What psi for 96 'seo

[turp23]

I am a stickler for mpg's. Tire pressure drastically reduces the gas mileage on my tercel when it is low. I checked the glove box on my paseo and it says 26 ! Can that be right? Tire size is 195/60/14 and the sidewall says max psi is 44, and I know that is to high. Even the spaghetti tires on the terc gets 33! Is 26 too low?

[Tercel GTS]

You want a cushy ride go 26 but if you want economy go 44.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by turp23

Tire size is 195/60/14 and the sidewall says max psi is 44, and I know that is to high.

I'm also a stickler for mpgs...

I run mine at 55 psi.

[turp23]

I went with 40. Does the higher psi effect the wear pattern at all?

[Daox]

Yeah, it make the tire wear better since it doesn't flex as much. You'll get more miles out of the tire too. Older non-steel belted tires will wear badly, but newer steel belted tires do not balloon out.

[noahthefrog]

I usually split the difference between what the glovebox and sidewalls say. In your case that would be 36PSI. If you want maximum MPG, use the highest PSI you can without the ride being too rough for your comfort.

Higher PSI may cause a little more wear in the very center of tire. That's not really a bad thing since tires tend to wear more on the edges when they are on the front of the car anyways. Higher PSI also causes reduced traction since there's less rubber touching the road and the tire doesn't flex over bumps as well.