mogur wrote:Sigh... Once more: The pressure on a tire's sidewall is the maximum allowed for that tire, not the recommended operating pressure. Rarely do you or should you run a tire at that pressure. Example: The tires on my BMW are very high performance tires and have a sidewall rating of 48 pounds. The recommended pressures for my car are 29 front/33 rear with normal load and 33 front/37 rear for maximum load. I run the latter. If I ran that car at 48 pounds not only would it ride like a truck, but the handling and braking would be significantly degraded. It would also be much harder on the suspension. But yeah, I might get a few extra tenths in mileage and a little better tire life... The tradeoff is not worth it in my opinion.
So if you installed tires onto you Leaf that had a maximum sidewall pressure of 34 PSI you would still run them at 36 PSI per Nissan's sticker on the car? Probably not... If the tire is sized properly for the wheel it is mounted to, the tire manufacturer would know best what their tire should be inflated to, not the vehicle manufacturer. The information I've found also has stated running maximum sidewall pressure will decrease the possibility of hydroplaning and improve handling & braking.
Just a quick update on my experience though, we drove the car around a bit last night and I didn't notice any changes in the handling or "firmness" when hitting various bumps and potholes, definitely not "harder" on the suspension (though if I lost a few pounds that would probably help a bit)...
