Tire Pressure Chart: Recommended PSI by Vehicle Type

How the tire pressure chart works

Tire pressure is always quoted cold — before the car has been driven, when the tires are at the outside temperature. The number that matters is the one on the driver’s door-jamb placard, never the maximum printed on the tire sidewall: the sidewall number is the most the tire can safely hold, not the pressure your car was designed for. This chart lists the typical recommended cold pressure for each vehicle type, and the calculator checks your gauge reading against it after correcting for temperature, because pressure falls about 1 PSI for every 10°F the temperature drops.

At the defaults — a midsize sedan, 70°F, gauge reading 33 PSI — the answer is simple: the recommended pressure is 33 PSI (range 32–35 PSI), which is 33 × 6.89476 = 227.5 kPa and 33 × 0.0689476 = 2.28 bar. Because the temperature is already 70°F, the 70°F-equivalent is the reading itself, 33.0 PSI, which sits inside the range, so the status is correct. Change the vehicle, the temperature, or the reading, and the calculator re-runs the whole check.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: vehicle midsize sedan; ambient temperature 70°F; gauge reading 33 PSI.

Line 1 — the recommendation. A midsize sedan takes 33 PSI, range 32–35 PSI.

Line 2 — the kPa conversion. 33 × 6.89476 = 227.5 kPa.

Line 3 — the bar conversion. 33 × 0.0689476 = 2.28 bar.

Line 4 — the temperature correction. 70°F-equivalent = 33 + (70 − 70) / 10 = 33.0 PSI — no correction at 70°F.

Line 5 — the status. 33.0 PSI sits inside 32–35 PSI, so the status is correct, 0 PSI from the recommendation.

Line 6 — the reverse. A gauge reading of 28 PSI at 20°F is 28 + (70 − 20) / 10 = 33.0 PSI at 70°F — the tire is not actually low.

Every branch, checked

20°F, gauge 28 PSI: the 70°F-equivalent is 28 + (70 − 20) / 10 = 33.0 PSI, which is exactly the midsize sedan recommendation. The status is correct — the 5 PSI drop is just the cold, and adding air now would leave the tire overinflated when it warms up.

Pickup loaded, 70°F, gauge 36 PSI: the recommendation is 42 PSI (range 40–45), so a 36 PSI reading is under by 6 PSI. A loaded pickup needs the higher pressure to carry the load; 36 PSI is the light-load number, not the loaded one.

Electric vehicle, 70°F, gauge 40 PSI: the recommendation is 40 PSI (range 36–42), so the reading is correct — 40 × 6.89476 = 275.8 kPa and 40 × 0.0689476 = 2.76 bar. Electric vehicles run higher pressures because their batteries make them heavy.

Motorcycle, 70°F, gauge 30 PSI: the recommendation is 34 PSI, so a 30 PSI reading is under by 4 PSI. On a motorcycle that matters more than in a car, because the contact patch is small and low pressure makes the handling vague.

Reverse — reading 28 PSI at 20°F: the 70°F-equivalent is 28 + 5 = 33.0 PSI. The tire holds the right amount of air for a midsize sedan; the gauge only reads low because cold air takes up less space. Check again when the car has sat at 70°F, or add the correction before deciding.

The temperature effect, and the conversion table

Pressure falls about 1 PSI for every 10°F the temperature drops, measured against a 70°F baseline. At −30°F a tire is about 10 PSI low; at 0°F about 7 PSI low; at 32°F about 4 PSI low; at 100°F it reads about 3 PSI high. That is why a tire that was perfect in October reads low in January: nothing leaked, the air just got cold. The fix is to check pressures when the seasons change, not to chase the gauge every cold morning.

What the defaults assume

Pressures are cold pressures, measured before driving, and the ranges are typical values for each vehicle type — your exact number is on the driver’s door-jamb placard, and the placard always wins over this chart. The temperature correction is a rule of thumb, about 1 PSI per 10°F, not a laboratory measurement: it is accurate enough to decide whether to add air, not to set a race-car pressure. The motorcycle figure is a typical combined front-and-rear value; many bikes run different pressures front and rear, so check the manual or the swingarm sticker. The donut spare at 60 PSI is a temporary spare only, for low speed and short distance. Use the door-jamb placard, never the tire sidewall maximum: the sidewall number is the tire’s safe limit, not your car’s recommendation, and inflating to it makes the ride harsh and the grip worse. Rounding convention: kPa is shown to one decimal and bar to two decimals, computed from unrounded values.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The winter-morning driver: sees 28 PSI on the gauge at 20°F and learns the 70°F-equivalent is 33.0 PSI — so the tire is fine, the cold is doing it, and adding air would overinflate it by spring.
• The pickup owner hauling a load: reads 36 PSI and learns a loaded pickup needs 42 PSI — so the tire is 6 PSI low for the load, and the fix is air before the trip, not after.
• The new EV owner: is surprised by a 40 PSI recommendation and learns it is 275.8 kPa / 2.76 bar for a heavy battery car — so the high number is normal, and the old 32 PSI habit would leave the tires soft.
• The motorcycle rider: reads 30 PSI and learns the bike needs 34 PSI — so 4 PSI low is enough to dull the handling, and a quick top-up before the ride is worth it.

Accuracy & limitations

The conversions are exact: 1 PSI = 6.89476 kPa and 1 PSI = 0.0689476 bar, and the 70°F-equivalent is the gauge reading plus (70 − temperature) / 10. The vehicle ranges are typical values, not your car’s specification: the door-jamb placard gives the exact number for your vehicle and load, and it overrides this chart every time. The temperature rule is approximate — about 1 PSI per 10°F — and the real change depends on the tire volume and the starting pressure. The chart assumes a cold tire: after driving, pressures read 4–6 PSI higher, so never let air out of a warm tire. The motorcycle figure is a typical combined value; check your bike’s own front and rear figures. Use the door-jamb placard, never the tire sidewall maximum.