i know i know...i'm fairly stupid when it comes to cars,...
but how do i figure out the correct air pressure for my tyres???
is it just a standard thing or what?

have always been too embaressed to ask anyone except my dad......

is there a way to know? is it printed on the tyres or something??? do you have to calculate stuff??
am at a total loss

(and now i'm gunna go and hide away in shame)

No need to wrack the brain... just ask here, telling us what type of VW you have (Type 3 I'm guessing....) and lots of folk will give you all sorts of opinions about what your tyre pressures should be, what type of tyres you should have, how your hubcaps should be aligned with your tyre valve etc. etc.

hth

You can always have a look in the Instruction manual if you have one.

What model car do you have and what wheels n tyres are fitted.

Its a variable that takes into accoutn the vehicle, its weight, any load, tyoe of tyres and what type of driving. I run 30 front 34 rear in 195/60r15 and 205/60r15. They are hard, but its the way i like the and feel most confortabl with. I work on the assumption the aim at static pressure would be to have the full face of the tire in conatct with the ground. I also just go on looks a bit to.

32psi is a good running average for average tyres on average cars. It's quite hard but not hard enought give an abmormal wear pattern.

Softer tyres have more surface area in contact with the road (a bigger "footprint" ) which gives better traction in the wet. (People who drive their 4WDs across glaciers in Iceland let their tyres down really soft for the same reason)

Harder tyres have a smaller footprint, which means less friction: they are therefore less likely to overheat and burst when driving on a hot highway.

If your tyres are too soft, they will wear more at the edges.
If your tyres are too hard, they will wear more in the middle.

HTH

lil dub,
If its a late type 3 , it should have a sticker on the fuel flap...
but anyway here they are in PSI, which is still used on most tyre gauges:

1-2 occupants - Front 16 Rear 24
3-5 occupants - Front 18 Rear 27

Variant : half payload: 17 Front 26 Rear
Full Payload.(very rare)18 front 37 rear

I used to run My type 3 at :
Front: 18 PSI Rear: 26 PSI

16F & 24R are the lowest recommended pressures.. and would give You the softest ride. The More pressure, the harder the ride.... and usually the longest tyre life..

On long distance runs at highway speeds its usually recommended to have your tyres inflated an extra 2 PSI..

Lee Noonan

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by 68AutoBug]

lee: but aren't those pressures for cross-ply tyres?

I usually run 30 - 35PSI on the fronts and a few PSI higher on the rear. For long drives, I would definately have the fronts at 35 psi and the rears at about 38psi depends on what the sidewall of the tyre states too...

Purple Martin, 32psi on an air cooled Rear Engined Volkswagen... I'll bet You haven't driven a rear engined VW with those pressures... I would hate to think how it handled.... and How You stopped, as the front wheels/tyres would just skid on every little stone , and in the wet..
"I'll walk thank You- its safer"
it would be Dangerous.. remember there is virtually no weight in the front end of an Air Cooled -rear engined VW....
actually, I've never ran 32 PSI in Anything I have owned.... I don't like rough rides... & just 2 psi over the recommended pressures do just that..

Lee

Oval TOU,
Yes it probably is for cross ply tyres, but radials shouldn't have all that much more , probably 2-4 psi more... Do You have 165x15" tyres on Your Beetle??
I would hate to think of the ride You would be getting, unless You have very smooth roads where You drive....
and how does it stop in the wet???
Lee

165's? pfft! heh, nah, i've got 225's thats why. I had 185/60/13's on the front of my last bug (64) - I ran 35psi in them and they were sweet. Saved many times when the moron in front of my locked their brakes - I stopped in time and didnt lock up. Go light-weight beetles!

It doesn't really matter how heavy the car is (relatively speaking) the PSI carries the wieght of the car too so 35 psi on a light car is still going to have roughly the same ride as a heavy car? Its more about aqua planing that wieght helps and higher pressures help...

my 2c

[Edited on 10-3-2004 by oval TOFU]

yeah those pressures are for Cross Ply tyres.

I run 165 x 15 michos on my bug and only have 16 LB in them all round. The car hangs on and rides nice no thumping on the road every day in the peak hour traffic.

okay thanks guys....
i think....
now i am even more confused ARGH!

at the moment i have ALL my tyres, front and back, at 32 psi.

now that you have recovered from the shock.....
the reason i did this on the weekend was because i looked at my car and though i had a flat tire!!! one of em was so oooo low.

Now i am totally confused.

Yes, it is a type 3, a wagon.
And my tyres are low profile, fat, and pirellies or firellies or something...very expensive any way (got a flat at straddie and was stranded there for 4 days becuase i couldnt get another one...mind you being stranded at straddie wasn't exactly punishment)

if i wasn't so lazy i would go out and look at the tyres now and tell you more....but don't know what more to say.
oh yeah, its a late t3, but the sticker on the fuel lid has been torn off.

okay, so thankyou thankyou thankyou...but i do need more clarity....
thorun

(and thanks for the iceland comment....heheheh, yeah i know about low tyre pressure for that kind of stuff, and i understand the differnt kind of ride that you'll have with low vs high pressure....why i guess i want to know is that
1. i want what is best for my car and for my tyres so that they will last longer and be less likely to puncture and
2. i am feeling environmentally concerned i guess and i wouldn't mind knowing what is going to be more effiencent in terms of fuel consumption because i recently read "keep your tyres at the correct pressure" in this greenie propagranda thingy)

okay, once again, thanks......

I dont think my last comment made sense... anyways, Since yo have low profile exy Pirelli's or Firestones or aoigvaovna's, they would b sprot inclined due to the low profile of the tyre. It should state on the sidewall what the 'max' pressure is. Probably between 30 and 35psi. (My Hankooks say 44psi max...but they're V rated) I'd still exceed the stated max by at least 2psi. That will help with the braking and handling of the car. Better for fuel consumpsion too, even if its only about 2%... it all adds up i suppose...

am I right on this? or am I a fool?

My kombi has a very heavy wooden interior and always carries lots of extra crap, so it weighs A LOT. Even at the front. It's got truck tyres. If I don't pump them up real hard, they look half-flat and they wear on the outside.