"Howard Lester" <hlester@mmto.org> wrote
> "Caliban" wrote
>
> > My 1991 Honda Civic now has four new Goodyear tires. The technicians
> filled them
> > to 30 psi and recorded this. I pointed out that Honda recommended 26 psi
> for my
> > car. The shop said they'd be happy to lower it to this but implied that 30
> psi
> > was customary. I figured they had their reasons and decided to research
> and
> > adjust according to what I found.
>
> Until you get a definitive answer, I suggest a) you set the pressure for the
> ride and handling *you* prefer. If setting them to 30 gives you a few
> thousand more miles, but you're miserable for the first 35000.... b)
> Contact Goodyear to find out what pressure they recommend for those tires
> and *your* car. It may be different from what Honda recommends with their
> OEM tires. I'd expect a Goodyear company store should have a booklet or
> something that provides that information.

Goodyear's web site says to set the tire pressure to what Honda (or whomever the
manufacturer of the car is) says.

Someone emailed me in private and said I should consider collecting data with a
tire tread depth gage. (This is for the truly scientific. :-)). Rule of thumb:
If the outside edges wear more quickly than the center, the tires are
underinflated. And vice versa.

Barring further input, I'm going to leave the tires at 28-29 psi for awhile,
which is overinflated from Honda's recommended 26 psi. Maybe I will start
collecting data, or take careful note of the wear at my rotation at 7500 miles.

I have never been wild about the bulge at the bottom of my tires in the past
when inflated to 26 psi. Some bulge should be present, but it always appeared
excessive to me. (Gut impression.) Also, I am considering what you and others
have said about the ride quality.

(All tire pressures mentioned above are 'car has been sitting at least three
hours' pressures.)

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts.