I hadn't thought about the tire pressures in our 2024 XSE Prime until my wife called me with a low pressure warning on the RF tire in the Walmart parking lot on a cold day yesterday. She said a display popped up showing the RF pressure at 28 psi with the others displayed as well. The warning went away shortly thereafter and the only way to see all the pressures then was to pull up the Toyota App and check the car status. The others were 29-30 psi so I told her to drive normally and I would put some air in at home. Checking our service records it shows the tires were set at 35 psi in September and I guess the cold weather (25 F) and normal loss allowed one of the tires to drop below a TPWS of 28 or so. I was hoping to monitor the app as I put air in so I didn't have to use a tire pressure gauge but it is slow to react to the change in pressure and is not useful for that. I do wish there was a display on the screens we could call up to monitor the pressures without having to use a gauge every so often. KH
Put around 43/42 psi in the OEM extra-load/XL (51 psi) tires. The Toyota recommendation is too low, and it is for standard-load (44 psi) tires. You lose about 1 psi every month and more in cold weather.
High pressure is good. LOL I believe @Trollbait puts 51 psi. My 43/42 psi is rather conservative. The only side effects I have been having with high pressure are magnificent fuel economy (75 mpg average) and nonexistent tire wear in 40,000 miles on my 340-treadwear tires.
Also, get a digital air compressor from Amazon and carry it in your trunk at all times. You will never need a tire-pressure gauge and gas-station compressors or bicycle pumps.
I'll go up to 48-46 psi in tires with a 50+ psi sidewall rating. Have gone higher, but you need to keep an eye on the center wear then.
The maximum cold-inflation pressure is typically either 44 psi (SL, standard load) or 51 psi (XL, extra load). I had 35-psi Michelin X-One P175/70R13's on my 1985 Corolla at one point though. It turns out that for 51-psi tires, the load-carrying ability maxes out at 42 psi. I use 43 psi front/42 psi rear in my Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S (51 psi max cold) tires; so, it is actually right on the sweet spot. See page 36 in the PDF file linked below: https://www.toyotires.com/media/3729/application_of_load_inflation_tables_20200723.pdf I hadn’t thought about it, but when I put 51 psi in my tire with a nail in it, it made the leak a lot worse—the hissing became audible with the tire losing air quickly. It occurred to me that this was because of the tire stretching and making the hole bigger. So, you are probably pushing it if you approach the max cold pressure. I also accidentally put 62 psi in one of my tires because I had accidentally changed to units on my digital air compressor to bars (putting 4.3 bars instead of 43 psi). Luckily, I discovered my mistake when I was putting air in the next tire before driving the car. Luckily, I wasn’t attempting to put 51 psi—5.1 bars would have been 74 psi in a 51-psi tire!
Umm. How about some guidance finding that screen rather than simply telling me to look harder? Don't you think maybe I looked before posting here? KH
I think it's one below the current music display, about middle way with a row of symbols that you scroll across. One of those will pull it up.
Tire load is about the weight it can support, not a measure for performance and rolling resistance. "This additional range of inflation pressure (above max load) has been provided to accommodate any unique handling, high speed and/or rolling resistance requirements determined by the tire and vehicle manufacturers." - https://www.tirerack.com/upgrade-garage/what-is-maximum-load-inflation-pressure-for-a-tire The tire can't support weights above that max load pressure, but the sidewall will get stiffer. That stiffness is what impacts rolling resistance and cornering. Or it was simply because there was simply more force pushing the air out. One of the reasons for the belts in the tire is to reduce stretching.
Anyone looking for tires for the 2023-25 Prius Prime or Prius Hybrid? I have a set of 4 Bridgestone Turanza T005 205/60R17 (that if paired with the 17 inch rims yields exact rolling diameter as stock 19 inch wheels and tires on up level models) and a set of 4 Toyo Extensa 195/60R17 tires (for the 17 inch rims on the LE Prius/SE PP). Both have just about 2000 miles or less on them no damage no repairs. I do not have the '24 PP any longer so am looking to sell these. In Michigan. I have the Bridgestone ones on ebay Item ID: 335826037509 and will put the Toyo ones on Monday as well on Ebay. Please let me know if interested or if there is a better place to list these or inform users. I was thinking of starting a separate thread but was not sure if that is allowed (for selling tires). Sorry for the clutter. Thanks.
I defer to Toyotas recommendation for tire pressure, apart from maybe a pound or two over, just for expedience. Reasons: 1. I don’t like feeling like a bobble-head toy going over speed-bumps, even slowed to walking pace. The diagonal ones are worst, give side-to-side whiplash, at anything more than dead-slow. 2. I suspect stiffer tire sidewalls are less cushioning, transmit more shocks into the bearings and suspension. 3. Tires are relatively easy to swap, disposable commodity. For us they tend to age-out before they wear out, and I’d much rather deal with them than wheel bearings and suspension repair.
There doesn't appear to be a screen/display anywhere on my U.S. 2024 Prime XSE that I can access to display the tire pressures. I believe I have scrolled and looked at them all. Others on this forum have said the same thing. Maybe other models/years/countries do but not this one. By the way, which model digital air compressor is recommended to carry and use? KH
Old-school, but pretty bullet-proof: floor-standing bicycle pump Well, unless you back up over them...
I don't know about 'recommended', but I use the Slime 40051. It's already come in handy for me twice in the last 10 months with slow leaks - top off the air when the TPMS goes off, until I can get somewhere to get tire repaired.
No, I don’t think it was more pressure pushing more air out because it wasn’t a linear response. It was more like an exponential response in which I had a minimal leak at 42 psi but a huge leak at 51 psi. You could hear a loud hissing, and the tire would lose 20 psi overnight undriven (would lose almost none undriven at 42 psi). That is true about the rolling resistance and handling, but it is also true that above the optimal load-bearing pressure of 42 psi (for a 51-psi 91-load-index ISO-metric tire like mine), you are starting to exceed the tire’s natural pressure-holding ability, which could reduce its life and cause other problems—just like when my leak increasing exponentially due to stretching. If you are going to drive at extreme speeds, perhaps it is a good idea to go up to the maximum cold-inflation pressure though.
I am very happy with this digital air compressor I bought on Amazon. It is very loud though (I am guessing like most), and you might benefit from ear plugs. RoCGoRLD R8 digital air compressor on Amazon
