tyre pressures economy??

[Clan]

Originally Posted by green van man

Landrover discovery 1, recommended tyre pressure, 26psi front 36 rear.
Car is a pig to drive and front tyres have their shoulders worn at a visable rate. 34/36 psi is required for the front tyres to wear square. I run mine at 36 front 42 rear, all tyres wear square grip is excellent even off road on wet rocks and handling predictable. Having driven at recommended pressures, other than landrover having shares in tyre companies I can think of no reason to recommend them, in fact my car stops quicker at my pressures with bf Goodrich at on than it did at recommended pressure with the camac tyres it came with on. Because the tyres wear the shoulders so quickly folk were putting the cheapest they could find on which did nothing at all for the safety of a 21/4 ton vehicle.

Paul.

volvo 343 Factory figure for tyre pressures 30 rear 27 front even fully laden front still 27 ! Horrible to drive , steering abominable impossible to turn the wheel to park .. heavy wear on both edges . I've been running 30 rear ( which wear flat due to the de-Dion rear suspension ) and 36 front which gives delightful steering and possible to park ! after 250000 miles It's been proved to be the way to go . Volvo still under quote tyre pressures to this day for some reason ... Even at 32 psi all round, the edges wear off and the Ford platforms wear the inner edges off , at both front and rear where you cant see them and cords get exposed ..

[chadders1033]

Originally Posted by Model flyer

Any police traffic officers on the forum ? It might be worth the input from one of them. Any serious road accident will be investigated by a qualified investigator who take tyre pressure very seriously. Running your tyres outside the recommended margins by the amounts some posts are suggesting may leave you open to prosecution if you are unlucky enough to be involved in a serious crash.

Unless it's obvious that tyre pressure was a major contributing factor then they won't be closely looked at. Tyre tread depth would be especially if the accident happened in poor weather conditions.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by chadders1033

Unless it's obvious that tyre pressure was a major contributing factor then they won't be closely looked at. Tyre tread depth would be especially if the accident happened in poor weather conditions.

tyre pressures are not even in the MOT unless they are virtually flat to interfere with the brake test ..

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by Clan

tyre pressures are not even in the MOT unless they are virtually flat to interfere with the brake test ..

They are in the french "Controlle Technique" (MoT equivalent), looks like it is one that the Eurocrats missed imposing on the UK unlike all their other "laws".

[volvo145]

Originally Posted by GrantA

They are in the french "Controlle Technique" (MoT equivalent), looks like it is one that the Eurocrats missed imposing on the UK unlike all their other "laws".

But the French are not as strict at there testing vehicles as the UK.
I personally always over pressure my tyres by a few pounds

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by volvo145

But the French are not as strict at there testing vehicles as the UK.
I personally always over pressure my tyres by a few pounds

I lived in France for 7 years and each time both my cars were presented for the Controle Technique the tyre pressures was one of the first thing checked. The rest of the test was very similar to the UK with the exception of the shockers where they used a vertical vibrating unit under each wheel to check the shock absorber was within spec - never seen that in UK. A quote from the french press on the rules governing the test:

The number of elements inspected on these tests grows inexorably, and in the past couple of years the test has been reinforced with 7 new points of control, bringing to 124 the number of elements that are examined.

Not all anomalies that are found result in a failure of the test. Test failure, requiring a re-test after repairs have been undertaken, occurs in 72 points of control.

The test is undertaken without dismantling any part of the vehicle, by a visual examination or a test of performance, eg braking, suspension, pollution.

So during an approximately 45 minute examination ten main functions are examined: vehicle identification, lighting, braking, steering, visibility, suspension, bodywork, pollution and noise, security, and principal mechanical elements.

On completion of the examination of the vehicle you will be given a report (a procès-verbal), which will list any defects found.

The main difference between France and the UK is the french Controle Technique is every 2 years not annually like UK and new vehicles have to be tested within the 6 months prior to the vehicle being 4 years old.

[canis]

The MOT test is rapidly becomming a farce though, as my test inspector informed me during my last test.

"You should see the rules for number plates! They're like that," he said gesturing the size of a sheet of A4 between both his hands, "For brakes, it's like that" he continued reducing his gesture to a couple of inches, presumably a short paragraph or so.

I won't deny the MOT test is required, according to my parents, before it was implemented there were some right old wrecks driving around. But concerning laws on vehicles and driving in general, where contradictions are all over the place, one has to wonder just whose side the law is on, and what purpose they're trying to serve.

Deliberately small, non-exclusive, list made small for those who can't be bothered to read it all (and I don't blame you)
Free road tax (I mean vehicle excise license) for small cars - why?
Excessive road tax for ordinary family estates - why?
These two policies alone tell us they're taxing most those that can least afford it.

Speed humps on roads that haven't even been driven yet - in contradiction to the government's own published advice, that speed humps are a last resort against a speeding problem that cannot be controlled otherwise.

They're closing hospitals all over the place, but cameras need installation on motorways - why? Not only that, but they have this new habit of squishing three lanes into two, all that effort to close off a service lane, 17 miles long, with absolutely nobody ****ing working on it for months and months and months and months. When I visited France a few weeks ago, they don't seem to have this problem, and they've only got two lanes for the most part. And their speed limit is 82mph in some places.

I sometimes wonder if they're coning off a lane just so they can safely put out some more cones. All they ever seem to do is move cones around. I wonder: As a percentage, how much time is spent actually installing the cameras? I believe the contractors are simply dragging the job out for their own selfish profit at massive nuisance to motorists and untold impediment to business and industry.

I sometimes watch these 'Police, Camera, Action' type shows on the telly;I've seen performance cars with low suspensions unable to keep up with stolen joy-rides due to speed humps. How is that sensible? Who's is that protecting? Certainly it's not preventing crime, rather it's preventing the prevention of crime (whilst annoying law abiding motorists into the bargain). I've seen a police officer, on recieving a tip-off that a chap was about to leave his local pub and probably drive his van home, she actually parked out of sight down the road and waited until he came past. She got her nick alright, but isn't it her duty to prevent crime in the first place? She could easily have waited in the pub car park and simply reminded him of the law, but instead she chose to allow the law to be broken, and when the man put innocent lives at risk she did absolutely nothing to stop him until after the fact.

The trouble is, us Brits are far too decent and polite to actually do anything about it. It's the old boiled frog theory, they keep stripping away at our rights and we carry on letting them because, like children, we believe it's for our own good. We get the government we deserve.

Put into perspective, tyre pressures are really quite trivial. My own father-in-law was happilly driving around on three tyres which were completely illegal (worn right through to the webbing) and one tyre completely flat! And he didn't even notice!

And we're arguing over a few extra PSI? Do you really think the cops will be examining tyre pressures? You have WAY too much faith in them - let me put it this way - no crime ever commited against me has had any action taken whatsoever. I've had cars stolen, houses burgled, I've been conned here and there. But absolutely none. At all. Full stop.

Administrators of crime, that's all they are. ****ing useless.

[volvo145]

Originally Posted by GrantA

I lived in France for 7 years and each time both my cars were presented for the Controle Technique the tyre pressures was one of the first thing checked. The rest of the test was very similar to the UK with the exception of the shockers where they used a vertical vibrating unit under each wheel to check the shock absorber was within spec - never seen that in UK. A quote from the french press on the rules governing the test:

The number of elements inspected on these tests grows inexorably, and in the past couple of years the test has been reinforced with 7 new points of control, bringing to 124 the number of elements that are examined.

Not all anomalies that are found result in a failure of the test. Test failure, requiring a re-test after repairs have been undertaken, occurs in 72 points of control.

The test is undertaken without dismantling any part of the vehicle, by a visual examination or a test of performance, eg braking, suspension, pollution.

So during an approximately 45 minute examination ten main functions are examined: vehicle identification, lighting, braking, steering, visibility, suspension, bodywork, pollution and noise, security, and principal mechanical elements.

On completion of the examination of the vehicle you will be given a report (a procès-verbal), which will list any defects found.

The main difference between France and the UK is the french Controle Technique is every 2 years not annually like UK and new vehicles have to be tested within the 6 months prior to the vehicle being 4 years old.

Well you must have had different people testing vehicles that my son in law uses (he has used a few)for his business.
One of his defenders even passed with two bald tyres,go figure why there is so many old ones on the road

[GrantA]

Originally Posted by volvo145

Well you must have had different people testing vehicles that my son in law uses (he has used a few)for his business.
One of his defenders even passed with two bald tyres,go figure why there is so many old ones on the road

Obviously.

During one of the tests on my Mercedes (if I remember correctly in 2009) there was a bloke in the test station with a clip board following the tester's every move, when I asked who he was I was told he was from "Service-Public" (French Government Agency) checking up on all the Controle Technique test stations in the Charente where we lived.

Your son-in-law's experience of the French Controle Technique differs greatly from mine, as for knowingly driving round in a vehicle with 2 bald tyres - no comment.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by volvo145

Well you must have had different people testing vehicles that my son in law uses (he has used a few)for his business.
One of his defenders even passed with two bald tyres,go figure why there is so many old ones on the road

you are allowed bald tyres on the UK test , only 2/3 of the tread needs to be over 1.6 mm ! When i was doing MOTs for 15 years you had to have some tread on the lowest 1/3 .. ie not bald ..