Hi I have a 98 2.5 RS and it came with wrx wheels and tires. For the tire pressure, do I follow what the badge says on my car for the stock wheels or do the wrx tires need a different pressure?
The badge on car for stock wheel says :
Front:32 psi
Rear:29 psi
Tire size: 205/55 R16

The main difference between the two is that the stocks are 16x6.5 and the wrx are 16x6. So I just want to know what tire pressure I sould have. Thanks

Enrico

 

if they are 205/55r16 re-92s i would run them closer to 37 or 38 psi all around

 

Is that their setting on the WRX or what it should be on my GC8?

 

manual says what you stated above, but that pressure is too low for the stock tires. even on your car i would run them higher

 

So what does the manual say about the psi on stock WRX tires on a wrx?

 

I was under the impression that you were supposed to have less pressure in back and more in the front because of the difference in weight on the wheels.

 

What is the recommended tire pressure on a WRX with stock wheels and tires?

 

The stock WRX settings are 32 front, 29 rear. I assume the higher pressure in front is to offset the weight of the engine and shift some of the car's weight towards the back wheels.

I'd like to see some more discussion about this. 38 PSI for a road tire (not auto-x) seems extremely high, and would probably reduce the size of your contact patch with the road (and thus NOT reduce understeer, but cause it). I'd like to have some input from a pro (Dexter? Luke) about this; I'm certain that the imbalance between front and back pressures is there for a reason, and isn't to be ignored.

I'm breaking in a set of 225-45-17 Goodyear F1 D3s, and they definitely like 32 or below PSI; above 35 they are noiser and seem less grippy.

 

I just can't see 32/29, front and rear, respectively. It makes the car(wagon)feel to loose in the corners. Just seems to low. If anyone has a logical explanation for 32/29, front/rear, I'd like to hear it.

 

Speaking of high, a guy I work with runs whatever the max pressure listed on the tire sidewall is. He claims this gives him the best wear and mileage. I told him he was crazy, but he wouldn't listen to me.

 

How was the ride on that?
I have 235/45/17s Falken Ziexs now and I'm always running 32-34 pressure, front and rear. The only time my tires broke loose was driving 60 mph on a turn while it just started to rain out.

 

"Speaking of high, a guy I work with runs whatever the max pressure listed on the tire sidewall is. He claims this gives him the best wear and mileage. I told him he was crazy, but he wouldn't listen to me."

It will give you the best wear and mileage. It gives you less rolling resistence.
That doesn't mean that it's safe! I'm sure traction is greatly reduced.

 

I'll weigh in on this one. I was a was a brake/alignment tech for about 7 years. What I was always told was to go by the placard on the inside on the driver's (or passenger) door, when adjusting air pressure. If your are plus sizing then if that wheel/tire size is the same as an Oem tire package used on your vehicle then use that spec.

Most tire failures occur due to underinflation versus overinflation. The reason being and underinflated tire caused the center section of the tire to lift placing stress on the belts and not allowing proper heat dissipation. The wear pattern of an underinflated tire is wear on the outside and inside tread block (assuming alignment angles are within spec.)

Although you see more and more low profile tires with outrageous max air pressure ratings I would not reccomend setting air pressure anywhere near that high. Overinflation causes the center section of the tire to make contact before the outer sections. This of course will decrease traction. The wear pattern is the center rib worn more that the outers.

For drag racing most people will air down their tires. This allows for more sidewall flex and more of the tire to contact the ground on launch. For everyday driving I would reccomend whatever appears on the placard. If you do a lot of highway driving you may be able to go a couple of psi over normal and get slightly better gas mileage. If you have larger wheels tires than what comes as an option on your vehicle. Use stock psi as a baseline and adjust up. Keep an eye out for tire wear and and always check your air pressure cold.