Long-distance driving; what tire pressure to use?

benezrj · Jun 20, 2002

Hi, In two weeks we are driving from New York to Florida (3 adults, 3 pieces of luggage). We are planning on doing a non-stop, 24 hour drive. I usually keep my tires inflated to 35 psi; would this be OK for sustained highway driving? Thanks for any input you can provide. JEFF

Guest · Jun 20, 2002

35 is fine, although 36 is recommended (02 model). Personally, I keep mine 38 psi. A slightly higher psi will give you slightly better fuel economy for the trip. Your ride shouldn't be effected.

gharris · Jun 28, 2002

I have an 01 with Michelin Symmetry 215/65-16.
The MAX air pressure on the sidewall is 35psi.

Is the 02 different?

RonD · Jun 28, 2002

gharris said:
I have an 01 with Michelin Symmetry 215/65-16.
The MAX air pressure on the sidewall is 35psi.

Is the 02 different?

The 2002 says max pressure of 44 PSI on the sidewall. The rise in pressure from cold to hot is 4-5 PSI so cold inflation of 36 PSI gives hot 40 PSI.

Guest · Jul 1, 2002

benezrj said:
Hi, In two weeks we are driving from New York to Florida (3 adults, 3 pieces of luggage). We are planning on doing a non-stop, 24 hour drive. I usually keep my tires inflated to 35 psi; would this be OK for sustained highway driving? Thanks for any input you can provide. JEFF

Just got back from a week-long vacation in which we put about 1200 miles on our 02 Ody. We used cold pressures of 44 front, 42 rear, as measured on a 60 degree morning, and drove to an area where the daytime temps were in the lower 90's. We had no problems and had great fuel mileage to boot, with a last tank with a slight tailwind and drafting other cars, but with a big hitch in the back and four bikes to create drag, of 29 MPG. We drove aggressively in the corners and had no issues at all.

Wayne Lim

benezrj · Jul 15, 2002

Well, we got back from our NY to FL trip and put on about 2800 miles. We did the drive each way essentially non-stop (23 hours each way). My daily commuting mpg (mostly highway) is about 21 - 22 mpg. For this trip, we averaged about 23 mpg which was a bit dissapointing. Had tires inflated to 36 psi all around; no roof top carrier; just three adults and luggage in the rear of the van.

I am sure of the 23 mpg because I used that, rather than the useless fuel guage, to determine when to fill up.

Also, I wish the second row seats reclined all the way back like the front row does; would have helped for those naps!

JEFF

2001 GG EX

Jerry O · Jul 19, 2002

Re: Re: Long-distance driving; what tire pressure to use?

Wayne Lim said:
Just got back from a week-long vacation in which we put about 1200 miles on our 02 Ody. We used cold pressures of 44 front, 42 rear, as measured on a 60 degree morning, and drove to an area where the daytime temps were in the lower 90's. We had no problems and had great fuel mileage to boot, with a last tank with a slight tailwind and drafting other cars, but with a big hitch in the back and four bikes to create drag, of 29 MPG. We drove aggressively in the corners and had no issues at all.

Wayne Lim

Wow, Wayne, that's a lot o' air pressure! If I inflated my Michelin XGT H4s that much, I would be able to tell when I crossed a crosswalk stripe without looking, Hee! Hee! I usually inflate mine two or three psi higher (37-38 psi) when I take a heavy load on a long ride. Yes, hard tires will boost fuel mileage AND loosen nuts and bolts. We averaged just under 24 mpg on our 5400 mile cross-country trip. I never put any stock in a one tank figure. The only way to get a good idea of the real story on mileage is to average several tanks, thus reducing the error factor brought on by different fills.

Jerry O.

ktbragg · Jul 19, 2002

It should be noted that the 'max tire pressure' listed on the tires has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with recommended inflation - on any vehicle. This reading is just that - a max inflation. For what Honda engineers have deemed the correct inflation after taking into consideration vehicle weight, handling characteristics, safety concerns, ride comfort - consult the owners manual or check the door jam.

Having said this - I too adjust to fit my needs, but rarely venture more than a few psi from what's recommended. In the winter I lower a bit for better ride (MN gets cold), in the summer I bump it up slightly for wear and mileage benefits.

Guest · Jul 19, 2002

Re: Re: Re: Long-distance driving; what tire pressure to use?

Jerry O said:
Wow, Wayne, that's a lot o' air pressure! If I inflated my Michelin XGT H4s that much, I would be able to tell when I crossed a crosswalk stripe without looking, Hee! Hee! I usually inflate mine two or three psi higher (37-38 psi) when I take a heavy load on a long ride. Yes, hard tires will boost fuel mileage AND loosen nuts and bolts. We averaged just under 24 mpg on our 5400 mile cross-country trip. I never put any stock in a one tank figure. The only way to get a good idea of the real story on mileage is to average several tanks, thus reducing the error factor brought on by different fills.

Jerry O.

Jerry,

We came from a Toyota Previa with aftermarket shocks which had a lot more roll stiffness (and probably a lot lower center of gravity as well, with the engine directly under the driver's seat), and our other vehicle has 225/50 tires and a sports suspension.

The Odyssey is undoubtedly a much more comfortable cruiser, but to both my wife and I, it suffered a little bit in the handling department with the stock 36/36 pressures, especially in transitional maneuvers (like a fast left/right) where it seems the sideways motion wasn't damped and we couldn't tell if the extra weight of the Odyssey caused it to roll up on the sidewalls, or if there was lateral compliance of the body in relation to the suspension. We upped the pressures about 2 psi at a time, and over a week or so settled on 44/42. Subsequently, I've gone to 42/40 since we're occasionally driving on roads with sharp expansion joints and road irregularities. However, the Symmetry tires probably have sidewalls designed more for comfort than performance like your XGT H4's probably are.

Anyhow, the lateral wiggle is more than half gone, and I suspect that lowering the ride height with some aftermarket springs will help that last little bit. The ride really hasn't suffered that much at all - it's still a WAY comfortable ride.

Even though we live in the often damp and occasionally snowy Pacific Northwest, we ended up with two RWD vehicles that had about as viceless handling as you could get in their respective categories. We got spoiled by that, but also realized that we were forced to accommodate having that RWD. Now that we have the benefits of FWD (like the tumbling third row seat), I'm picky enough to want my cake and eat it too, and get the handling that we had with near 50/50 weight distribution. My wife says I just need to chill - she's right!

The 29 MPG tank was preceded by a 28 MPG tank, and we haven't driven it long distances since. We averaged the entire trip, going from sea level up to 4200 feet altitude, then taking several trips up to near 8000 feet altitude, often with a bike rack and bikes hanging off the back. Over about 1200 miles, we averaged 24.7 MPG, including a lot of slow driving within and around the place where we stayed.

BTW, remember a while ago I was complaining about the engine being rough near redline, and that it went away once we refilled the gas from around the Seattle area? One of the families we went along with who drives a Subaru Legacy wagon experienced the same thing - he had rough running when climbing the significant hills to where he lives, and he was going to bring it into the dealer until the next fill up "cured" his problem. We filled up at the same place on the trip!

Wayne Lim

Jerry O · Jul 19, 2002

Wayne, if you're looking to get some good steering response and a better handling feel, you will like the feel after you install the rear air bags. You will lose a lot of the feeling you describe.

Jerry O.

Guest · Jul 20, 2002

Jerry O said:
Wayne, if you're looking to get some good steering response and a better handling feel, you will like the feel after you install the rear air bags. You will lose a lot of the feeling you describe.

Jerry O.

That's good to know!

I think my only debate is whether or not to forego the airbag and just do aftermarket springs all around. I haven't measured to be absolutely sure, but it sure does seem like our Ody sits up higher than any other one I've seen on the roads. There's got to be a good four inches of clearance from the top of the front tires to the wheel well, and probably about three inches of clearance in back. I've seen some other unloaded Odys that were maybe three and two inches respectively.

I didn't know Honda had a free "extra spring length" option. . .

Wayne Lim

Jerry O · Jul 20, 2002

Wayne Lim said:
That's good to know!

I think my only debate is whether or not to forego the airbag and just do aftermarket springs all around. I haven't measured to be absolutely sure, but it sure does seem like our Ody sits up higher than any other one I've seen on the roads. There's got to be a good four inches of clearance from the top of the front tires to the wheel well, and probably about three inches of clearance in back. I've seen some other unloaded Odys that were maybe three and two inches respectively.

I didn't know Honda had a free "extra spring length" option. . .

Wayne Lim

The thing I did not like was the down-in-the-rear attitude when a decent load was onboard. That, coupled with the wheels assuming quite a bit of negative camber was just a look I could not take. When I see wheels at other than straight up attitude, I always relate it to an old baby buggy with worn wheels which are about to fall off. That look is bad, even on a Mercedes, and we see quite a lot of it these days. I cannot imagine that the lowering springs will do much for that problem, since the will leave you with some negative camber to begin with and it can only get worse when you load 'er up, unless the spring manufacturer has gone to a higher rear rate relative to the fronts. You would have to ask those with the lowering springs whether their Odysseys still "sink" when heavily loaded.

Jerry O.

Guest · Jul 21, 2002

Jerry O said:
The thing I did not like was the down-in-the-rear attitude when a decent load was onboard. That, coupled with the wheels assuming quite a bit of negative camber was just a look I could not take. When I see wheels at other than straight up attitude, I always relate it to an old baby buggy with worn wheels which are about to fall off. That look is bad, even on a Mercedes, and we see quite a lot of it these days. I cannot imagine that the lowering springs will do much for that problem, since the will leave you with some negative camber to begin with and it can only get worse when you load 'er up, unless the spring manufacturer has gone to a higher rear rate relative to the fronts. You would have to ask those with the lowering springs whether their Odysseys still "sink" when heavily loaded.

Jerry O.

You're right - unless the aftermarket springs are way higher rate than stock, you'll still get the down in back syndrome when loaded. However, I could probably live with a little bit of that, considering that I'd like the unloaded van to have a down in front posture. Really high spring rates in the rear would result in a pick-up truck type ride, which we definitely don't want.

I didn't notice anything unusual about the camber of our wheels when our van was fully loaded. During oiur trip with several hundred pounds of stuff, I walked around the car during fill-ups and it never struck me as out of the ordinary, so either I just missed it or even compressed there's not much negative camber.

Hmm, some serious pluses and minuses each way. Maybe the thing to do for me is to go aftermarket springs PLUS the spring bags. . .

Wayne Lim

Long-distance driving; what tire pressure to use?

benezrj

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gharris

RonD

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benezrj

Jerry O

ktbragg

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Jerry O

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Jerry O

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