fiat_freak
Member
Posted on GP and Panda pages
For years I had been using an ancient tyre pump, the sort that plugs into the car cigarette lighter. The dial on that pump was getting really tatty and not that easy to read. That degradation of the dial was accompanied by the deterioration of my close-up eyesight as old age approaches!
6 months ago I bought a new pump; much easier to read.
Much to my horror I discovered I had been under-inflating my tyres for several years. What I thought was the 2-bar mark (30psi) on the old pump was in fact 20 psi. So instead of running around 30 psi I had been running at 20psi.
The intriguing part in all this is that after running for 6 months at the correct pressure, petrol economy has remained the same as it’s always been. I never noticed any lack of traction, tyre wear is even across the treads and the ride on 20 psi was softer and more comfortable than the harsh ride on 20 psi pressure. This is particularly true on the Panda and less so on the Grande Punto.
For years I had been using an ancient tyre pump, the sort that plugs into the car cigarette lighter. The dial on that pump was getting really tatty and not that easy to read. That degradation of the dial was accompanied by the deterioration of my close-up eyesight as old age approaches!
6 months ago I bought a new pump; much easier to read.
Much to my horror I discovered I had been under-inflating my tyres for several years. What I thought was the 2-bar mark (30psi) on the old pump was in fact 20 psi. So instead of running around 30 psi I had been running at 20psi.
The intriguing part in all this is that after running for 6 months at the correct pressure, petrol economy has remained the same as it’s always been. I never noticed any lack of traction, tyre wear is even across the treads and the ride on 20 psi was softer and more comfortable than the harsh ride on 20 psi pressure. This is particularly true on the Panda and less so on the Grande Punto.
