Tyre Pressure 205\55 R16

Del_Astra

Question relating to tyre pressure as I think I am missing something doing something wrong.

Car is Astra Estate 2007, was in for a service recently and when collecting it they said I had too much air in the tyres. I said I didn't think that could be the case as I checked it previous week, garage told me it should only be 35 psi. IU didn't question this as I thought I must have made a mistake and assumed they would know better than me. The tyres are 205-55 16's and clearly says on the front two Max 44 psi and on the rear it is 51 psi (different brands, in that front two are the same and rear two are the same).

Surely 35 psi is under inflated? or is the max not the recommended psi? I'm confused as I don't understand where they get the 35 psi from.

Mike1966

Max is the maximum the tyres can take.
Are they the standard size tyres for the car?
If so. the recommended pressures should be on 1 of the door pillars.
A little sticker or metal plate should have the tyre size and pressues stated on it.

Or try puretyre.co.uk for the model and tyre size/pressure

neilmcl

Del_Astra wrote: »

Question relating to tyre pressure as I think I am missing something doing something wrong.

Car is Astra Estate 2007, was in for a service recently and when collecting it they said I had too much air in the tyres. I said I didn't think that could be the case as I checked it previous week, garage told me it should only be 35 psi. IU didn't question this as I thought I must have made a mistake and assumed they would know better than me. The tyres are 205-55 16's and clearly says on the front two Max 44 psi and on the rear it is 51 psi (different brands, in that front two are the same and rear two are the same).

Surely 35 psi is under inflated? or is the max not the recommended psi? I'm confused as I don't understand where they get the 35 psi from.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Don't mean to sound rude but this cracked me up.

As the word suggest they are a maximum for the tyre NOT the recommended pressure for your car! As Mike1966 posted you should have the recommended pressures printed either within your driver's door pillar, fuel cap or in the car manual. Wouldn't surprise me if they're not supposed to be around 30-32psi all round.

ILW

neilmcl wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Don't mean to sound rude but this cracked me up.

As the word suggest they are a maximum for the tyre NOT the recommended pressure for your car! As Mike1966 posted you should have the recommended pressures printed either within your driver's door pillar, fuel cap or in the car manual. Wouldn't surprise me if they're not supposed to be around 30-32psi all round.

My tyres have a max speed rating of around 140mph.
does this mean I have to drive that fast all the time?

Del_Astra

Thanks Mike. It doesn't actually list for my model, although going on the hatchback version it is 30. Although I can also find stuff on the web to say it is 27 for my model.

Neil glad it cracked you, when I checked they were 40 psi, so I didn't think that would be considering "too much air in them", not when they have a max of 44 and 50.

Chopper_Read

Del_Astra wrote: »

Thanks Mike. It doesn't actually list for my model, although going on the hatchback version it is 30.

Neil glad it cracked you, when I checked they were 40 psi, so I didn't think that would be considering "too much air in them", not when they have a max of 44 and 50.

Does it handle like I half set jelly?

Del_Astra

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Does it handle like I half set jelly?

Handling wasn't an issue, or I should say I haven't noticed any difference thus far. It does seem to be smoother / softer over bumps with less air, although it appears MPG has dropped a bit.

agrinnall

Did you find the plate with the tyre pressures on teh car itself? I don't know about Astras but pretty much every car I've had in the last 20 years has the plate on one of the door pillars. It'll also be in the handbook somewhere.

Have you had the tyres at 40+ psi for a while? If so I would expect there to be uneven tyre wear, with less tread left in the centre than at the edges.

http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/Landing-Page---Miscellaneous/emails/Motormouth-Advice-Centre/abnormal-tyre-wear/

Del_Astra

agrinnall wrote: »

Did you find the plate with the tyre pressures on teh car itself? I don't know about Astras but pretty much every car I've had in the last 20 years has the plate on one of the door pillars. It'll also be in the handbook somewhere.

Have you had the tyres at 40+ psi for a while? If so I would expect there to be uneven tyre wear, with less tread left in the centre than at the edges.

http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/Landing-Page---Miscellaneous/emails/Motormouth-Advice-Centre/abnormal-tyre-wear/

No, I didn't find the tyre pressure on the car, I did find a plate on the driver side, no mention of psi though. I'm looking at the owners manual, recommends 30 for up to 3 people but also mentions 36 for Eco.

I checked the tyres and they were 40, the front 2 were replaced at the start of Feb this year. Went to the Kwik Fit site, entered my reg and it says 27.

Chopper_Read

Del_Astra wrote: »

No, I didn't find the tyre pressure on the car, I did find a plate on the driver side, no mention of psi though. I'm looking at the owners manual, recommends 30 for up to 3 people but also mentions 36 for Eco.

I checked the tyres and they were 40, the front 2 were replaced at the start of Feb this year. Went to the Kwik Fit site, entered my reg and it says 27.

Does it mention bar?

Del_Astra

Chopper_Read wrote: »

Does it mention bar?

Nope just KG's.