Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 16:58:49 +0200 From: "Mark Gerritsma" <amgnopsamnld> Subject: Re: Why is it recommended that rear tyre pressures be higher than front?
Dean Malandris wrote in message <37bab5ca.207328375nopsam.zip.com.au>... >I was always curious about this. Seeing as how we're talking >front-wheel-drive, and considering most of the weight is over the front >wheels, I would have expected that the front tyre pressures be higher than >the rear, because of all the work the front wheels have to do. Tire pressure can be used to influence car behaviour. Ideally you want all tires at the same pressure and a neutral caracter. If you would run your car at equal pressure, you will most likely encounter a lot of understeer. Raising the rear pressure will make the rear contact patch slightly smaller, thus decreasing overall grip. Your car will have less understeer and will neither be faster or slower than with the equal pressures. Determining the tire-pressure however isn't exact science. It is a combination of tyre-brand, suspension geometry and the feeling the test-drivers had. Differences in tire pressure are used by the manufacturers to iron out the last glitches. As far as I know only one car ever used a differen method. A perticular model of Citroen (I believe it was a DS) had wider front than rear tires. Mark Gerritsma (amgATddsDOTnl)
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