Tires - PSI

[MP3TLH]

What PSI is everyone running there tires at? I noticed mine were low and the sidewall said MAX PSI was 50. It seemed a little high to me, but I'm not a tire expert. Any suggestions?

 

[teresa]

When I got my tires rotated, he put them at 40psi.

 

[trobbins]

Its important to know the difference between the maximum tire pressure on the sidewall and the tire pressure recommended by Mazda. The tire may be used on heavy cars sometimes requiring different pressures. I think mazda recommends 2 different pressures for the front and back. If you change them its up to you but it is a trade off between contact patch and friction. If you have too little air, your tire will have a large contact patch but not roll very good. If you have too much the tire will bow out a little and reduce your contact patch. I would figure that the engineers at mazda did the math and figured this out for us, probably a little bit on the save side by increasing patch size. Maybe run them a tad harder than recommended but you will have more chance of spinning your tires and locking the wheels on hard braking.

Good luck...

Tim

 

[DooMer_MP3]

Well, I once asked this question at clubsi.com and got made fun of . I noticed our MP3s MAX is 50psi as well. But don't go inflating your tires to max pressure. The sticker on the driver door is what you want to follow. I believe it is 29 front/32 back. If you overinflate, you risk blowing tires especially when they heat up during longer drives...

DooMer_MP3

 

[freekwonder]

i run mine between 45 - 50. drove all the way to Cali and back with no problems tires still look great (no excessive wear on the inside) its not as smooth as a ride, but i like to take corners. 29 - 30 is just way to low in my opinion. my tire looks flat at 30

 

[DooMer_MP3]

I would seriously suggest NOT driving with that high of a pressure. Going that high is usually done for auto-x etc, but not long drives. You have to realize that your tires say 50psi Maximum. Tires can increase by 10psi with ease (and more with extended trips). Driving at 45-50psi is like playing roulette... But hey, if you want to shell out $130 for a new tire every now and then, be my guest!

Personally I'm running mine at about 32/34 psi now, and thats because its pretty cool here in Wisconsin. I don't do any long driving either.

Now that I think of it, with my old POS 1985 Chevy Citation before I even knew jack about cars (not that I know *that* much now), I would inflate my tires to the max psi because I thought that was correct. I did a trip to visit my girl from Milwaukee to Madison, and when I got to Madison my tire was flat. I also lost one of the replacements a few weeks later after doing the same thing... Coincidence? You be the judge!

 

[MazdaMP]

Mazda sais:

32 and 29 PSI for front and rear tires.
Hope this helps

MazdaMP

 

[freekwonder]

ive had my tires that low before. car drove like s***. and the tires were on the side walls. also if you are running more air in the back tires then the front you need to switch that. remember we have more weight up front. also i drove to cali like that no problems. i have 11,500 the only problem i have had is hitting a pot hole. and they are all over the place here in MO. we have the Second worst roads in the USA.

 

[<Type5>]

FWIW my MP5 came from the factory with 38psi all round.

 

[<greerstyl>]

run mine at 34 psi, drive good

 

[freekwonder]

i have been driving awhile on 50. i havnt had any problems. the last few days i have tried a few different psi. personally im going to go at 40. 50 was good cause i got to pracite cornering alittle (i mainly drive late at night when nobody is on the road) but i bounced alot. i didnt like the car when it was in the 30s. personally im going to be driving around at 40psi. low 30s is just way to low. is sticking to 40psi.

 

[PaulMP3]

I run mine at 32psi and i have 6,400 miles in only 1.5 months so far ive gotten one flat from a pot hole