Low pressure tires

A few things. You read 32 psi max on the TIRE. That applies to the tire manufacturer. They have no idea where the tire is going to be used, you could be using it on a skidoo trailer, or hauling a trailer with a cord of wet wood. It has nothing to do with a car. VW says, after doing their road tests with the car, whatever tire you put on put this amount of air in for max.tire life, comfort and good handling. That is, the psi is according to what the CAR weighs front and rear. Now, from experience, if you are running too low an air pressure, you are most likely gonnna experience a sidewall blowout, as the sidewall will be flexing more than it usually does which builds up heat and causes the failure to happen. So, keep that pressure up. As a maximum, heck my spare has 50 in it. But, if decide to run your air pressure at the high end (whether that be 35-40 odd), it will give you better fuel economy, but, you do lose traction as the tire will be wearing out prematurely in the centre of the tread....also you will feel like you are riding on the steel rims themselves when you hit bumps. You will have more get up and go with the higher tire pressure, which shows you that if you got a flat, you need more power to turn that wheel over as it is not so round as it once was. Do yourself a favour and get the tires fixed(you probably have a bead leak, which means they have to dismount the tires, clean the rims and remount again. And they (the tire shop)will stuff 32 in(or more) right away so that the bead seats itself to the rim, you can readjust the pressure later(a couple of days of driving on them)

The 32 psi has been used on large Chevs and Fords for the longest time, so it is a number stuck in the shops head. If you check in the newer chevs, ford, bmw's, toyota's, they all have different numbers for the tire pressure(even though the tires(most brands) say 32 max). WW

Why not just replace the tires or fix the leaks? Then there's no need to worry!

A tire with incorrect pressure will wear out much faster, but worse than that incorrect pressure can lead to loss of control.

As noted, the pressure on the tyre is the max for that tyre not the recommended pressure for the tyre on your car or any other car. You look at that just to make sure it is equal to or greater than the pressure you intend to use. Don't use it to determine what pressure to use.

The manufacturer has recommended a specific pressure for the original equipment size tyres and had done so based on a number of controlled test tract test. Going much over or worse yet under the recommended value can cause unsafe handling.

Affects gas mileage in all vehicles, regardless of vehicle or engine size.

A couple of percent.

Quit screwing around, and get your tires fixed! Why put up with the problem?

Don't know how long they were like

You demonstrated to yourself how much low tires will affect fuel mileage. If your handling was getting loose from low tire pressure, you're lucky you didn't have an accident. Get the tires fixed!

Upon refilling the RH side tires, and roadtesting,

You could try what a lot of racers do: Make chalk marks across the tread and extending a little way up the sidewall. Drive around the block, then look and see where the chalk mark is rubbed off in relation to the edge of the tread. If the chalk ends right at the edge of the tread, you're at the right inflation level. Drastic over or underinflation will show up as wear past the edge of the tread, or even an unworn stripe in the middle of the tread. Do it a few times with the pressure intentionally high and low, to see the effect on your particular tires.

It sounds a lot like you have alloy wheels and the wheels are leaking. Why people want those things that cost more and function less is beyond me.

Did I miss something? I have not experienced tire pressure loss any faster on my cars with alloy wheels than I have on my lawn mower, tractor or truck with steel wheels.

The last set of GYs were mounted at the GY dealer. They put in the designated pressures for front and rear per the VW recommendation for my particular vehicle model and year and body style (IE wagon).

That's the problem. What is the correct pressure? VW recommended by the owners manual, or repair manual for instance, or 32 psi, or what.

I juiced it up to 32 psi anyway today. It rained all day. Noticed no problems in handling. The only time, as usual, is when I hit a large puddle. Causing the vehicle to swerve slightly towards the puddle during rural highway driving conditions.

The recommended pressures for forward and aft tires puts the vehicle at borderline danger from sidewall swaying problems with just one passenger and no load on my particular vehicle. Adding passengers exacerbates the problem, making it apparent.

Ever see the Mythbusters TV program? They used 2 identical Ford SUVs. One using AC, one not. No difference in mileage they said. "Myth" busted they said. I still don't believe their results.

Kinda depends on the vehicle and the power to weight ratio in my opinion.

The LH front tire was up to snuff at the time. Not sure if loss of air on the RH side tires was due to mischief, or some leak.

That's what I like, some "common sense" approach. I'll probably try it.

Good guess, no cookie. Factory steel wheels. No wrecks or accidents.

Where does that statement come from? I do not recall seeing you post what the recommended tire pressure is from the sticker on your car. You have not stated what VW you have or what size tires you have. Some VWs recommend 17 psi up front and 26 in the rear. Are you using that pressure? That would make a Rabbit handle poorly but works ok for a

1967 Beetle. I have driven VWs since 1977. The only tire pressure I found dangerous was the recommended pressure on a 1966 Squareback. If you are only checking your pressure once every two months and you know you have leaks that suggests some sort of odd maintenance schedule.

If your tire guage starts at 20 psi then it is the wr>The recommended pressures for forward and aft tires puts the vehicle at

No, you either have been luck or you have the very expensive high quality wheels.

Not all of them leak, be there are a lot of leaks reported and they tend to be less robust than steel wheels so they don't survive pot holes very well.

Well there you go. I moved to Atlanta half a lifetime ago. I never had aluminum or mag wheels when I lived in Cleveland, Ohio. Pot holes are sort of rare compared with the stuff I saw as a kid driving in Ohio. We rarely see road salt so clip on wheel weights do not do that much damage to aluminum wheels. The 2003 Jetta factory wheels use tape on wheel weights anyway. My 84 GTI was stripped when I got it. I took my snowflake GTI wheels off my 80 Rabbit and used them. Rabbit had a tragic incident with a telephone pole. Pole won. The snowflake wheels were made in some South American plant. I do not think they were all that high quality. I always had a bt of a shimmy or shake on two different cars and at least 4 sets of tires. The Jetta wheels are smooth as can be with quality Michelin tires not needing a balance between tire purchases of 80,000 miles.

Both sets of wheels had a plastic like top coat finish which I am sure is there both to protect the exterior and to seal the interiour to reduce leaks. So far it has worked ok. I am used to checking tire pressure every week or more with bicycle tires so losing a psi or 2 once a month on the car seems like nothing. I don't think the Jetta loses air that fast. I guess I should make note of the pressure checking temp and date to see what the real loss is.

Your Owners Manual should have that information, as well as the manufacturer of your tires. You can also get the info from the service department of your local dealer, which would be even a better source because they will consider the car/tire combination.

Yeah, I saw it last night, in fact. Couple of doofuses with no scientific backgrounds. If they found no difference in mileage, then their measuring methods were inaccurate. You can't create energy for free, if the AC uses power, it decreases gas mileage. And AC does use power. They can't bust the "myth" of cold, hard physical reality.

That's why it's expressed in a percentage, and not an absolute number. Besides, you specified an older VW with a 1.8 engine, didn't you?