# Tire Pressure (ECO Cruze)



## allezCruze (May 22, 2012)

The manual states 35PSI for the Goodyear Assurance tires on the Cruze. Can you safely run 40PSI without compromising tire wear?


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

40 PSI is about the sweet spot IMO for these tires. I've been running 41 PSI front and 39 PSI rear with dead even wear. 

Watch out in the wet, as the OEM Goodyear Fuel Max tires are miserable in wet weather. Dry grip is excellent, though.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I've been running 50 psi since 1500 miles. Currently at 6,800. I have a thread on this topic as well as a thread to track my tire wear at max sidewall pressure. Next rotation and tread depth measurement is at 7,000 miles. Stay tuned...

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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I have run my radial tires at 5 PSI over the door placard for over 20 years with no wear problems relating to the tire pressure. I've had wear problems due to alignment issues, but not wear. In addition, I haven't seen any noticable degradation in traction as a result. I do routinely get better mileage from my tires than the treadwear "warranty". There are many people like XtremeRevolution who run their tires at the sidewall max pressure. It appears this is how you can get the best mpg and tire life out of the tires, but at the expense of ride quality.

I disagree with sciphi that the Goodyear Assurance FuelMax tires aren't good in wet/snow. I have had no problems with them gripping. This isn't to say that they don't lose traction in poor conditions, just that I expect traction loss and compensate for it before it becomes an issue. Actually, these are the second best OEM tires I have ever driven. The best OEM tires I had were the run-flats that were on my Montana.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

obermd said:


> I disagree with sciphi that the Goodyear Assurance FuelMax tires aren't good in wet/snow. I have had no problems with them gripping. This isn't to say that they don't lose traction in poor conditions, just that I expect traction loss and compensate for it before it becomes an issue. Actually, these are the second best OEM tires I have ever driven. The best OEM tires I had were the run-flats that were on my Montana.


At least with the roads and heavy/wet snow we get around here, they do not work well at all in inclement weather in my area. I've had other tires do much better in the wet and snow than these tires. The wet grip is so miserable on my area's roads I'm praying these wear out soon to be replaced with tires with better wet grip.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

sciphi said:


> At least with the roads and heavy/wet snow we get around here, they do not work well at all in inclement weather in my area. I've had other tires do much better in the wet and snow than these tires. The wet grip is so miserable on my area's roads I'm praying these wear out soon to be replaced with tires with better wet grip.


We tend to get either slush or dry snow in Denver. The southern tier of NY gets wet snow. The ECO is heavy enough to plow through the slush and usually keep the tires on the underlying pavement. Dry snow and wet snow definitely have different driving characteristics which is probably why the two of us have had different experiences in snow with the same tires.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Agreed, the different roads and different weather likely are why you're happy and I'm not as happy with these tires. 

Ober, are your tires the H speed rating Fuel Max tires or the V speed rating version? I have the V speed rated version.


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## toilet_monkey (Nov 30, 2011)

I routinely run my Eco's tires at 36-37 cold. During driving, tire pressure rises to about 39-41 according to the TPMS. On a recent 860 mile road trip, I got just above 50mpg average while cruising at 65mph (average speed was actually about 60 mph if you count stops/slowdowns). That is just totally awesome.

I have to agree with the folks who say that these tires are bad in anything but dry STRAIGHT line driving. I've had several incidents in light snow (the car slides easily, even at slow speeds), and I've heard squealing tire noise around turns. By the way... I consider myself a very conservative driver.


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## Vetterin (Mar 27, 2011)

40-45 seems to be a pretty good number for the Eco. I keep mine at 40 which still gives a somewhat comfortable ride.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Agreed, the different roads and different weather likely are why you're happy and I'm not as happy with these tires.
> 
> Ober, are your tires the H speed rating Fuel Max tires or the V speed rating version? I have the V speed rated version.


94V. Given Road & Track actually had a Cruze ECO MT at 132 mph, I would hope that Chevy has been putting the V speed rated tires on since that test was done. The 94 is the load rating when correctly inflated. 94 equates to 1477 lbs per tire. The Cruze is 3000 lbs (give or take), which means the gross vehicle capacity is governed by the suspension, not the tires.

Also, at my 6000 mile oil change the left front tire had 8/32s of tread left using a mechanical tread depth guage. For the first 5,000 miles this tire had been on the right rear. Discount Tires in Denver rotate front to straight back and rear crossover to opposite front.

When I replace these tires I will most likely go with the Bridgestone LRR tires (whatever they are at the time) because I have found over time that Bridgestone makes about the best all season radial. My last set of Goodyears were Eagle GTs on my Fiero GT and they would lose traction with a single drop of water or grain of sand on the road.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

obermd said:


> 94V. Given Road & Track actually had a Cruze ECO MT at 132 mph, I would hope that Chevy has been putting the V speed rated tires on since that test was done. The 94 is the load rating when correctly inflated. 94 equates to 1477 lbs per tire. The Cruze is 3000 lbs (give or take), which means the gross vehicle capacity is governed by the suspension, not the tires.
> 
> Also, at my 6000 mile oil change the left front tire had 8/32s of tread left using a mechanical tread depth guage. For the first 5,000 miles this tire had been on the right rear. Discount Tires in Denver rotate front to straight back and rear crossover to opposite front.
> 
> When I replace these tires I will most likely go with the Bridgestone LRR tires (whatever they are at the time) because I have found over time that Bridgestone makes about the best all season radial. My last set of Goodyears were Eagle GTs on my Fiero GT and they would lose traction with a single drop of water or grain of sand on the road.


Mechanical tire depth gauges aren't very good. The digital one I've been using showed that the car came with 7/32" when it was new.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The 2011 Eco's came with H rated tires. Kinda scary considering how easily the Eco MT can get above 118 mph. 

For those complaining about traction in turns, try bumping the pressure up to 40 PSI. It handles very nicely in the dry then.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Mechanical tire depth gauges aren't very good. The digital one I've been using showed that the car came with 7/32" when it was new.


That's why I specified it was a mechanical guage. I suspected it wasn't all that accurate.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

obermd said:


> That's why I specified it was a mechanical guage. I suspected it wasn't all that accurate.


Gotcha. I totally didn't pick up on the reason lol. Brain fart.

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## SlvrECObullet (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm running about 49 psi cold in my tires I will say the higher you go the more comfortablity you will sacrafice, so it depends on what you feel comfortable running your tires at. I get great stability in my car as long as its not raining, but of course it doesn't rain a hole lot in SoCal so theres tons of oils and **** on the ground that come out when it rains, plus I used to drive a truck that I felt was a beast in the rain.... I still haven't gotten use to a compact car when it rains.


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## rfruth (Dec 1, 2012)

How accurate is the TPMS (if it shows 40 PSI in each what would a good tire gauge show) ?


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

My TPMS is about two PSI low when compared to the pump at the Discount Tire I go to. I have them set my tires at 45 PSI based on the TPMS in my car, giving me about 47 PSI.


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