All,

Any advice on what a good inflation level is for tires that balances comfort/safety/fuel economy???

Thanks,
Wes

 

For a balance, you will probably have to make compromises.

Always start with cold tires for any pressure checks/changes.

1. For comfort, try increasing 3-4 psi above the recommended pressures. Keep increasing a little at a time until the ride is not acceptable. Then back off a pound or 2.

2. For safety, never exceed the maximum pressure rating on the sidewall of the tire. Also if the vehicles handling is affected by the change in pressure, use caution.

3. For maximum fuel economy, go as high with pressure as the first two steps will allow.

There are some people who have gone above the max sidewall pressure, trying to squeek out that last MPG. They say no ill effects and tire wear is normal. Just use caution if you go there.

Regards,

 

I'm at 42 all around. Wife hasn't complained yet.

 

I've stuck with the recommended 32.

I've heard others talk about exceeding the max (in other vehicles, not the HAH) without any adverse/fatal incidents, but it doesn't sound like a good idea.

Would the increased pressure affect suspension wear? Such as, if you ride around with 44 psi, would the rougher ride increase wear on the struts/springs to any noticeable degree?

I have an accelerometer. One day, I'll go out and do a braking test with the tires at 32/44 psi to get an idea of the effects higher psi will have on braking distances. From any given speed, when I hit the brakes, the meter measures how many feet it takes to come to a complete stop.

 

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but have been debating with myself about whether to inflate the tyres on my HAH to the 44 psi max pressure or some lower value. Anyway, having decided to inflate the tyres to 42, I went to check them and found them to be already inflated to 43.5 psi. I haven't added air since I bought the car in April so this is what they were set to by the dealer or even how they came from the factory.

Interesting ....

 

That or the temperature is at least ten degrees warmer where your HAH is than where its tires were filled. The rule of thumb is something like 1 psi increase per 10 degree increase in temperature (tire temperature, but I presume ambient air temperature does the same thing; someone which better physics skillz than me can correct me if I'm wrong.)

There was a useful article here on GreenHybrid some months back about tire pressures. Here's the relevant post:
https://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/...4&postcount=13

 

Except, my tyres were inflated to nearly 12 psi over the recommended 32 psi - that would require a temperature difference (Nice "rule of thumb" by the way - which I was able to verify using the ideal gas law - just remember to use absolute temperature) of 120F - it was about 75F when I checked the tyres so unless they were filled to 32psi at the South Pole either the dealer or the factory inflated them significantly over the recommended value Not that I'm complaining, I just thought it was odd.

 

lol! I didn't catch the 12 PSI excess you mentioned; for some reason I misread it as just a couple PSI.

Someone here with an '05 FEH recently had tire service done and even though he requested a specific PSI (44 or 40 PSI, I can't recall), his tires were inflated to something like 50 PSI -- that's above max sidewall pressure on that vehicle's stock tires!) So, it seems like it's a good idea to check one's tires after purchase and after any service, in addition to routinely checking it.

I check mine every 2 weeks or so. In two weeks' time, my tires all drop about 1.5 PSI; the lowest they've dropped thus far is to 38 PSI from my 40 PSI, but that was over 1 month between pressure checks *and* our temperatures were bouncing around from 60s to high 90s and back again. I wouldn't mention this since I have a FEH not an Accord, but I experience the same fluctuations in our bicycle tires (road bike and mountain bike). So even if one plans on staying at vehicle manufacturer's PSI, I'd recommend frequent pressure checks to keep all tires in that range. It doesn't take too long, and as the ads go, "A lot is riding on your tires."