Scotty (UK)

In the owners manual is says :

"The tyre pressure must be adjusted according to the load the vehicle is carrying. We recommend adhering to the tyre pressure specifications for a maximum load. The tyre inflation pressures are listed on a sticker on the end face of the driver's door Fig. 1.
However, if you prefer an extra-smooth ride and the vehicle is not fully loaded, you can select the tyre pressure for a normal load (no more than three people travelling in the vehicle). However, should you wish to drive with a full load you must increase the tyre pressure to the specified maximum."

So they're recommending the harder pressure regardless of whether you're loaded or not.

I've never heard of this before. What are your thoughts? My guy instinct is that this is the same as running over inflated tyres but they say it's not.

I'm puzzled

av_audi

What a coincidence that I just posted about tire pressures in the "Vibrations thread" [link to post].

I think they are simply trying to protect themselves against liability. AFAIK, new cars in the U.S. now come with a single pressure recommendation because our government thinks some drivers are just too stupid to be trusted with the proper selection. This happened after the Ford Explorer low tire pressure fiasco you may have heard about.

If I drove my Passat with the full load and over 100+ mph tire recommendation, the tires would feel grossly over-inflated and the ride would be ridiculously punishing. I know because I once loaded about 900lbs worth of tiles in the trunk and had to inflate the tires to the maximum recommended pressure. After unloading the tiles, the over-inflation was quite evident.

need_TQM

My '09 users manual has "full load" and "normal load condition" inflation pressures, so there isn't a single pressure.

Now as to whether or not some drivers are too stupid.......

Scottyuk : The '09 US manual does not have such a statement -- the closest thing I see is :

"If you wish to improve comfort when operating the vehicle at normal load (up to 3 occupants) you can adjust the tire pressure to those specified for the normal vehicle load. Before operating the vehicle at maximum load, you must increase the tire pressure to those specified for maximum vehicle load"

av_audi

I am not quite sure, but I think the single pressure recommendation might have been only for the door jam sticker. If you get a chance, can you take a look at it?

I do remember vividly all the hoopla about this roughly four years ago. Perhaps not being a sizzling issue anymore, VW/Audi feels safe in circumventing the rule a little. Again, it would be great if you could report the door jam sticker pressure.

need_TQM

The door sticker does have just the maximum load condition pressures -- For the 18" sport 2.0T the "normal" load condition is 1 psi lower front / 6 psi lower rear.

av_audi

Many thanks for the info.

Maybe they thought that those who actually bother taking a look at the manual will be likely to pay enough attention to understand the extra info correctly

Moviela

My thinking is that the single pressure is to milk the highest mileage out of the car to meet CAFE.

dpcompt

my '09 20t s-line shows 38psi front, 42psi rear. what are you guys running with this tire,suspension combo?
don

Scotty (UK)

That's similar to the UK comment. What does your manual say just before this?

av_audi

Wow! That is so much higher than what need_QTM reported. Is it because you have 19" wheels?