Recommended pressure for 16" wheel/tire

We opted for 16" wheels/tires (off a JSW) on our '11 Golf TDI and having driven over 3600 miles* back to the northwest from MN in every imaginable type of weather, I have no regrets. The car handled beautifully in snow, monsoon rains, in dry conditions and everything in between. The door jamb sticker just shows recommended pressures for the 17" (38psi) and the 15" spare at 34. What is the factory recommended pressure for the 16" setup? Thanks

* http://tinyurl.com/4wb3y8dhttp://tinyurl.com/2erm7c3

IIRC, the sticker says 34 lbs for my JSW. I am running them at 36 lbs and have found the treadwear to be uniform across the profile, as compared to the profile of a new tire. This is with the stock Hankook Optimo's that were supplied with the vehicle.

have found the treadwear to be uniform across the profile

Generally I would expect thread wear to be uniform and that is a good sign, but it is not the authoritative answer it once was. First modern belted tyres don't show uneven wear do to air pressure except under extreme conditions. Also even wear is not the goal of modern tyre pressure recommendations. Number one is safety. The OEM recommendation is the result of test under all kinds of road conditions.

That said, I would follow itchytweed's numbers. When in doubt it appears that a few psi high it far better than a few low, unless someone can provide an official recommendation.

Have you checked your owner's manual on the chance it may have recommendations for other than OEM tyres?

Actually, the modern manufacturer recommendation is the result of government mandate which is a result of over-reaction to the Ford Explorer/Firestone issue of a few years ago.

halfast3 said:

We opted for 16" wheels/tires (off a JSW) on our '11 Golf TDI and having driven over 3600 miles back to the northwest from MN in every imaginable type of weather, I have no regrets. The car handled beautifully in snow, monsoon rains, in dry conditions and everything in between. The door jamb sticker just shows recommended pressures for the 17" (38psi) and the 15" spare at 34. What is the factory recommended pressure for the 16" setup? Thanks

Click to expand...

Jetta Sedan (205/55/16) sticker says 35 psi. The tire happens to be a max side wall pressure of 51 psi.

Thanks to all for your replies. The car was delivered with 32psi. I'm running 35 right now so I'm in the ball park.
I can't help but wonder if I wouldn't have better fuel economy on our return trip* if I'd been running the higher pressures...

*http://tinyurl.com/4wb3y8d

halfast3 said:

Thanks to all for your replies. The car was delivered with 32psi. I'm running 35 right now so I'm in the ball park.
I can't help but wonder if I wouldn't have better fuel economy on our return trip if I'd been running the higher pressures...

Click to expand...

Make no mistake, despite overwhelming evidence, it would. I personally use 85% of max side wall pressure as a starting off point, aka baseline. For our cars, the oem uses 44/51 psi max side wall pressure tires. Those numbers translate to 37-38 psi/44 psi, 43-44 psi/51 psi. On an 03 TDI where most have gotten 30-45,000 miles on 3rd rate oem tires, mine got 112,300 miles. Tires were run 38-36 fronts, 38-34 rears. The oem recommendation @ the time was 26 psi. on a 44 psi max side wall pressure tire. I wish I could tell you the ONE magic number, but I can't, without a lot of paragraphs that will probably put most folks to sleep. Sort of like asking the time and getting a description of how to make a clock.

Appreciate that. I ran 34 on our '01 but never got that kind of tire life, more like 40k. That said, we tended to buy tires for their performance and absence of squeal when sideways rather than for longevity.

halfast3 said:

Appreciate that. I ran 34 on our '01 but never got that kind of tire life, more like 40k. That said, we tended to buy tires for their performance and absence of squeal when sideways rather than for longevity.

Click to expand...

Actually the concept works on YZ rated tires also. But that is probably another discussion.

halfast3 said:

... and absence of squeal when sideways rather than for longevity.

Click to expand...

I think Dierks Bentley had something to say about getting "Sideways"...