Just a reminder for this cold weather; check the air pressure in your tires! I was down to 30 PSI in 3 tires, 28 PSI in my front passenger side tire.

So not only has my corner-carving handling returned (I thought it was my rusted quarter panel causing the poor handling), but now I don't have to worry about blowing anything out.

Although, I do need a new front passenger side tire- it got chewed to hell!

 

also don't forget the anti freeze, don't want to have to redo the freeze plugs

 

TomP: Isn't the cold setting supposed to be 30psi all around?

 

Good point about the antifreeze; we can cover crash-safety (tire pressure) and engine-safety (antifreeze) at the same time!

CJ, cold pressure depends on your own car, really. I get the best treadwear pattern by running 33psi front, 32 psi rear- but that'll change with different cars/wheel size/tire size/tire brand/etc.

 

Just checking Tom. I thought maybe your car had a different pressure spec than mine even though they are the same year (although yours is a Firebird and has an auto). I've just always stuck with the spec and never noticed an issue with it, although I've never tried different pressures.

 

CJ- Just for reference, I run tires that wear perfectly @49.5psi front/46psi rear hot (meaning after they are driven on and are at running temp). All tires are not designed equal. It depends on the recommend MAX pressure of the tire. Some are 35max, 36max, 44max, 51max. Some truck tires can go as high as 85psi. It depends on the intergrity of the sidewall materials as to how much anti-distrotion the tire is made to handle with pressure. The higher pressure tires tend to not deform as much when pressed laterally. Put 50psi in a tire that is not made for it though and you will be riding on a very deformed tire and making about 2" tread width contact on the road.

ps- I am taking a break from my brake project- hands are vibrating from the powertool useage.

 

I was going to say, although I can't remember for sure, but I wanna say that the maximum rated pressure on the tires I have is 35psi.