Certainly if you own a car you will need to go through tire service to inflate your wheels. This is possible even in gas stations because most gas stations provide compressors to customers, so that they can inflate their wheels.
Well, but what will you do, and how will you cope if you have little idea about the pressure that is needed in the tires? To better understand everything you need to know about tire pressure , we invite you to read this article with us.
How do we know the correct tire air pressure?
Undoubtedly, the easiest way to find out what air pressure is needed in car tires is to check the car’s book. In the car service book you will be able to find the most important information about the car, as well as the pressure that is required in the tires.
You can find labels on the chassis, behind the driver’s door, inside the door of the petrol cap or even at the place of the spare wheel, which will show you the dimensions of the tires, but also the air pressure required in the wheels depending on the front or rear axle. .
If, for example, you find something like “195/65/15” on such a label, you should know that this is the size of a tire, and your car has 4 such tires.
What does cold inflation pressure mean?
If you have heard of cold tire inflation pressure, you should know that it refers to the air pressure in the tires when they are cold. You will most likely wonder why this is important, and what the difference is between tires when they are cold and when they are warm.
Well, cold tires have a lower air pressure, while warm tires have a higher air pressure. Experts claim that the air pressure in a hot tire can be about 0.4 bar higher than when the tire is cold.
How can I check the tire air pressure myself?
You have probably asked yourself this question at some point, especially if you are a new car owner, so you will find out below how you can check the air pressure in your wheels on your own.
You can go to the specialized service or gas station, for example, where you can use the compressor to inflate the tires, and the digital one will show you how much air there is in each of the wheels, so you can inflate or deflate the wheels as needed.
To inflate the wheels you will need compressed air, which you will get from a compressor in the locations mentioned above.
You will probably also wonder if your label has a higher pressure depending on the number of passengers in the car. Well, the answer is yes. The heavier the car and the higher the weight, the higher the tire pressure, while the lower the weight, the lower the tire pressure.
How is it better to have the wheels, above or below the recommended pressure?
Well, the recommendation of specialists is to drive with a little more air in the wheels than recommended. If you’re wondering why, take the example of used tires, or those you used last year, which have a degree of wear compared to new ones, they will last less time inflated at the same level, so you will need to inflate them more often.
However, new tires will keep the air much better, so they can also be inflated by a maximum of 0.1 - 0.3 bar above the recommended limit.
If we are talking about a new car, which has a warning sensor on the air pressure in the wheels, and the air in the wheels must have the value of 2.5 bar, and you give it exactly that much air, there are chances that the indicator might light on board because the sensor detects an air pressure higher than the required value.
The sensor can also light up when the tires are cold, if you inflate the tires when they are hot, at 2.6 bar.
You will also probably wonder how much pressure must there be in the tires if you do not use the original car rims, but use after market rims. To find out the exact information in this case, either go to a tire service and ask for it, or if you have new tires, ask the seller about the air pressure needed.
It can also be checked online because there are general diagrams regarding the air pressure in the tires, but this solution is not exactly recommended, because it can lead to faster tire wear, and moreover, this can even lead to loss of control of the car, or to a harder control of it.
All you need to know, however, is that it is better to have a slightly higher pressure (a little, not too high) in the tires, than to have too little pressure.
For example, if you have a car that has 185/55/16 tires, then 2.1 bar would be the pressure required for them. If your car has 195/55/16 tires, then the tire air pressure should be 2.5 bar, while for 265/45/18 tires, the tire air pressure should be either 2.9 bar.
A very important detail to keep in mind is that if you use larger wheels with a lower tire profile for your car, then it is necessary for the air pressure in the wheels to be higher.
Additional Information
It is extremely important to know that you should not drive if you have tires with low pressure. Why? Well, doing this you risk damaging your rims, but also damaging your tires.
When you drive the car and the air pressure in the wheels is much too low, the car will have a higher fuel consumption, given the fact that it will no longer move as easily as when the air pressure in the wheels is correct. You better have more air in the wheels than less. Instead, less air in the wheels can be useful if you want to have better grip at lower speeds.
So, these are some of the most important details you need to know about wheel air pressure, and we recommend that you keep them in mind so that your car does not have problems with tire pressure.
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