I have an 02 vette with 90,000 miles - Best performance 30 - 31 hot.
OEM tires wear even and last about 45,000 + miles - lots of freeway driving.

 

Here we go again ...I run mine 30-31 Hot...thats usually 26-27 Cold in the summer and in the winter I run 30-31 Hot and thats usually 27-28 cold...
.02 registered once again

 

When I bought my new non run flats, the tire store told me to run 44 lbs in them . He wouldn't let the car leave with less. When I got home I put 30 in all and haven't had a problem.

 

and your tire sensor high pressure alarms are not chiming like wild?? especially where you live in that cold climate!!!!
your tire guy might think a highly inflated tire will give you better off the line traction also check out the center of those tires. if they have been on there a while you will see they are wearing a little lopsided.
try dropping the pressure to 29 psi. bring it for a drive. go around a corner or two. the same ones you have lots before. you WILL see the difference real soon!!!!!! after this test. you might want to bring them down to 27-28 psi cold there where you are. so that they go to 30-32 when hot. makes a real difference in handeling, ride, performance, and tire wear

 

Your "tire guy" is on drugs. 42 psi is likely the max inflation range. Running these tires at those pressures will punishing on the ride and damaging to the tires.

 

44 is the max for these tires. High pressure, although it gives a rougher ride is better for tire wear and life. 30 lbs is barely getting a flat footing on the ground. I recommend 35-38. I ran 40 in mine, but with 2-3 lbs expansion hot I got high pressure warnings at 42. I've changed to 37 and am leaving them there.

 

it's interesting how often these threads come up on appropriate tire pressures. beyond specialized racing applications, i think the o.m. has pretty well put this one to bed. bub

 

30 psi, cold, on all 4 corners.....

 

I'm suprised no one mentioned an old racer's trick on this posting. Simply mark your tires across the thread and up the side wall a bit
with chalk. Drive straight down the road and check out the pattern. It should wear evenly across the tire with proper inflation when up to temperature. If the chalk is less worn in the center, the pressure is too low. Or worn more in the middle, too high. Also when cornering, you don't want much wear on the curved portion of the sidewall. I set my pressures at 29 cold, and they run about 32-34 hot. This only works on the proper size tire/rim combination, if you have oversize tires, the rim will pull a curve in the foot print and you may get reduced tire wear with 30-32 PSI hot. That's the reason you need to match the tire to the rim, (ie. wider rims) if you go to a larger size tire. This test does allow for the weight of the car. This test will also give you an idea of your camber settings. Of course, too little pressure will give always give mushy handling, so adjustments must be made to suit your individual situation. My stock size Nitto's are wearing very evenly across the thread, with a little more wear on inside of the rear's because of the negative camber setting by the factory.

 

I run 30 psi cold and have 32,000 miles on my runflats and they still look like new.

 

It's 30 psi all round that is what your door jam should say on the drivers side.The tire guy is a nut he just wants you back really quick for some more tires if you put in 44psi.

 

I am very proud of some of you guys for seeing what I know to be true... obviously these guys at the tire store and those who manage some of these stores have no clue as to the whys and hows of tire design...
Let me try to make it clear..
if you look on the side of a tire it will give a max tire pressure and a max load, actually what that means from a design point of view is this..

This tire will carry a max load of 1377 lbs @ 44psi

all tires have a max load and max pressure .

what it means is a set of four tires will carry a load of 5508 lbs @ 44 psi

a Corvette weights 3200 lbs which is 2300 less than the tire max design.

You need to reduce the psi ( hardness of the tire ) to compensate for only carrying alittle more than half the designed load.

These recommendations for tires at max load and pressure are only for cars that fall into this range..

here is another example..if you have a truck that weights 3200 lbs.
and use these tires,,, you could carry safely 2300 lbs in the bed when the tires are inflated too 44 psi...

but when the truck is empty, the tires would be too hard and it would bounce allover the road because it would be center high and would wear the tires out prematurely..

same thing happens with a C5... while 30 psi is a good number when cold...36 or 38 psi when they are hot is not.. your not driving a truck and do not haul anything but ***........

I have been involved over the years with several NASCAR pit crew chiefs The do exactly what I do and recommend..

When someone tells you to put 44 psi in your tires, they should be held criminally responsible , because they need training... Most tire changers make little money because changing tires is an entry level job in m ost places, the people they hire are usually kids... seasoned mechanics who are making 20 or 30 an hour rarely change tires...

It like going to a stereo store and asking questions to a guy who was working at McDonald's two weeks prior... they are now working in a stereo store, and magically they become an audiofile....

When I was field debugging , I would always ask loaded question about things like this, just to get a feel for the tech's knowledge base...

You would be surprised at how little some people know about this car...

They have all these preconceived notions about automotive technology.

There are many people on this forum who fall into the same category...
they mean well but they dont know much.

There are only a couple dozen people on this forum who offer genuine insight to a C5 and an LS/X motor.

I always tell newbies, be careful who you listen too...this includes guys at tire shops...in some cases.

OH BTW some one here who followed my recommendation four years ago just pm'd me last week and said he got 49,000 miles from his first set of EMT's and owes it to watching his hot summer time tire pressure.

The End
Bill aka ET

 

I never run over 32 lbs at operating temp. That equates to 27 to 28 pounds cold and my wear pattern is flat across the entire tread.

 

You need some help there my friend , Atleast with your tire pressure thinking...