Tire pressure?

[K-Rog]

What tire pressue at most people finding the best handling with?

I noticed that my MINI came stock from the dealer at about 30psi where the max was 51psi.
I just bumped it up to the max, 51psi, and obvioulsy the handling isn't as grippy.

Just wondering what most people suggest.

[lightbody]

51!!! Doesn't sound safe at all to me, downright dangerous in fact... is this your first car?!
28-35 is the range you should be looking at, and generally the lower pressure you're at the more grippy it will be.

[nosaj]

You better deflate those tires quickly or else you will be in for a very big suprise$$$$$$. I run 30 in the front and 28 in the rear on my S-lites.

[Drakken]

Quote:

Originally posted by lightbody

28-35 is the range you should be looking at, and generally the lower pressure you're at the more grippy it will be.

That's not entirely true. Low pressure works good for launching from a stand-still like in drag racing but not for cornering. A technique that auto-x's use is to chalk the sidewall of the tires and after each run they check to see how much of the chalk wore off. They keep inflating the tires until the chalk only wears off the leading edge of the sidewall. This gives maximum cornering for the tire in race conditions but isn't the best idea for daily driving..

51 psi is definitely too high. For the street I would use 35 psi. Too much pressure for everyday driving will wear the tires out unevenly.