Had my GenIII a little less than a month and decided to check the tire pressures for the heck of it. Cripes.. 60 lbs. Checked the other three, same pressure. Got another gauge and checked--60 lbs, all four. You would have thought that the dealer would have corrected this before delivery. Even if it rolled off the boat with those 4 flotation devises. Maybe deflate by 20 lbs before selling it. :mad2: Any other new owners discovered this?
Wow - that's way high. I think they are supposed to be 35 lbs up front and 32 lbs rear? Odd that there are different pressures. A friend of mine with a G3 II says the tires have nitrogen in them. Is that true?
I had this happen at my Toyota dealer with my Matrix. I had them install new tires a day after I took delivery of my car. I drove the car home and thought, wow! rough riding tires. So I checked the tires. One tire was 67psi, but all were over 58psi. (luckily I had Z rated tires that allowed a cold 51psi) I called the dealer right away and asked them what they were thinking? I would give them hell. Pushing tire pressures that far past the Max Cold pressure rating of 44psi is so dangerous, it could produce deadly consequences.
Manufacturers over inflate tires at the factory so they don't become under inflated in transit. The dealer is supposed to adjust the pressure during the PDI, but many don't. I always check the pressure when I buy a new car.
Yes they do--since air is over 75% nitrogen. But I'm sure that's not what your friend was referring to...
My average mileage so far in 1500 miles is about 44 mpg. So over inflation didn't get me any closer to the magic 50 mpg.
LOL! Yes, that is true, but I was wondering if the manufacturer was increasing those percentages for some reason - e.g. better mileage? I doubt during routine tire pressure checks we need to find a "nitrogen" pump. At least that won't be me!
I have found this with inexperienced tire people as well. They see a number (say 60lbs) on the sidewall and think that is the correct pressure. This falls into one of those Operator Maintenance Procedures that everyone should do. (Like adjusting the mirrors.) Check your own tire pressure at least every other week. (During gas fill ups is a good time)
Does this mean that we can't use air from gas station or from tire shops?do we need to look for a special air pump to add air to our tires?
I did some searches and found another forum's discussion on nitrogen vs air. Some think the tires will run cooler and nitrogen will reduce moisture entering the tire which is harmful. Here's the link if you are interested: Nitrogen Filled Tires - GreenHybrid - Hybrid Cars
Nitrogen does not make tires run cooler. Pure nitrogen (actually, not pure) is used in racing to reduce the expansion/contraction (caused by pressure increase/decrease) caused by increased/decreased tire temp (which is attributable to the moisture in air).
Moisture harmful to tires? I guess they don't drive in the rain at all then. Yes, there is a lot of voodoo nonsense out there, be careful. One should also ask how they mount the tires and purge the air from it as it has plenty of air in that tire as it is mounted. Besides, air is 78% nitrogen already.
All four of my tires came from the dealer inflated at 40PSI. Fine by me. The ride and handling are superb, and road noise is negligible. I get almost... 60MPG overall. At best, Nitrogen doesn't matter for a 'normal' car. Airplane tires, race car it matters. Not for a Prius. Where Nitrogen 'sucks' is people believe they should 'only' put nitrogen in, so they don't check the tires themselves, and only get them checked when they get service, which is far less often than they should. Will you go to the tire shop EVERY MONTH to get nitrogen if there's even a fifteen minute wait, or if it's just a little out of the way? You know you should check the pressure at least as often as you put gas in it, right? The best fuel economy investment for ANY car that you could make is a small electric compressor and the best tire inflation gauge thing you can find. And then routinely check your tires' pressure and top them off. Especially before long trips. Black caps, green caps, don't matter. Air's fine. What's WORST about letting the monkeys at 'Lube-U' do your tires is they will ALWAYS flatten your tires 'for you'. The only time you can check your tires is when the car has been at rest for at least 30 minutes for the wheels to cool off. Do the mechanics wait that long to check the pressure? Never! When you just pull in to 'top off' Nitrogen? HA! They'll always let air out of properly inflated tires that are still warm (if they check them at all). Do they calibrate their air pressure gauges? NEVER. It's a safe bet that whenever you get your car back from a mechanic, it will have four flat tires. Tire pressure gauges can be WAY off, and mechanics are always rushing to bill you an hour's worth of job for five minutes of effort, so they 'forget' things.
