I'm in PA for college and the winters get REALLY cold here fast. Now it's autumn. It's been in the 40s lately but it warmed up.

I'm going to be driving a lot back home soon (4 hours or so on the thruway) so I went to get my tire pressure checked. I'm a n00b when it comes to cars.

I have a Honda Fit Sport so cold temp tire pressure is (ideally) 33 psi. I went to a tire/auto shop and the guy did it, checking the pressures with in the door. He said he filled the tires to 35 psi so when the cold weather comes soon, they should be okay.

So are my tires okay? It's about 60 degrees outside but it's supposed to get chilly soon.

I don't want them to be overinflated. I need to do some major driving soon.

 

yes, you'll probably need more air depending on how cold it gets.

also if the guy pressured up when you drove up to the station/shop, your tires are warmer than "cold" so 35psi is not that high.

on my GE and GD, i pressure up to 35-36psi cold. this means on a hot day it can exceed 40psi if driven hard enough.

check your tire pressure once every few weeks (minimum).

 

Thank you for your speedy response!

I guess it will be okay then. I will check the pressures when the weather gets really cold again and if I need more air, I'll go in and have it put in.

So 34-36 cold is a good tire pressure? I'll keep that in mind.

 

psi depends on wat you're looking for. manufacturer uses lower psi for comfort. for me i like to have a stiffer/more responsive ride so i use higher pressure. your TPMS light will come on when you're lower than 28psi. (very dangerously low imho and can damage your tire sidewalls).

some CRAZY folks use super high pressure for improved mpg. i dont recommend that cause it can lead to bursts with big enough impact on potholes, but they live by it.

 

Agree. That's a good year round range on the Fit.

 

Thanks for your help. I have to do a lot of driving soon so I think I'll be fine now. I just had a service check up recently and everything is ok.

You may get better mpg with a REALLY high psi but I'd be really worried about a blow out. Lots of potholes in my college town, it's not worth it. Besides, I drive manual which really helps with the mpg right? (Provided you're not dumb with it)

 

tires are much much more resilient than this. on very low profile tires its hard to get a visual read on a low pressure tire. sometimes ive inadvertently driven on very low pressures (slow leak) without latent ill effects... conversely, high pressure isnt terrible if it doesnt exceed tire specs (which are generous)

 

I guess it will be okay then. I will check the pressures when the weather gets really cold again and if I need more air, I'll go in and have it put in

 

yawwwwn... who said OP drives a low profile tire? dont tell me you think the factory tires on the Fit are considered 'low profile.'

if my car had low psi i could feel it by how the car responds. as far as high pressure, what the hyper mile guys are doing is 50psi range. no where near safe imho, but they swear it is okay and so far i dont think anyone has died from it so they are continuing on with their field study.

you can also get a small air compressor at most autoparts stores (walmart has them too) that you can plug into your car's power socket and a cheap tire guage.

 

34-36psi cold is okay all around, although I do agree you might need a bit more air in the winter months to compensate for low-temperature air compression. It's a good baseline pressure though.

Not really a believer in super-high tire pressures myself - the highest I've put in is 40 and it was making my cornering suffer.

 

Lower tire pressure aids in handling. More tire is contacting the pavement, as mentioned above to little is dangerous the wheel starts to cut away at the sidewall of the tire and increased rolling resistance poor mpg. Too much and you suffer handling wise, on lightweight cars over inflated tires are really pronounce steering wheel feels lighter than it already is

 

I picked up a small compressor for the shop and check mine at least once a month. The fronts tend to lose a bit. I run 35 cold.

In winter I have nitrogen filled snows so they are just fine. Not losing any pressure.

 

For the longest time I used one of these to keep my tires nice and healthy. My old car air compressor lasted 11+ years.

The ones out now aren't as reliable as they used to be, though...

 

yah, completely agree. unfortunately everyone drives price down made in china quality and you get wat you paid for.

right now im using a 120v one from get this.... BLACK & DECKER. the valve is a pos but it works. the belaire(?) bonaire(?) one i had before was nice but broke only after 2yrs.

here is a link to the Black&Decker one. the dialable psi limiter actually works pretty well, but i still use my pressure guage to fine tune my psi.

Amazon.com: Black & Decker ASI300 Air Station Inflator: Home Improvement

here's the pressure gauge ive been using for the last 3-4yrs. very good.

Amazon.com: Accutire MS-5510B Racing Tire Gauge: Automotive