Recommended tire pressures on upsized tires

E-Type
1

Hey everyone! I’ve installed upsized Vredestein Sprint Classics from the stock size of 185VR15 to 205/70VR15 as well as done the necessary modifications to accommodate wider tires. For those who have done this upgrade, what pressures are you running? Are the standard pressures of 32psi sufficient, or would higher pressures be better? Mostly concerned about uneven tire wear and handling.

Thanks,
Jarrod Maille
69 FHC 4.2L

2

I think there is a lot of room for personal preference here - I know I run higher pressure than the 32 psi on the glove box lid using stock size tires. and a little higher rear v front.

In my experience, most uneven tire wear comes from faulty alignment rather than choice of (a reasonable) tire pressure.

1 Like
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Running 205 70 15 p5 Pirellies and ran 32 for a while and dropped to 30 lbs. Tire pressure can be experimented with easily

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30 to me is the sweet spot
my 185/hr15 I’m happier with the smaller tires at 28 cold 30 hot
On my other e Type with the 205 30 cold 32 hot is the best to me overall
That’s Almost 200,000 miles of EType driving🙃

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Thanks. I think you are absolutely correct; there’s a lot to be said about reasonable tire pressures. I guess when I mentioned uneven tire wear, I’m referring to center tread wear due to over inflation, just as the same as outer and inner tread wear due to under inflation. Ultimately, the most even tread to road contact is desired.

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When I first showed my car to my uncle, who collects British cars, he said I should change to Vredstein.

I currently have Uniroyal Tigerpaw P205/75R15 97S. I see you list that as a “wider tire”. What accommodations did you have to make for your wider tires?

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The factory size is 185, so the 205 is a much tighter fit in the rear. I haven’t had any issues with the front. To accommodate the wider tires in the rear, I had to remove the bump stops and grind down their brackets to prevent them from rubbing the tires. The bump stops had never seen the suspension ever touch them…after all, I doubt that the vehicle will ever be loaded to maximum capacity, nor take a huge impact where the suspension “bottoming out” would be an issue.