weight generally requires more pressure but not always.

The door jam decal is a compromise between wear, performance, noise, comfort, etc. You can vary it all you want as long as you don't go too low or exceed the max pressure on the sidewall. You will increase or decrease some or all of the things mentioned earlier.

Once you alter the suspension such as an aftermarket RSB, you have altered the handling characteristics and the door placard loses even more of it's meaning. With my current suspension setup and tires, I find the best traction with all 4 tires at the same psi (36psi) fully hot which means 33F, 35R cold.

nfnsquared

From the Acura TL owners manual:

"Keeping the tires properly inflated
provides the best combination of
handling, tread life, and riding
comfort."

"WARNING
Using tires that are excessively
worn or improperly inflated can
cause a crash in which you can
be seriously hurt or killed.
Follow all instructions in this
owner’s manual regarding tire
inflation and maintenance."

REPLACING TIRES
Replace your tires with radial tires of
the same size, load range, speed
rating and maximum cold tire
pressure rating (as shown on the
tire’s side wall).

Using tires of a different
size or construction can cause the
anti-lock brake and the vehicle
stability assist systems to work
inconsistently.

happyboy

That right there is just good ol' lawyer talk!!

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Got to use some common sense when tire replacement is due, but I must add, that although the above has been provided, does anyone really stand by the replacement criteria? If one were to go strictly by the printed OE sprecificationas as to size, construction, speed rating and load rating, there are only 2 tires that would fit that category, 235/45-17 93W:
Bridgestone Turanza EL42 at $217 a pop and the Michelin Pilot MXM4 at a cost of $258 each. Geez, they are the OE tires.

I would venture to say that most don't follow those guidlines, as most all the replacements are of a different load rating, and some even speed rating depending on the tire. Not that those differences will change the cold inflation pressures, it's just that they will be able to carry extra weight and have a different maximum speed limit, higher or lower..

Way back in 2008 I replied to a thread asking about air pressure and what you will see is that the responses are all over the board, so take a look:.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...light=pressure

Everyone seems to have their own idea of what the optimum air pressure should be, but when in doubt use OE specs, but different size tires will require different pressures. I'll leave it there.

nfnsquared

Yeah, if you include OEM load rating of 93, it does limit quite a bit, but I came up with 9 tires doing a search on tirerack.com. There's a whole lot more if you include 94W as well as 93W.

I'm find it very hard to believe that going with a higher load rating or speed rating could be a safety concern.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

There aren't 9 tires with a 93W, and a 94W is not the OE specifications you provided, so you're advocating the use of a non OE specified load rating, so that would mean the door is opened for any replacement. Overlook one spec, overlook them all, no difference!
A higher load rated tire nor a different speed rated tire will not have any advrerse affect on safety, as long as neither is compromised when operating the vehicle.

nfnsquared

Whoa, I'm not advocating anything. Where did you get that? And yes, unless I'm missing something, my search came up with 9 tires (235/45/17 93W). Actually, 8 because the ADVAN048 is listed twice (but with different compounds). 7 if you rule out the ADVAN because it's a track tire:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...r=17&x=67&y=10

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, but with the reference material you've been posting to backup your claims, I just asssumed that you were standing behind those posting.

Once again, sorry, but you're counting Summer Tires, and that is not
the OE criteria as they are of different construction than the OE A/S tires.

nfnsquared

Claims? Huh? What claims are you referring to?

Didn't see anywhere in the OE criteria that said replacement tire has to be A/S. Where do you see that? Just asking...

1995hoo

You probably have a 5AT. I have a 2004 6MT (there was no Type-S in 2004) and the sticker calls for 35 front/32 rear when the tyres are cold.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

No problem:
The Summer Tires are of different construction than the A/S OE tires.

I guess I break the very first rule, as I recommend a 245/45-17 or 245/40-18 as replacements, and the type of tire is derived from the owner's input, e.g. tires that afford a comfortable ride, no winter driving, aggressive driving, pricing etc, however I do recommend the factory setting for air pressure, then the owner can do what he/she wishes down the road.

Once again, this thread is getting blown out of proportion with all the nitpicking, me included, but I guess it makes enjoyable reading for some.

Time for lunch!!!!!!

smarty666

I wish someone could just answer my freakin simple question of if it is okay to keep the tires at 34 or 35 PSI all the way around and not do staggered inflation's? I want to have a smooth ride as much as possible!

smarty666

What is really tuff is, most of the tires that fit ALL the OEM specs for size, load, speed, etc are ridiculously expensive and I can't afford those tires, so while I'm going to keep the size the same, the load and/or speed rating might be a little different. There is no way around it if you can't afford the more expensive tires. As long as you keep the tires properly inflated, rotated, etc then I don't think there should be too much problems!

nfnsquared

My assumption is that the reference to construction means radial vs bias ply. Here's the whole paragraph:

Mixing radial and bias-ply tires on
your vehicle can reduce braking
ability, traction, and steering
accuracy. Using tires of a different
size or construction can cause the
anti-lock brake and the vehicle
stability assist systems to work
inconsistently.

Will Y.

If you want to, it's OK-- as long as you're above the recommended pressure and not much below it.

However, unless your tire wear issues are from underinflation, the increased/even inflation won't help remedy the uneven wear issue. Also, 34+ psi will mean a less smooth/choppier ride than 32 psi.

nfnsquared

Well, I don't see how a 1 or 2 pound increase could be dangerous....(as long as it doesn't exceed the max cold psi, and it doesn't). I definitely wouldn't go under the OEM recommended.

And as I've said before, I highly doubt your tire wear issue has anything due to OEM pressure settings.

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

If that's your interpretation, fine with me.

avs007

Look into the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. They are cheaper than the OEM tire... Tirerack, has the OEM Pilot HX MXM4 at $258/tire in the stock size, but the Extreme Contact DWS at $119/tire for the stock size.

The DWS are also orders of magnitude better than the OE tire in every category. I just got the DWS installed on my 19" rims, and couldn't be none the happier. They seem to be even better than the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions I ran before.... (And the DWS is an Ultra High Performance All/Season tire)

I hate cars

And the truth comes out. Take things out of context to prove a point much? I do see you're almost ready to use common sense, much better than the last thread.

Name any modern vehicle that comes with a bias ply tire other than the spare and even most of those are now radials. I don't even know why you would bring bias ply tires up except to quote an out of context paragraph to win an argument. You can't find them unless you're talking about wrinkle wall slicks which if memory serves me, aren't available at the local tire store.

I just want to get this straight so I can have a few more laughs like the last thread.

You believe that a different size than OEM is dangerous.

You believe that a higher load rating is dangerous.

You believe that a different type ie summer vs all season is dangerous.

You believe that a different speed rating is dangerous.

You believe that inflating higher than the palcard on the door jamb is dangerous.

Well at least it makes tire shopping easy for you. Better go tell 90% of this board that they're about to cause a major wreck.

smarty666

Oh I know the air pressure has nothing to do with the tire wear. Like I said, I've always kept them usually 1-2 PSI above recommendation. I wouldn't put more than 35 PSI cold in any of the tires, plus if you do, the ride gets really firm/rough!

If you want to know, my tire wear issues are because of Acura's stupidity. As you know, I check my tire pressures weekly and rotate them every 5k miles. I had a power steering fluid leak at 10k miles isolated to the steering gear box. Acura replaced the steering gear box but of course never cared to mention that something like that could screw up your front-end in regards to alignment troubles etc. Acura didn't even do an alignment after they replaced the steering gear box. Even though the gear box replacement stopped the PSF leak, the wheel as never felt the same and feels like its fighting me at times when turning the wheel.

I have had alignment troubles ever since. I even had a Hunter all wheel alignment done at 14k when I noticed the uneven wear on the tires and the car is continuing to have tire wear issues on the fronts now (which were on the back with no wear issues at the alignment) with 20k miles on the car.

I need to get new tires on but I have to take the car back to Acura and find out what they are going to do with the alignment issues! Something is wrong and unless I get it fixed any new set of tires I put on, would get uneven wear and problems like my current ones! Of course Acura is never going to admit they did anything wrong, yet 3 separate different tire shops have told me that its not the tire and a problem with the front-end itself and that Acura should have checked the front-end and done an alignment after they replaced the steering gear box. Even after having the all-wheel alignment done at 14k, the wheel still pulls to the right so something is wrong!