Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ> wrote: >I find that with different tires the effect of over (and under) inflatation
>on driving feel and wind deflection varies.
>
>On the '82 Diesel here in Canada I have a set of 195R14 "Roadstone"
>tires (was recommended by a local tire place. Not bad for the price).
>With these tires driving feel desn't change much with more pressure
>in the front (up to 50psi).
>
>On the '85 gas I have in Germany however, 50psi in the fronts made it
>outright dangerous to drive. I cannot recall what tire is no it (It is
>6000km away now...) but it is some common aftermarket 185R14 tire with
>high load rating.

If those were CAR tires, they were grossly-overinflated. Don't
inflate past the max pressure molded into the sidewalls. A car tire
designed for a heavy car doesn't NEED 50PSI to do the job on a van...
32 to 35 should do just fine. 50PSI probably was distorting the
tread, making it convex and reducing the contact-patch to a small
circle near the center of the tread... bad for traction, tire life
(wears out the tread center rapidly) and risks tread separation.

In both cases were the tires rated to at least 50psi and light truck duty.
Still different brands will feel different at that same pressure.

Watching the wear pattern on a variety of tires I find that contemporary
good quality radials survive a fair bit of inflatation without affecting
wear pattern. I'm assuming this is due to the tire being rigid enough that
reasonable pressure variations does not distort/round out the flat contact
patch much.

Underinflatation is of course another story. Prolonged driving with underinflated
tires quickly wears the outsides.

Martin

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