Tire pressures on 20s

[scottst]

Hey, my sq5 specifies 41/41 and 39/39 (partial load). And, oddly Audi specifies much lower pressure for the 3.0t with 20s. What are people running?

I am thinking of lowering to 36 to see if it helps with ride and noise.

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[Thatredhead]

I run 33psi all around on mine. Have always had even wear and a nice ride with it.


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[kbrkr]

Wow, 41/39 seems high. My Q5 3.0T with 20's specifies 29 all around.

[scottst]

I know, strange isn't it?!

I am going to play around with this. Sounds like I may be one of few following the reco.

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[A U D I]

Ouch !
You guys are killing your mileage. I run mine higher only because I do more highway time. The lower number might give you a softer ride however mpg will suffer. I don’t think it will help with noise either.
The way I find the best pressure for a tire is to match its ride with the vehicle. All tires roll differently and the tire to rim to vehicle changes that. If you air up the tire you can see on the tread how much is contacting the road. You want the contact to be close to where the water is expelled from the tread but not over it. If you are too soft or low on pressure you will not allow the tire to expel the water properly and can get hydroplaning from it. If you have too much air you are limiting the full contact of the tire and not getting the most out of it. It usually easy to see on a tire where it is contact area is. If not, you can slowly drive on some dirt to help show you the contact area on the tires.
Hope this helps and is not too confusing.

[scottst]

Ouch !
You guys are killing your mileage. I run mine higher only because I do more highway time. The lower number might give you a softer ride however mpg will suffer. I don’t think it will help with noise either.
The way I find the best pressure for a tire is to match its ride with the vehicle. All tires roll differently and the tire to rim to vehicle changes that. If you air up the tire you can see on the tread how much is contacting the road. You want the contact to be close to where the water is expelled from the tread but not over it. If you are too soft or low on pressure you will not allow the tire to expel the water properly and can get hydroplaning from it. If you have too much air you are limiting the full contact of the tire and not getting the most out of it. It usually easy to see on a tire where it is contact area is. If not, you can slowly drive on some dirt to help show you the contact area on the tires.
Hope this helps and is not too confusing.

I do get pretty good mileage running 40/40 :)

What are you running?

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[VroomVroom]

^ Great post.

I run @ 40 psi and am pleased with the compromise to ride quality. I like the performance at that pressure, and I do notice the mpg improvement. I'd think lower (especially approaching 33 psi) inflation pressure would come at a hit to mpg as well as tread life since you're definitely maximizing that contact patch. However, from my own experimentation I can say the ride quality @ 35 psi is improved. Context - in this case the specific tire you're running - is important, so filter my experience with Conti DWS06 accordingly.

[q5 dave]

38psi all around on conti dws06

[MSq5]

The door sticker on my ‘17 S-Line Q5 3.0T with a OEM 20” wheels says 33/33 psi.

That’s what I ran and what I run now on new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. I got a bit over 40,000 miles on the OEM Bridgestone summer tires at 33/33.

When the tire dealer installed these tires they set pressure at 41. That was very harsh and stiff. I dropped them down to the door sticker pressure. Ride is greatly improved and I see no degrading of handling or AMAX launch traction. Time will tell as to wear and fuel use. Too early to tell and I’ve gone dual pulley stage 2, so I have no baseline anymore for comparison.