04RX8chk

I have Toyo Garit 215/55-17 winter tires on my car. Tire pressure is 30 in all four. They feel really squishy and handling is not great. I know there is a big difference between winter and summer tires, but what I am experiencing feels unsafe. The wheel alignment seems to be fine. I am wondering if upping the tire pressure would help. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Thanks.

rotten42

The squishy feeling is probably just you noticing the difference between the hard sidewall of the summer tire compared to the winter tire.


Tire pressure is irrelevant here in Calgary because after Dec 15th you can’t find a air hose that works in Calgary until March.

alcimedes

Winter tires (at least the Blizzaks I got) were horribly squishy. It was hell going from the summer tires to winter tires. I felt like I was riding on a giant spring. Couldn't feel anything of the road, and the car didn't respond well at all.

Guess that's just the price of good winter tires.

YT1300

All decent winter tires had better be more squishy than your summer tires. Full thickness soft compound blocky tires are going to have lots more squidge than Z rated summer tires. Increasing tire pressure does really only one thing: it makes the sidewalls stiffer, since more stretch is applied from increased pressure - it does nothing to the feel of the blocks.

RedSheDevil

and the answer for tire pressure is ..... ???

Admiral8

I have the same tires and the place I bought them told me 35 psi.
Not sure if that is correct or not.

TY_888

I have same Toyo Garit 215/55-17, 36 psi (225 kpa) for winter. Add 4 psi for winter tire stated in the manual. I added 4 psi on top of the manufacturer suggested pressure for my wife's car and the winter beater.

BlueFrenzy

04rx8chk ... you're using 30?? No wonder it's squishy! As temperature goes down, the pressure is reduced in the tire (remember P=nRT/V in highschool physics?). In the summer when the temp is nice and hot ... 30 is probably ok (maybe on the low side but ok still).

Anyways, Mazda recommends 32-36psi but didn't specify for what season. I personally have always gone with the higher range in the winter (cuz of our wonderful physics equation). Currently I'm running 35 on my winters. Another thing is when checking the pressure ... check when the tire is "cold" (yes cold is a relative term). So that means before you go out zooming around and "heating" up the tires. So once you determine your pressure .. hustle out to the local gas station and fill up the tires to 35 or whatever. After a few hours check the tires again to see what you are at ... adjust as needed.

ChrisP

I'm with TY 888 - same tires. The standard pressure is 32psi. The book says add 4psi for winter tires, so mine are at 36psi. The difference in "feel" is quite noticeable. Last year, running the Toyos at 32psi was a mistake - eventually rectified by reading the book.

RedSheDevil

my dunlops are squishy, but i have also had them at 32. im gonna try the 36 today and see if i notice a difference ... thanks for the help guys!

rotten42

I have the LM22's. I used them through last winter. If you are expecting them to be like your summer tires you will be disappointed. Whe the roads are dry and you want to push it those side walls fold over. I'm not sure ehat they are like compared to other brands. I bought them because they are supposed to be built for climates like ours where you can have clear streets and warmer remperatures in betwwen snow falls (late winter - early spring). Most snow tires don't do well on dry roads and wear out too quickly.

iamcanadian

Word . . . so frustrating! Then in March they work until about the end of July.

MyRXdrug

I'm kinda scared to get my airpressure up to ~36psi. remember, Too much pressure can be a bad thing! Right now with my Dunlop Graspics I'm flying all over the place with the rear tires. Maybe some more weight in the trunk will help.

RedSheDevil

^ ive always had to put a couple bags of sand and (the secret) a bag of kitty litter in the trunks of my cars. the kitty litter is very helpful for traction and moisture absorbtion if you get stuck.

my neighbors always love me in the spring cuz i have a huge bag of kitty litter to give away (cept i keep a small bag for myself ... works great on oil spills!)

Astral

so does 36psi get you anything other than less squishy? does it affect snow traction somehow?

RedSheDevil

sadly i didnt have time to fill em up yesterday. i will do so today and report back!

TY_888

Copied from another thread:

This is another case in which dry and wet/snowy/icy conditions need to be considered individually. On dry pavement, yes, the lower tire pressure gives better grip since the area of the contact patch is increased. You want as much rubber meeting the road as possible on dry pavement. However, in snowy/icy conditions you want just the opposite. The reason is that the tires need to "bite" into the snow and ice as much as possible. This requires that there is adequate pressure between the tire and the snow/ice. The smallerr the contact patch area, the greater the pressure since (pressure = force / area). Therefore, anything that decreases the size of the contact patch is beneficial for traction in snowy/icy conditions. This would include using a narrower tire and increasing inflation pressure. I hope this helps.

also, about pressure. Remember your chemistry gas laws, as temperature increases, so does pressure. So in the summer, tires are inflated to 32psi, and probably increase to a higher running pressure (say hypothetically 37psi) well the snow tires dont really get as warm as the summers can, so to compensate they start at a higher pressure.

BlueFrenzy

^^^ that's what I said! about the gas law anyways. Another thing to add is that not only does the tire not get that warm but in ambient winter temperatures, your pressure starts lower. So say you're summer "cold tire" pressure is 32psi ... you winter "cold tire" pressure would be lower than 32 depending how cold it is. So don't be afraid to jack up the tire pressure to 36psi ... most inner tubes were made to handle much more than that.

Admiral8

I check my tire pressure yesterday, it was around 30 psi. The temp outside was -20C.

I pumped up the tires to 39 psi and noticed an immediate difference in traction and overall feel of the car...it was much better.

04RX8chk

Thanks for all of the responses - great information!! I did up the pressure to 35psi before I had a chance to review all of the responses here - it made a huge difference!! I will up it to 36 as recommended.

I love this site Thanks again!

alcimedes

Sorry, was on vacation. To the poster that asked about which tires I got, they were the Blizzak WS-50's. Feel like complete mush to me, but again, that's coming off of performance tires.

edit: added additional tire pressure, and it helped a lot. Thanks to the above poster for the suggestion.

RedSheDevil

i filled them up to 36 the other day and noticed a HUGE difference! they are still squishier than the potenzas, but WAY better feeling than when i had them at 32. i really didnt think 4psi would really make much of a difference, but it did.

the snow is only sticking on the grass, so i havent driven on it yet, but will let you know about grip