Tires: Tire Pressure, chevy camaro, proper inflation

Question
Barry:

Thank you for answering my question.  In addition to what you said, are you saying that I will have better handling all around if I use 33 to 35 psi, instead of the recommended 30psi?  That would be very helpful with gas prices and snow handling if that is what you are saying.

Thanks agian,
Michael


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Followup To
Question -
Barry Smith:

First I will give you some info on my tires and my car (incase you need that).  I have a 1994 Chevy Camaro 3.4l V6, with tire size P215/60-16 that requires 30psi for proper inflation.

Let's say that I check my pressure in the morning, after my car has beed idle all night long, and one of the tires reads 26psi.  Then I drive to a gas station to fill it and it reads 28psi when I get there (due to the heat building of driving the car).  

Should I fill my tire to 32psi as when it was cold it needed 4psi to be at 30psi, and now although it reads 28psi I should still add 4psi?  Or should I just fill it to 30psi which would only add 2psi to the original "cold" reading?

I know an answer would be to have my tire checked if it's leaking air, but I am just wondering about the scenario I just explained and what to do in that situation.

Thank you,

Michael
Answer -
Michael,

The key to all this is that you want to get the inflation pressure to be what it's supposed to be when it's cold.

So if you drive on the tire and add air to raise its pressure 2 psi, when it gets cold, it will only be 2 psi higher.

So the answer is that you would need to add 4 psi.

BTW, my standard reecommendation is to use 3 to 5 psi above what's on the placard.  I get better fuel economy, better tire wear, better wet traction, better snow traction, better steering response, better tire durability, and only give up a bit of ride harshness.

Hope this helps.  

Answer
Michael,

Yes that is exactly what I am saying - increased inflation pressure gives better fuel economy and better snow traction - EXCEPT!!

Since pavement / tire has more friction and snow / tire, it is always better to have a small footprint to push through the snow to the pavement.  But the one exception to that is where you can't get to the pavement.  In that case, a bigger footprint will have more traction, but since this is hardly ever the situation and we're only talking at most a 30% increase in traction (a small amount of traction is still a small amount of traction), this would not be a good idea for general usage.  Only if you get stuck, and even then, it might not get you out!

Hope this helps.