[T3] Tire inflation pressures

[Bobsnotch at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/15/2011 11:03:25 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jadney at vwtype3.org writes:

On 15  Jul 2011 at 21:54, Bobsnotch at aol.com wrote:

> Daniel, I'm running  195-60-15's on the front, and 205-65-15's on the 
rear  
> on 5.5  inch rims. I just tried to stay close to the stock spec that VW 
gave   
> (since they designed the car). I've found those pressures work good  with 
> the  tire sizes I'm running. Something to think about,  pressure is 
pressure, 
> and  volume is volume. You might need more  air "volume" to fill the 
tire, but 
> it'll  still need the same  pressure.  

I'm gonna disagree with some of this, but I accept the  fact that Bob 
finds these pressures to work well with his  tires.

Yes pressure is pressure and volume is volume, but the car is  
supported by force, which is neither, but related to pressure and 
tire  contact patch area. I don't have any experience with larger 
tires, but  others here do. In the past, some of them have described 
using lower  pressures with their larger tires to some advantage. I 
think this is worth  trying. You might consider working down in the 
range of 15-18  psi.

Bob, have you tried anything lower? I suspect you'd find it to  work 
even better.




To be honest, I tried going lower, but found low speed turning (like  for 
parking) more difficult. The pressures I'm at seem just fine though, and I  
get a nice balance of low speed turning, and high speed grip. Also with these 
 pressures, the tires still get to do some flexing of the side walls 
(they're not  overly short), so the ride doesn't get compromised. I've found that 
I can drive  my 65 for longer times than my truck, due to it not wandering 
or requiring lots  of steering input (doesn't wear me out like my truck does, 
and it's on 60 series  tires too, but at the truck mfg spec).  

Bob 65 Notch  S with sunroof and IRS (Krusty)
71 Notch (Krunchy)
64 T-34 Ghia  (Wolfie)
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