How much to pump tyre?

big_drive

Probably a terrible silly question but how do you figure out how much tyre should be pumped?

My front tyre is looking bit flatter than rest so want to go sort it tonight at local filling station

I've a 2005 skoda Octavia. I've something in my head about 31 or 32 but confused

blahblah06

Ye 32/34 be perfect
Pump them all up

yoshiktk

Check inside door of fuel thing, forgot the name of it. There should be a information about tyre presures.

coylemj

OP, check the inside of your fuel flap. Failing that look at the owner's manual.

MarkR

My Diesel octavia (2007) has a ridiculously low recommended psi of 29! 32 - 34 seems to be the recommended level.

biko

As said, a plate in door jamb or similar will have the recommended info.
I run with 32PSI all round.

big_drive

Thanks guys.

Should all 4 tyres be equal value?

biko

It'll say on the plate.
Most are different but it's no biggie (imo) if they're all same.

Google to the rescue http://www.puretyre.co.uk/skoda-tyre-pressures

Bigcheeze

big_drive wrote: »

Thanks guys.

Should all 4 tyres be equal value?

Normally yes. Some manufacturers recommend more at the back if the car is fully laden.

Stheno

Bigcheeze wrote: »

Normally yes. Some manufacturers recommend more at the back if the car is fully laden.

Weirdly mine is more at the front 40 vs 37 at the back

yoshiktk

Stheno wrote: »

Weirdly mine is more at the front 40 vs 37 at the back

Engine is quiete heavy thats why.

big_drive

Took photo of inside fuel cap. Maybe someone could tell me from that? I'm still lost

Photo quality isn't great sorry. Might try get better one tomorrow in better light. By the way it's 1.9 engine.

yoshiktk

Thats in standard 2.1 bar as much i can see. Around 30 if google doesnt lie in psi

dharn

1 bar is 15 pounds so it is 15 x2.1 what ever that comes to

ION08

Instead of looking inside fuel flaps or door sills, you could just look on the actual tire!

Stoolbend

ION08 wrote: »

Instead of looking inside fuel flaps or door sills, you could just look on the actual tire!

The tyre only gives you the max pressure. Not the recommended pressure for a particular axle on a particular car.

MarkR

2.1 bar is 30 psi, so 30 should be fine. If you find it a bit soft, put it up to 32.

jimgoose

Stoolbend wrote: »

The tyre only gives you the max pressure. Not the recommended pressure for a particular axle on a particular car.

Correct and right. FWIW, I run 32 PSI all round, 225/55/R16 on a yoke weighing about two ton.

kirving

Someone I know just 'pumped them up till they were round'. They were well over 50psi...

TestTransmission

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Someone I know just 'pumped them up till they were round'. They were well over 50psi...

Didn't CianRyan here have his tyres pumped to the max sure! :pac:

sebastianlieken

Just a side note, it's amazing what tire pressures do for your fuel economy - they are definatly worth maintaining.

My dad came up north in his 08 Passat Bluemotion. I noticed the average fuel readout was stating 46mpg on the trip computer. He had never topped up the tire pressures since buying.

I convinced him to stop at a fuel station up here and i'd show him how easy it was. we did anyway, and only then did we realise how f*cked the tire pressures were.

Pressure should have been 2.5bar all round (36.25 psi) all around.

it was:

• front left = 29 psi
• front right = 23 psi
• rear left = 31 psi
• rear right = 32 psi

the front right was essentially flat... dunno how he didn't notice driving :rolleyes:

anyway, we upped the tire pressure all around to 37 psi and he immediatly said he could feel the difference.

His MPG is now 57.4 :eek: that's a 25% fuel saving for a man who drives around 18k a year!

PS, he got that tire checked for a slow puncture, it was fine... just neglected was all. I guess it's because he's always sitting in that corner of the car which makes it the most heavily loaded tire.

Bigcheeze

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Someone I know just 'pumped them up till they were round'. They were well over 50psi...

Bloody hell. A blowout that close to a tyre could result in serious injury and deafness.

serious3

ION08 wrote: »

Instead of looking inside fuel flaps or door sills, you could just look on the actual tire!

just proves that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, if i took your advice i would be outside pumping my tyres to the figure on the sidewall which is 51psi, the makers MAXIMUM reccommended pressure. seriously if you don't know what you're talking about say nothing

Jesus.

sebastianlieken wrote: »

Just a side note, it's amazing what tire pressures do for your fuel economy - they are definatly worth maintaining.My dad came up north in his 08 Passat Bluemotion. I noticed the average fuel readout was stating 46mpg on the trip computer. He had never topped up the tire pressures since buying.

That's very true Sebastian. I had a similar situation when I bought a car recently. Seeing as it had just been put through the NCT I never thought to check the tire pressure (not realizing Dealers put them through then change the tires back to a worn set!) and for the first couple of weeks I was returning 36.5 mpg.

The lad Renegade on here then reminded me to check the tire pressure and sure enough, they were well down. Only 10 psi in two of 'em! So since inflating them to the correct level, I'm now returning 40 mpg. Not as dramatic as your aul lad's situation but a significant improvement nonetheless.

Taylor365

Many people don't service their cars for years after they buy them.

And they wonder why they fail.....

Fluids and tyres; check em most weeks.

biko

Something to know if you're inflating beyond recommended pressures, it will increase mpg but it will make the tyre road surface less.
I notice a difference between 32 and 40 psi as my tyres will be much more prone to skid. Braking distance is also noticeably worse, not to mention wet handling.
My car is actually recommended for 29 psi and is also really heavy.

So yeah, do inflate the tyres to recommended pressure or slightly over,
but do not expect tyres inflated at 40 to behave like they should at 30 particularly in the rain.

Fabritzo

Usually a feckin euro at these latest forecourt contraptions

biko

Depends where you are, here in the west some are free and some require a euro as deposit (same system as shop trolleys).
None that I've used actually cost any money.

ION08

serious3 wrote: »

just proves that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, if i took your advice i would be outside pumping my tyres to the figure on the sidewall which is 51psi, the makers MAXIMUM reccommended pressure. seriously if you don't know what you're talking about say nothing

Im aware it states max pressue, (my max pressure is actually 45 psi according to the sidewall) I pump them all up to 32psi

My point was that you can look at the tyre for an indication of how much you can pump them up, I never stated that you have to pump it to the max.

bugler

biko wrote: »

Depends where you are, here in the west some are free and some require a euro as deposit (same system as shop trolleys).
None that I've used actually cost any money.

The previous poster has misled you

biko

There's garages over in the pale that charge a euro for air, a few threads on boards about it in various forums.
Here's one.

tossy

A non returnable Euro ? Most places have a shopping trolley style system now where you get your euro back, which is great as it at least guarantees the air gun is going ot be in reasonable shape.

I find 90% of these guns are out of a calibration anyway and not worth a damn,you could inflate to a reading of 32psi in one and drive to another and it could read 25 or 40. That's why i carry a little digital gauge in the car and go by that.

biko

Yeah, I just go by that if the pump is faulty at least all tyres will have the same pressure

Jesus.

biko wrote: »

Something to know if you're inflating beyond recommended pressures, it will increase mpg but it will make the tyre road surface less.
I notice a difference between 32 and 40 psi as my tyres will be much more prone to skid. Braking distance is also noticeably worse, not to mention wet handling.
My car is actually recommended for 29 psi and is also really heavy.

So yeah, do inflate the tyres to recommended pressure or slightly over,
but do not expect tyres inflated at 40 to behave like they should at 30 particularly in the rain.

That's true. I let my tires down a fair bit during the big snow we had a few years back. It does give you better traction.

Still didn't stop me from sliding into the ditch though.

Victor Meldrew

tossy wrote: »

I find 90% of these guns are out of a calibration anyway and not worth a damn,you could inflate to a reading of 32psi in one and drive to another and it could read 25 or 40. That's why i carry a little digital gauge in the car and go by that.

Digital gauge and a pump in the boot.

Never have to use the mistreated pumps in garages, and, as I can do this in the driveway, I can check pressures on COLD tyres.

Generally I tend to run the tyres between the High and low pressure points, with a bit of adjustment either way if the shoulders or mid points of the thread are showing excessive wear.

Noticeable effect on economy and steering feel.

serious3

ION08 wrote: »

Im aware it states max pressue, (my max pressure is actually 45 psi according to the sidewall) I pump them all up to 32psi

My point was that you can look at the tyre for an indication of how much you can pump them up, I never stated that you have to pump it to the max.

if you're clueless enough to have to ask then you would be clueless enough to pump them to the max pressure indacted on the sidewall as pointed out by you.

beauf

If you have a car with no spare tyre you may have a compressor in the boot that can pump the tyres. They are usually slow and noisy though.

ION08

serious3 wrote: »

if you're clueless enough to have to ask then you would be clueless enough to pump them to the max pressure indacted on the sidewall as pointed out by you.

fair point

biko

beauf wrote: »

If you have a car with no spare tyre you may have a compressor in the boot that can pump the tyres. They are usually slow and noisy though.

Yeah I got one of them in Topaz for like 8 euro when they were having a special.
It's pretty **** but does the job and if it will get me home one rainy night after a slow flat it'll be worth it for sure

big_drive

Managed to take a better photo so someone may be able to confirm the correct value for me, thanks

ION08

big_drive wrote: »

Managed to take a better photo so someone may be able to confirm the correct value for me, thanks

No offense but can you not read??

The values are clearly displayed

aido76

I though you were looking for how much you would be charged to pump your tyres:eek:

Anyway, 30 - 32psi is around normal

big_drive

ION08 wrote: »

No offense but can you not read??

The values are clearly displayed

I can, in fact my job is teaching people to read.

Well I still can't see where the value is? I'm presuming that maybe 3.2 stands for 32 etc.

But I wouldn't say it's totally clear as I don't see numbers 30, 31, 32 anywhere

ION08

big_drive wrote: »

I can, in fact my job is teaching people to read.

Well I still can't see where the value is? I'm presuming that maybe 3.2 stands for 32 etc.

But I wouldn't say it's totally clear as I don't see numbers 30, 31, 32 anywhere

Tbh you can forget Psi - that's old money, together with miles and pounds!

"Bar" is the metric unit for measuring pressure, cross referrence the bar measurement with your tyre size and engine type according to the chart you posted!!

jimgoose

ION08 wrote: »

..."Bar" is the metric unit for measuring pressure...

[GEEK]

The "metric", or SI unit of pressure is the Pascal. The bar is defined by IUPAC as equal to 100kPa, but is not itself an SI unit.

[/GEEK]

And for my tuppence 'a'penny PSI is juuust fine.

ION08

In that case, just put in 32psi

aido76

OK. I'll try and explain the label for you. On the left side of the label it states "MOTOR". Under motor it gives you 2 different numbers. These are the engine sizes (1.4 and 1.9. In your case its 1.9)
The next column has tyre sizes. There are 4 different tyre sizes listed (I don't know which tyres you have).
If you look at the very top you will see a symbol of 3 people and a bag. Take the pressures below this symbol as unladen/normal everyday weight. Beside it is a symbol of 5 people and 3 bags. Take the pressures below this as the laden/full load weight.
The next column has a car symbol with kPa/Bar written in it. These are the pressure units. The label does not give you Psi. kPa is Kilopascals. If you take the 1,9 engine, 205/60 R15 tyres the next number across is 200/2.0. That means 200 kPa/2.0 bar for the front tyres. The next number across is 210 kPa/2.1 bar for the rear tyres. These are the everyday/normal tyre pressures. If you had a full load you would inflate the front tyres to 240 kPa/2.4 bar and the rear to 310 kPa/3.1 bar

You will need to google the conversion rates to PSI.

Hope this explains it for you.