Tyre pressures?

[petestubbs]

Hi,

I recently found a nail in my rear tyre and had it repaired.

Unfortunately the 'quickfit' garage I went to did not have Lotus on their air pressure charts so the mechanic guessed the pressure.
When I got home I looked the pressures up in the handbook and it states that all tyres should be 1.8 bar or 26.5 ib/in2.

Well it actualy states;
Standard - N.A. 2.2 BAR
Turbo 1.8 BAR

But as my car is a turbo I read that to be 1.8 BAR.

However, when I checked the tyres - the remainding 3 (that had not been repaired) were at 2.20 bar!

Can anyone advice me what pressure I should be running them at please?

I have let them down to 1.8 BAR and the car seems to handle a bit better but 1.8 seems awful low to me.

The tyres fitted to the vehicle are Goodyear Eagle Touring on the front and Avon on the rear. Both are 205/50R15

If anyone could assist with some advice on what pressures that I should be running on I would be most grateful.

Many thanks in advance

Pete.

[Rambo]

I run at 27 psi all round - Goodyear Eagle F1's at the back and brand new Yoko's on the front. No problems with that psi although the tyres always look like they should have a bit more air in them.

[Dave M]

While the tire pressure you run depends on a number of things like how you drive, the weight you carry, and the comfort level you want, I'd check the rating on the tire first. For everyday driving, I usually run my tires 4-5 psi under the max rating (for all my vehicles). It's a little stiff for the street, but it's a tradeoff I don't mind. Find something you're comfortable with, then just watch how the tire wears.

[rip]

Remember that the Elan is a light car, so pressures need to be less to produce the same contact area than for a heavier car.

My first car was a 1982 1.3 Astra, so it did not have any of the heavy rubbish like Air Con, Door bars, PAS which are found on modern cars. Recommended pressures were 24 PSI all round for up to 3 passengers, which is 2.5 PSI lower than the Elan.

I thought 26.5 PSI was quite hard.