Tire Pressure 330ci

[ChosenGSR]

The more people I talk to the more opinions I get on this subject. I am still using the stock setup 225F 255R Micheline PS. Some tell me to run equal pressure F/R others tell me to run more upfront to counterpoint the under-steer bias. I usually try to maintain about 39-40PSI at the track, which means bleeding out some air as the day progresses. Thoughts?

[Barry]

The more people I talk to the more opinions I get on this subject. I am still using the stock setup 225F 255R Micheline PS. Some tell me to run equal pressure F/R others tell me to run more upfront to counterpoint the under-steer bias. I usually try to maintain about 39-40PSI at the track, which means bleeding out some air as the day progresses. Thoughts?

I had a 330Ci before the M3 and I ran it at the track.
I set the cold psi's at 35 in front and 42 in the rear and that worked very well.
Barry

[jhm5]

And another view - equal pressure on street - 35 psi, which is an average of what bmw recommends. But on track 38 front, 36 rear cold. Autox - 38 front and 34 rear, remove spare tire to reduce weight - autox - haven't tried that on track.
So - clearly you'll have to experiment.
My guess is 42 rear, previous poster's recommendation, is so high that it reduces traction, just as 34-36 rear does relative to front... so either setup might work to reduce the car's natural understeer.
Maintaining 40 psi hot is probably ok for front, but you'll want something different at the rear - i say 2 psi or so less.

[Pinecone]

You are either running too much pressure on the track or too little for autocross.

If you run 38 cold and get 40 hot, you are not driving very hard.

True street tires need a lot more pressure than you think. As do Hoosier A tires. I run 51 front (bleed to maintain) and about 44 rear on the LTW for autocross with A3S04s.

On the other hand, the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups on the M3 on the track, I look for about 34 - 36 hot pressure. But they are known to run lower pressures.

The Gooyear race tires on the SRF we shoot for 31 psi all around when hot off the track. The Yoke A048s ran a big higher IIRC.

[jhm5]

now chosen gsr is really confused...

clarifying my post -- run 2 to 4 pounds less in rear, compared to front.
i run 38 psi cold front (which gains 4-8 psi hot track), 2 pounds less rear track (4-5 psi less rear autox)

if the original poster is trying to maintain 40 hot, that probably is a bit low, but my bottom line message is, run less rear, not more than the front, to help a relatively stock bmw turn in.

[dderr]

I'll second John's suggestion (although you need to change your moniker to jhxm5). I speak from my experience (I've driven a couple of tracks and autocrossed a couple of times so I'm an expert!)
For virtually all track and autocross applications, most, if not all, BMWs should run more pressure in the front tires, generally four to six psi. Why? Well, for starters, the fronts are seeing a much, much higher loading than the rears--ignore that 50-50 weight distribution stuff--especially when you're trying to make the car go against Newtonian physics just because you want to hit the apex at turn one. You have a few hundred pounds of iron up there, the whole cars weight is most likely still biased to the front from all of the braking you just--hopefully--did, and now you want to make this right (or left) turn. The back tires (for most students under normal conditions) are just following along and aren't getting half the load, probably. Why does BMWs legal department set the recommended pressures so that there's more pressure in the back? So that the car will understeer (or puuush, as they say from VA on down) Maybe the same rationale for the wider tires and wheels in back. But you've had high quality driver education, you know better than some suit and tie...
Keep in mind that the purpose of the added air is to stiffen up the tires' sidewalls and thus keep the tread in better contact with the pavement. But also bear in mind that there can be too much of a good thing--too much air can reduce your tire's contact patch by causing the center of the tread to bow out (centrifugal force and all) and reducing grip on the sides.
So, go with this: For the street, two pounds more in front (I run 33F/31R) the range depending on road conditions--it'd be dumb to run 36/34 on DC streets, you'd shake the car apart. For the track, there are of course some variables, but at least 4-6 psi more in the fronts is appropriate and the primary variable being track layout. A tight-turned track like Jefferson or Shenandoah (Turns 5-8, Turn 14), or an autocross loads the front tires a lot more so add 6-7 psi (40F/34R) as opposed to a less severe track like Watkins Glen or Road Atlanta where 38F/34R would/might be more appropriate. These are all COLD pressures. I generally ignore hot pressure readings as they can be misleading. High (hot) readings up front usually are indicative of tire overload. Try slowing a little more before turn in or turn in more progressively--turning slightly earlier but more softly and progeressively increasing the turn-in as you go deeper into the turn. Or both. Accelerating at turn-in, which is the proper and correct procedure, also greatly reduces the loading on the front tires and distributes it more evenly between front and back (remember that from the classroom?). Ride with your Instructor and have her/him point it out.
Other variables to consider are tire and wheel width (a wide tire on a narrow rim needs more air to stiffen up a more bowed sidewall. Conversely, a narrow(er) tire on a wide rim has relatively straighter, and stiffer, sidewalls and needs less stiffening), tire construction (the old BFG R1s had very stiff sidewalls and thus called for much lower pressures whereas the Toyo RA1 has relatively soft sidewalls and therefore you need more air (relative to the R1)), suspension set-up (a neutral steering set-up would reduce the load on the front (loaded) tire at turn-in), and ambient temperature (if it's gonna be a hundred degrees that day you'll find that you'll need a pound or two (or three or four) less. And don't forget the aforementioned driving technique--throwing a car into a turn really eats up tires.

All said, air pressure is the cheapest (free or at most 25 cents--50 cents if you are slow) and maybe most noticable performance upgrade available...

[ChosenGSR]

So looks like the consensus is to have more pressure in the fronts to reduce under-steer. Although from the post above I am not entirely sure why one wouldn't worry about the hot temperature and only the cold. I was under the impression that I should be bleeding the pressure between runs to try and keep equal pressure left to right etc. Maybe I simply misunderstood that point. I am not sure why I would "adjust" my driving style on the track to not overheat the fronts or certain tires. From what I was told it's absolutely normal for certain tires to experience more loads due to the layout of the track. For example a track with a lot of hard left turns will increase the pressure unproportionally on the front right for example. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Scotty]

Why don't you just measure your tire temperatures after the first few runs and see where they're at? Then you something measurable to base your changes on.

[ChosenGSR]

Why don't you just measure your tire temperatures after the first few runs and see where they're at? Then you something measurable to base your changes on.

That's exactly what I do, I check/bleed after each run. It's just confusing because there isn't much consensus on this subject. I suppose I'll keep on running front pressure bias, keeping the fronts at about 42 degrees hot and perhaps 37 or so on the rears.

[jhm5]

For purposes of a driving school or autox, i agree with dderr it's easiest to use cold pressures. Keep it simple. Try 38 or 40psi front and 2 or 4 psi less in rear as a baseline. See how the car feels. If the tail is too happy, perhaps add a couple psi to rear. If it understeers too much, drop 2 psi rear (and/or improve your turn in style).
Hot pressures will vary depending on the track. Summit Point is mostly right turns. The left front gets most of the stress and it will be the hottest tire, therefore the highest hot pressure. Dealing with hot pressures is more complicated.
But by all means, check pressures periodically during an HPDE, to make sure you're not getting a flat, which makes the driving experience very interesting.

[Rafgar]

Alex,

John and Dwight are essentially correct. Keep the fronts at least 2 psi higher than the rears.

Keep in mind that during an autox run, your tires will not get very hot (as compared to driving on the track). This means that you start with higher pressures than you would use at the track.

On a stock 330 with street tires and in nice dry conditions, I would start with 42 front and 40 rear and then bleed down if necessary. Remember that you need to brake for the turns (don't over drive the car) and that you need to be as smooth as possible with your inputs).

[ChosenGSR]

Thanks everyone. Rafael, if I start with 42 upfront (essentially cold) it almost seems like I might be approaching 50s by the end of the first 20-30 min session. Is that safe on street tires?

[dderr]

42psi front would be acceptible at a tight auto-x and maybe at the Jefferson circuit but I still think 39psi (40psi tops) is more appropriate for front cold pressures. At the rear, 40psi is way too much, in my experience, even for an auto-x; 34 at the track, maybe 36 at an auto-x, split the defference for the Jeff. Look at the front tires after a track session and determine how far the wear goes up the sidewall. You can look at the rears also but you won't see any wear beyond the tread corners (you wouldn't see any wear even if the pressures were only 25psi!). You could blow away your money on a pyrometer but those readings might only be indicative of the last turn or two before you dove into the pits and before you frantically rushed to get out and make the tread temp measurements--your cool down laps will cool down the tires, too, you know. I, personally, am not too concerned about hot temp readings of >50psi (I think once I measured a hot tire reading of 65psi, dropped that pressure three psi and the next session the car turned in like a pig--even though it is a pig--and I wiped the corner off of the tire almost to the cord). Your tires can handle the pressure. And if indeed you are overloading the front tires by trying to muscle the car into a turn then your driving technique needs to be tweaked--you'll wind up going faster and saving money spent on tires.

[Rafgar]

Thanks everyone. Rafael, if I start with 42 upfront (essentially cold) it almost seems like I might be approaching 50s by the end of the first 20-30 min session. Is that safe on street tires?

Alex,

Yes, you are correct. My comment on starting with 42 was for an autox.

For track sessions, as mentioned by Dwight, the starting pressure depends on the track and conditions. You probably want to start around 40 front and at most 38 rear - then check the pressures after each session to balance the car (side to side as well as front to back).

The comments on using cold pressures as your starting point was to make it easier to gauge.

The best way to make sure that you have optimum tire pressures is to use a temperature gauge not a pressure gauge.

[Barry]

Alex,
For track sessions, as mentioned by Dwight, the starting pressure depends on the track and conditions. You probably want to start around 40 front and at most 38 rear - then check the pressures after each session to balance the car (side to side as well as front to back).
The comments on using cold pressures as your starting point was to make it easier to gauge.
The best way to make sure that you have optimum tire pressures is to use a temperature gauge not a pressure gauge.

The set up for Autocross is different than the set up for HPDE's. When I autocrossed I ran more psi in front because you just needed to stiffen up those sidewalls. But in my 330Ci, for the track, I experimented and found that the 35F and 42R worked really well on the Summit Point main track.
Barry