tyre pressure

hiya guys,

need your views on this. in many respects, tyres are arguably the most important part of the vehicle, right?

for the ulysse, i noted the recommended pressure is 3.5 bar (i.e. 350 kPa) for rear tyres when loaded. this equals 50.8 psi. my ulysse is shod with goodyear's french-made NCT5 (if i'm not mistaken, else its NCT3). Max pressure imprinted on the tyre is 51psi (which is 350kPa). this really has me confused. would you really pump max pressure on the tyres? is it safe?

pls correct me if i've got anything wrong here.

thanx guys

rgds

The max pressure on the tyre is the maximum pressure you should inflate it to for normal use. So it is safe to do so. I'm not sure if running the tyre at it's maximum pressure would be economically advisable though, are you always going to be running your Ulysse fully loaded?

If you are not going to be pushing the tyres to their safe performance limits then your main concern is even tyre wear. Find a pressure that sits in the middle of your normal and full load so that you even out tyre wear. If you are pushing it, then it's a lot of trips to the local garage to change tyre pressures.;)

This site may be useful for everyone like me who can never quite work out what a Bar is in real money;)

http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/pressure

85% of Marea HLX drivers have speeding tickets.... lol they'll have to catch me first.

Hi

Not sure what vehicle you have. According to my UK manual, max pressures for fully loaded rear tyres are -
2.5 Bar 2.0 16v
3.4 Bar 3.0 V6 [not available in Uk]
3.0 Bar for 2.0 & 2.2 JTD

No mention of a 3.5 bar. Personally, I always pump using PSI coz I feel it is more accurate! And the tyres on mine are Pirelli P6s.

Stuart

hi all,

you are right guys, fully loaded recommended pressures are 2.5bar (front) and 3.4 bar (rear). It is 2.5 bar all round in normal conditions (equiv. to driver with 2-3 passengers?)

btw, mine is a ulysse 2.0 16v, petrol. still, 3.4 bar translates into 49.3 psi (and 2.5b = 36psi) compared to the tyre's maximum pressure of 51 psi, i just reckon it might be a little to high...for the rears, that is. I say this because from my (limited) experience, I've never come across recommended pressures appraching the tyres own maximum.

I've driven saloons/sedans mostly previously though i have driven a pajero for about five years and even then the pressures are always about 60% - 70% of the tyre's max limit. FYI, until now, i normally set my tyre pressures at 32psi (max)/ 28 psi (min) depending on load.

i guess all this apprehension stems merely from my unfamiliarity with the numbers. in fact, i have since checked my front tyres and they are indeed on 2.5 bar so i've nothing to worry, i guess. i'm confident the rear should be the same.

one other thing i noticed though, with the goodyear's eagle nct5s the front tyres "appear" to be under-inflated. this is not the first time, as i've seen this on other cars before. this was actually what triggerred me to look at the recommended pressures, which led to this query.

finally, how are the pirellis? i would have loved to get the pirellis, but the goodyears are surprisingly quiet & comfy, though a little on the soft side (i think).

thanks again for your responses. cheers

Hi,

I got Michelen tyres on my 16" alloys. Obviously they ran out of 12V sockets when yours was built and Pirelli tyres when mine was built :D

Poggy

Hi,

I think you are right - plus you got my tinted windows! I have never known a parts bin to revolve so much. What tyres has everyone else got then?

Stuart

Hi,

It would be interesting to see if anybody actually got the car they ordered without any bits missing or any extra bits.

The robots which build the cars obviously have such good artifical intelligence that they have human error.

Poggy

The Pirelli P6000's are a mid range/mid compound tyre and quite popular. I have heard that they can feel a bit spongy on cornering under load. They also have had poor reviews on wet and snow.

I wear Goodyear Eagle Ventura's. Yes they are a softer compound, but, that gives them more grip, esp in the wet and snow. Only downside is you have to change them more often.

I had a long chat with an independant tyre fitter who used both and I am more than happy with my choice so far.

Dave

85% of Marea HLX drivers have speeding tickets.... lol they'll have to catch me first.

Stop calling the French robots - if they were that good they would have beaten us at Rugby! Or was that down to human error. Lol.

You are right - you and I had different spec cars to the original order - did anyone get theirs 100% right?

I presume Pirelli P6s are the same as P6000s, or is that being too nieve. I do prefer a softer compound on my tyres generally; would rather sacrifice life for performance. BUT on the Ulysse not too concerned - I only use it for weekend family trips, and if I hit over 90 the missus moans! I am surprised the voice activation doesn't pick that up and warn you via Telematics. Or some geezer from Milan phones you and says something.

Stu

Hi,

I got an update CD for my Garmin navigation system and it now has the speed limit information on it. It doesn't appear to do anything with it so I am not sure why it is there. Perhaps I will read the manual and see if there is a new function. The price was £100 for the whole of europe which is quite a good deal.

Poggy

Hi,

I presume Garmin is the other system you use, and not NavTech! Talking of which, just got a confirmation yesterday from NavTech that our 2003 update disk is in the post.

That speed limit info does seem useless. Unless it can be used once the actual Fiat software is updated - whenever that may be!
Still no joy on the DVD update.

As you said, 2004 update for us lot already sorted!:D

Stuart

I believe Garmin products use NavTech software (that's what it seems when you look at www.navtech.com)......