I've wondered about this each time I check my tire pressure, would it be beneficial to run a higher or lower PSI over what it recommends in the owners manual?

 

Do a search and you will find recommended air pressures vary by usage (road, track, drags, autox, driving class), personal preference and driving style. I have seen 32f/34r recommended several times in the past few days. 34/34 and 36/36 also seem common.

Personally, I use 34.5lbs all around. I found anything above 36 or so too loose for my comfort level, although I might try it again next time I go to the track.

Tanq

 

There all sorts of recommendations varying pressure from Honda's recommendations. Some raising pressure in the front; other's raising pressure in the back. Others raising it equally on all four. The best advice I can give, is to use Honda's recommenation as the base line and experiment to see what suits your driving style. If your not driving competitively, Honda's numbers will probably be fine.

One thing I've discovered on my car -- these tires and wheels do a wonderful job of holding air. Since I have an air compressor I usually check pressures on all my cars every couple weeks. However, I got very lazy on the S2000, probably because it's so new. I think I may have gone a couple months or more before I checked it last week and I was only down on average maybe one pound per tire.

 

I noticed at the recommended 32 psi my rear tires were wearing more on the outside and inside part of the tire vs. the center. I increased pressure to 35psi. This seems to have slowed this process. I would describe my driving style as moderate, I have never done a burn out, but I do when tend to corner rapidly in town and whlie driving nice twisty roads like to corner at higher than normal speeds. I also increased the pressure in the front to 35 as I noticed the same thing although the back tires are wearing much faster than the front and this exaggerates the process. I have about 11,000 miles on the car/tires.

 

Keep in mind there is no such thing as the ideal cold tire pressure since changes in ambient temperature, solar gain, road conditions, and tire heating due to flex will change so the pressure you are driving on is going to vary.

Your best bet is to find what you are comfortable driving with, probably in the 36/34 to 32/31 range, and check it regularly. Tires can loose more than 1psi a month and ambient temperature will make a difference over time.

 

Another side comment on the subject of "street driving": I've noticed that a large percentage of drivers, tire installers, etc. tend to raise the tire pressure over that recommended by the factory. Naturally, everyone thinks they can improve things to give them a lit edge over the competition or just to get a better ride. However, whenever I talk to the tire engineer's, more often than not they suggest returning to something very close to the recommended base line. I'm not saying the manufacturer's are always right (car or tire), but I'd say they probably have done a lot more research and engineering on the subject than most everyday folks give them credit for. One of best friends, a hot shoe SCCA sportscar driver and best damn mechanic I ever knew would always get extremely mad when everyone thought they knew more than the factory. Over time, more often than not, the factory settings, etc. work best under all the variable conditions.

 

Hey, me too!

 

38/36 for me....i think it's good for draggin....

 

I use 33 psi all around. Make sure you check the tire pressure religiously. I seem to have one tire that loses air a lot faster than the other ones. I'm always having to fill that one up.

 

could be a bad valve, i think they are easily replaced.