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P85D 19" tire pressure recommendation is now 50psi
- Thread starter commasign
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Replace all stickers on the car with e-paper displays and update them via OTA firmware upgrades.
I was thinking more along the lines of e-mail, but your idea could work too.
gg_got_a_tesla
Model S: VIN 65513, Model 3: VIN 1913
Old-fashioned stickers can have a caveat and make a reference to some part of the touchscreen menus where all such recommendations can be placed and kept upto date via updates.
breser
AutoPilot Nostradamus
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
I just read through the thread you linked to again. I wouldn't say "we've been over this before" based on anything in that thread.
In that thread you said that you thought that Tesla had switched from recommending 50 psi to recommending 45 psi, based on the fact that your early-build 85D had a sticker that recommended 50 psi, and Nevek had an April build with a sticker that recommended 45 psi. But that was the only evidence pointing to a switch back. There were no statements from Tesla or anything. And at the same time that Nevek's car was being built, the "official" chart was being posted, with the 50 psi numbers, here: P85D 19 tire pressure recommendation is now 50psi - Page 5
I think it is very likely that Tesla has now changed the recommendation back, but I don't think they made the change in time for Nevek's April build sticker. If they did, why would the service centers only be mentioning it now, and only be inflating tires to 45 psi as of the last few days? When my car was serviced in very late April, the SC inflated to 48 psi. I'm sure others, until very recently, were seeing similar behavior.
I think if Tesla has switched the recommendation back to 45 from 50, that change happened in the last couple of weeks, at the earliest, not back in late March or early April.
Brett
Member
My P85D 19" was in for tire rotation last week and the service tech notes stated air pressure was set to 45psi.
breser
AutoPilot Nostradamus
There was most definitely a statement from Tesla in that thread. I copied and pasted from the email from them here:
Tire Pressure on 19 Wheels - Page 2
Quoting again here for the lazy:
The only people that are saying if their door placards say 45 or 50 on this thread are sorka (who says his new P85D says 50 psi but doesn't say the build date, isn't on any of the spreadsheets and doesn't appear to have posted when he received his vehicle, but has a join date in Feb 2015, which is right around when we know they were putting 50 psi labels on the door because that's when mine was built), thimel (March P85D with 50psi), and then Duma (April 85D with 45psi).
Then you have comasign saying that the recommendation has been changed back and despite asking for a new 50 psi sticker he has never received it.
So the only thing you really have going for this theory that they've changed it back is that comasign was told 50 psi, even though a month later he posts and says they changed their mind and a copy from a possibly outdated service manual.
But to add one more fact that you don't know is I had my tires rotated in April and despite saying they'd set them to 50 psi for me they set them to 45 psi again. Now I did take the car to a different service center, since the Seattle one is 3 blocks from my office. But I suspect they've settled back on 45 psi. It's just more consistent with the evidence we actually have, including actual statements from Tesla.
The reason there is conflicting information is that every tire pressure recommendation is based on a set of assumptions. They aren't something that's set in stone, nor are they a maximum (as some seem to believe). It's really up to the driver to examine the tires and adjust the pressure accordingly. The vehicle placard number gives a reasonable starting point, and generally you shouldn't ever go below this value (although there are rare exceptions).
Andyw2100
Well-Known Member
Yes, I had read that. I guess I was discounting that, because it was so wishy-washy, saying "both are acceptable", as opposed to the chart and the door stickers that clearly indicate one recommendation.
I think you may have misunderstood me. I don't think Tesla changed the recommendation back to 50psi. I'm pretty sure you and I agree that at one point, originally, the recommendation was 45 psi, at some point Tesla changed it to 50psi, and then later changed it back to 45psi, where it is now. Where we disagree is you believe the change back to 45psi happened quite a while ago, and I'm thinking that it happened more recently than that. You may well be right.
The one thing that I think we can probably all agree on is that we shouldn't be having to try to read the tea leaves on this stuff. As Jerry33 points out:
There's no reason we should have to be guessing at what Tesla is saying their current recommendation is. And more importantly, we should know the reasons behind the change when they make a change, so we can decide whether or not that's something we want to adjust for. For example, if Tesla increased the recommended pressure from 45psi to 50psi solely because it made the car handle better at 100MPH-plus, and no other reason, I'd leave my tire pressures set to 45psi, as I do not drive at 100MPH-plus. On the other hand, if the reason Tesla changed the recommended pressure was due to premature tire-wear, I probably would want to avoid that, and go with the new, 50 psi recommendation (at the time it was made--I agree that Tesla is recommending 45psi currently.) If, to give a third example, the only reason they had been suggesting the change was to improve range, I might choose to think about making the change myself, or I might choose to try to evaluate the benefit of the increased efficiency as compared to the cost of the harsher ride. But at least I would have the information to make an informed decision.
The way it stands now we are reasonably certain Tesla's recommendation has changed from 45psi to 50psi and back to 45psi, and we don't know the reasons behind either of the changes, so we can't make good decisions for ourselves, based on knowing how we drive, combined with whatever additional knowledge Tesla had been incorporating.
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If I objected to the stiff ride I'd drop the TP to 40 or so, regardless of recommendations. That would certainly increase rolling resistance, thus reduce range, and might well increase tire wear also, not to mention some loss of handling precision and less extreme high speed capability. But, none of those factors are likely to destroy anything, and reduced TP will certainly improve the ride. Still, most of us probably chose the 19" option because of increased comfort, durability, reduced range and less road hazard risk. Some of us may have made the choice because it was cheaper. Personally I detest very low profile tires for road use, mostly because of horrible wear and road hazard risk.
As it happens I like the stiff ride so I want to change nothing. Mine came with 45 psi and so it shall remain.
As several people imply, TP is an art balancing competing objectives. However one decides to set TP, one also needs to understand the implications of the decision.
Were I driving in Germany or even the rest of Europe with 130kph common speed limits and well maintained trunk roads I'd certainly set around 50psi or so. The slow speeds and inconsistent road conditions in much of the US make me choose lower TP where my car lives.
FWIW, for some years I had nearly identical BMW's in Southern France and the Western US. I used lower TP's in the US than in France for the reasons above, and was happy both ways. As with all recommendations one size does not fit all!
As it happens I like the stiff ride so I want to change nothing. Mine came with 45 psi and so it shall remain.
As several people imply, TP is an art balancing competing objectives. However one decides to set TP, one also needs to understand the implications of the decision.
Were I driving in Germany or even the rest of Europe with 130kph common speed limits and well maintained trunk roads I'd certainly set around 50psi or so. The slow speeds and inconsistent road conditions in much of the US make me choose lower TP where my car lives.
FWIW, for some years I had nearly identical BMW's in Southern France and the Western US. I used lower TP's in the US than in France for the reasons above, and was happy both ways. As with all recommendations one size does not fit all!
breser
AutoPilot Nostradamus
Yes I misunderstood you. I'm not sure when they changed the placards back but my guess would be April. But I'd guess they were already in the process of having this debate internally when I asked all the way back early March.
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