GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: arcamalpha on 03 January 2014, 17:02
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Have any of you experimented with lower tyres pressures on your cars?
The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
Previous experience (of other VWs) suggests the tyres will wear too much in the middle of the tread with the standard pressure so has anyone got experience of dropping the pressure to something sensible and/or done enough miles to see what the tyre wear is like with standard pressures?
Thanks!
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Always stuck to the recommended pressures and never had a problem.
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Always stuck to the recommended pressures and never had a problem.
Agreed. I tried increasing by a few psi on a car with 245/40 tyres and soon started wearing out the centres.
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Previous experience (of other VWs) suggests the tyres will wear too much in the middle of the tread with the standard pressure so has anyone got experience of dropping the pressure to something sensible and/or done enough miles to see what the tyre wear is like with standard pressures?
Thanks!
Would the other VWs include Sciroccos or Pirelli P7 tyres (or both?).
My Scirocco 170TDI had P7s which wore out on 12k miles for the fronts. I say "wore out" but the central 1/3 of the tread markers while the other 2/3 was at 6mm. They wore as if they were massively overinflated, but were inflated as per VW's recommendations on the fuel flap. The rears were perfectly fine.
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Previous experience (of other VWs) suggests the tyres will wear too much in the middle of the tread with the standard pressure so has anyone got experience of dropping the pressure to something sensible and/or done enough miles to see what the tyre wear is like with standard pressures?
Thanks!
Would the other VWs include Sciroccos or Pirelli P7 tyres (or both?).
My Scirocco 170TDI had P7s which wore out on 12k miles for the fronts. I say "wore out" but the central 1/3 of the tread markers while the other 2/3 was at 6mm. They wore as if they were massively overinflated, but were inflated as per VW's recommendations on the fuel flap. The rears were perfectly fine.
Yup, spot on! A 2.0TSI in my case but same symptoms.
I've seen it on other cars too and there does seem to be a trend towards higher pressures across manufacturers that I can only put down to economy as cars aren't getting that much heavier.
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Wow that does seem high and I lowered mine to 35 thinking the dealer had done it wrong. This may explain my crap mpg tho (long shot I know)
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Wow that does seem high and I lowered mine to 35 thinking the dealer had done it wrong. This may explain my crap mpg tho (long shot I know)
Recommended pressures are on the back of the fuel flap. :afro:
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I'll be topping them up tomorrow then :smiley:
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Don't know why but I have always run my tyres at 32psi (after some experimentation) all round on tyres/wheels ranging from 14" to 19" with decent wear rates (and even over the width of the tyre) and also good grip. Probably will experiment when the golf turns up but we'll have to see what is the best to run them at.
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39/41 Seems really high, the tyres will be like rock! If that what it says.......
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VW tyre pressure diagrams normally have different settings depending on the loading of the car....
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The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
How high? On my GTI I'm sure mine are at 33psi all round which is recommended for an unladen vehicle.
Is yours a GTD?
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The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
How high? On my GTI I'm sure mine are at 33psi all round which is recommended for an unladen vehicle.
Is yours a GTD?
Just checked properly (as I wrote the original post from memory).
The light load settings are 36psi for the 18s and 41psi for the 19s (same front and rear).
Think I'll do some experimenting when the weather warms up with a tyre temp gauge to see what's best for even temperature - my guess from gut feel is more like 33psi.
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Stick with the recommended pressure. You don't want to experiment in your brand new car. Let some other make his car a test bed of his scientific mind :whistle:
P.S. No offend intended there, blame my poor English...
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I checked and the gtd cap says 36psi
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The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
How high? On my GTI I'm sure mine are at 33psi all round which is recommended for an unladen vehicle.
Is yours a GTD?
Whoops just been and checked and mine says 36 psi and 39 psi. Mine are at 36 all round.
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The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
How high? On my GTI I'm sure mine are at 33psi all round which is recommended for an unladen vehicle.
Is yours a GTD?
Whoops just been and checked and mine says 36 psi and 39 psi. Mine are at 36 all round.
Perhaps the 5 door have a higher pressure setting at the back (more likely to have rear passengers??). Given the 5 door weighs barely and more and has the same wheelbase.
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I'm not sure where you are getting this information. But in the 5 door, the petrol cap sticker says 36 PSI for both front and rear on the 18s and 41 PSI front and back on the 19s. :-)
This is based on standard load.
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Perhaps they have different pressures for cars with different options?
Whatever, 36-41psi seems bonkers for a relatively light weight car.
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Perhaps they have different pressures for cars with different options?
Whatever, 36-41psi seems bonkers for a relatively light weight car.
I have all options apart from the climate screen, advanced phone prep, pan roof and 19s. Hmm..
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Just checked I'm 36 all round. I will be putting that 1 psi back in at the weekend :smiley:
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Hi folks,
I had my tyre pressure warning system triggered on Wednesday this week but think it's a false alarm.
Anybody else had this?
I am going to pump them all up, is the 12v pump that comes with the car accurate enough when it comes to filling the tyres up to the correct levels or should I buy something else?
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Hi folks,
I had my tyre pressure warning system triggered on Wednesday this week but think it's a false alarm.
Anybody else had this?
I am going to pump them all up, is the 12v pump that comes with the car accurate enough when it comes to filling the tyres up to the correct levels or should I buy something else?
12v pump that comes with the car? I assume you picked up a freebie from the dealer there. I have a ring compressor with digital reading and cut-out. Seems to compare favourably with the petrol station.
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Hi folks,
I had my tyre pressure warning system triggered on Wednesday this week but think it's a false alarm.
Anybody else had this?
I am going to pump them all up, is the 12v pump that comes with the car accurate enough when it comes to filling the tyres up to the correct levels or should I buy something else?
12v pump that comes with the car? I assume you picked up a freebie from the dealer there. I have a ring compressor with digital reading and cut-out. Seems to compare favourably with the petrol station.
Doh, your right.... I thought it came with a 12v VW compressor but realised the GTi has a space-saver... my R32 has a compressor :smiley:
Which ring compressor do you own, I may invest in one if its reliable... or shall I just carry on using the petrol station air stations, are they reliable? :embarrassed:
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Go out and buy a good quality tyre pressure gauge...
The gauges on petrol forecourts are often suspect. I'm not sure how much I trust the gauge on my compressor either... for the extra few seconds it takes, I use my the forecourt line or my compressor and check it with the tyre pressure gauge...
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Go out and buy a good quality tyre pressure gauge...
The gauges on petrol forecourts are often suspect. I'm not sure how much I trust the gauge on my compressor either... for the extra few seconds it takes, I use my the forecourt line or my compressor and check it with the tyre pressure gauge...
I filled mine up today, there wasnt much air needed.... I reset the tyre pressure computer on the CMS so lets hope its ok. :smiley:
I will buy a good tyre pressure guage, fill up at the Shell station and just verify with my own guage.
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:smiley:
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My warning came on, even though I hadn't set it. That said all the tyres were low on air. Topped them up with my trusty halfords digital compressor. Be interesting to see the mpg tomorrow.
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The pressure for 225-45-17 written on the fuel cap says 29 for all.. Isn't it too low? I made 32 all..
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The pressure for 225-45-17 written on the fuel cap says 29 for all.. Isn't it too low? I made 32 all..
Very strange! I can't reconcile how the larger tyres need higher pressures. If there is 29 pounds of pressure pushing outwards on the contact patch of a 17" tyre, then with the very slightly larger contact patch of a larger diameter tyre I would of thought a lower pressure would be needed, not higher!
...and so much variation between models etc also tells me VW are setting them up for economy not grip and even tyre tread contact.
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I have the 19" Santiago alloys wearing Pirelli P-Zero tyres.
Fuel cap says 41psi all round.
I wonder if the DCC spec cars need higher pressures in thier tyres?
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I have the 19" Santiago alloys wearing Pirelli P-Zero tyres.
Fuel cap says 41psi all round.
I wonder if the DCC spec cars need higher pressures in thier tyres?
19" tyres need more pressure than 18", unsure whether the extra weight of the DCC system contributes also.
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I wonder if the DCC spec cars need higher pressures in thier tyres?
What's the difference in weight between a DCC/non-DCC equipped car?
Do you think about putting extra air in the tyres each time you carry a passenger or do you vary tyre pressures depending on fuel load... if not I wouldn't worry and stick with the recommended...
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The sticker in the petrol cap says 39/41psi from memory which is awfully high for a 1300/1400kg car. I'm guessing it's to help fuel economy.
Thanks!
This is spot on it's for the dreaded g/km figures - my Audi A3 Quattros sticker suggests Front 41 psi and Rear 39 psi also on 18's" (225/40/18) - makes the ride like concrete and wears out the centres. After much experimentation I've discovered at F38 and R35 are the ideals to wear the tyres evenly and give an acceptable ride / steering precision ...
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The pressure for 225-45-17 written on the fuel cap says 29 for all.. Isn't it too low? I made 32 all..
Very strange! I can't reconcile how the larger tyres need higher pressures. If there is 29 pounds of pressure pushing outwards on the contact patch of a 17" tyre, then with the very slightly larger contact patch of a larger diameter tyre I would of thought a lower pressure would be needed, not higher!
...and so much variation between models etc also tells me VW are setting them up for economy not grip and even tyre tread contact.
The reason wider tyres require more pressure is to do with a couple of things, firstly wider often means lower profile ( say 225/35/19 as opposed to 225/40/18) and also the tyres core strength (steel belted, reinforced sidewalls etc) therefore more pressure is required to keep the wider section tyre flat and in contact with the road. I use a Michelin digital tyre compressor along with a Draper TPG100A tyre pressure gauge for that belt and braces approach! :smiley:
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There is another reason - apart from economy - tyre pressures may be higher than you might expect, that is speed.
I suspect that the recommendations are the same for all markets including Germany. Where average motorway/autobahn speeds are higher (and could be significantly so) than here in the UK, for example. High speeds generate more heat through friction also lower tyre pressures generate more heat through greater sidewall flex. So, running at sustained high speeds requires higher tyre pressures to keep the tyres in their operating range.
So, there may be an argument for running tyre pressures slightly lower than recommended but this could have an impact on fuel economy and will impact handling, grip, traction and braking.
I personally run them to the recommended pressures, so don't take my statement above as recommendation on tyre pressures :smiley:
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My filler flap states under normal load, 36psi all around.
As I've just ticked over 1000 miles, thought I best check, so got myself a digital pressure gauge.
All four were at 41psi. F**king PDI my ar*e. My own fault for not checking regularly.
Anyone picking up soon, make sure this is added to the list of things to check!
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Be interesting to hear back from you whether or not it affects your mpg?
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Be interesting to hear back from you whether or not it affects your mpg?
Definitely. Will keep an eye out and let you know. Not sure how it will effect it though. Can it make that much of a difference? :undecided:
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My pressure sensor has just gone off. The petrol cap says 36psi all round. I only checked recently and set them all correctly. I will check again today.
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Be interesting to hear back from you whether or not it affects your mpg?
Definitely. Will keep an eye out and let you know. Not sure how it will effect it though. Can it make that much of a difference? :undecided:
Not a massive amount but a few %