Date: Wed, 01 Nov 2000 23:39:11 +0100 From: Robert Brown <rjbnopsamnetnospam.se> Subject: Re: Tire Pressures
OK, my turn then (I'm stealing from a posting I made on this subject back in May): The manual for a very similar car - the 1999 9-3 (205/55 ZR16 x 6,5) vary from 2,3 to 2,8 kilopascals (probably between 33 and 40 pounds per square inch), depending on your load and speed. The 9-3 weighs about 1450 kg. We found the handling pretty ugly using the factory recommendations so we asked our local tyre shop - who also supply to motorsport customers - what they thought. They recommended 3,0 kPa (about 43 psi) would you believe . . . At first I thought this was a smartass way for them to get us to wear out the centre section of the tyres so that we'd be back within the year to buy more rubber from them. And we're not exactly heavy people, so they weren't trying to compensate for something like that . . . So I did what they said and started measuring tread depth. Believe it or not, the wear is correct all across the tyres (though losing a bit more on the outer edges of the fronts, as to be expected). The price we pay is awful road noise, but that is pretty bad on the 9-3 to begin with, even with the lower pressures we had earlier on. But the handling is almost bearable now. I'm aware that this is a pretty extreme solution, but we like it. For anybody else wanting to try, just check the tread for even wear every 3 months or so. If it starts wearing too fast in the middle, let some air out. But the worst type of tyre wear is surely that which is confined to the edges, because then water cannot be forced out sideways if there's too little tread there. As a rule, the recommended pressures are a shade too low IMNSHO. For the classic 900 on 185/65 SR15 x 5, recommended pressures are 2,0 kPa all around. But when the local cops here were using this model as a police car way back when, recommended pressures (according to the labels on the fenders) were 2,3 kPa front, 2,4 back. I use 2,5 kPa all around on my classic 900 and it feels goooood. Hope all this gives you an idea of what you can get away with. Is anyone else out there using similar tyre pressures? Regards, Robert Gothenburg 1983 900 GL, 1999 9-3 200 Johannes H Andersen wrote: > John Sheehan wrote: > > > > Hi > > > > I have a 1997 Saab 900 SE with 205/55/R16 Tires. Can anyone tell me what > > the recommended Tire pressures for these Wheel/Tire combination is ? > > > > Thanks > > > > John Sheehan > > Since no-one answered here, I will have a go. I use identical tire size > on my 1993 9000 CSE and use 34 psi pressure. The pressure should be > higher than for /65/ tires, here I used 30 psi. > > Johannes
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