tyre pressures on Mx5

[doclip]

please can someone tell me what are the optimal tyre pressures on a mk1 mx5 on 185/60 14 -should this be measured cold or or when the tyres are warmed up after driving a wee while -presume the warm pressures will be a few PSI higher than when cold -do tyre pressures affect understeer and over steer in any way
cheers

[Oldandslow]

26-28 psi normally.

[Munter]

For comfort I go with the manual at 26psi when cold.

Yes pressures can affect over/understeer.

[doclip]

what do you mean for comfort -what for example would the effect of running on say 24psi cold all round -how would that affect handling ?

[Munter]

Id think 24 would feel a bit vague and risk overheating the tyres.

28 can make things a bit "bouncy". Ok on track. But on the road I prefer the tyres to absorb a bit more of the "shock" from bumps etc on the road.

[GravelBen]

It depends a lot on specific tyres as well as size - while 28 is fine with my current stiff-sidewalled 15" the previous (budget) 15"s were much softer and felt horrible at anything below 30.

[LukeBird]

GravelBen said:

It depends a lot on specific tyres as well as size - while 28 is fine with my current stiff-sidewalled 15" the previous (budget) 15"s were much softer and felt horrible at anything below 30.

This.
The current rears on my car are ste and need a lot more pressure to feel even vaguely like tyres.
In turn this means they are st.

[MX-5 Lazza]

What Ben said. I run my 205/40/17 Toyo T1R (soft sidewall but low profile) at 27psi and my 195/50/15 Hankook RS2 (stiff sidewall) at 26psi. T1R in 195/50/15 need 28psi or more whereas Goodyear F1 GSD3 in the same size are best at 26psi.
Basically, try a few different pressures and see what you like best - it's your car.

[doclip]

ok so 26 is the starting point and worth playing around with higher pressures

[skinny]

what do you want to achieve? 26-28 (cold) is a good starting point, if you go higher front or rear you'll start to gain response at the expense of grip at that end.

[Howard-]

Blimey, I put 35-36 in my 195/50/15 Eagle F1s!

[doclip]

Im more after grip than repsonse really

[Pints]

29 psi on my mk3 is the recommended. It's what I run with.

[MX-5 Lazza]

Howard- said:

Blimey, I put 35-36 in my 195/50/15 Eagle F1s!

That must have been... interesting to drive!

[doclip]

mk3 is a bit of a sumo cf mk1 in terms of weight so i reckon 29 would be rather high