2012 Camry LE recommended Tire pressure seems too high

techman41973

I often rent a 2012 Toyota Camry LE when I fly to other cities.
When I pick up a Camry from the airport they always fill the tires under 30psi (cold), yet the ride and handling seems ok.

I looked in the door jamb and noticed the recommended tire pressure is 35psi (cold). When I fill the tires to this pressure, the ride is always busy on the freeway and hard in city driving (unlike what a Camry LE should be). I'm using a quality guage to measure inflation.

Just wondering if others noticed the same issue.

capriracer

The load carrying capacity of a tire is directly related to inflation pressure. Reducing the inflation pressure increases the risk of a tire failure.

The vehicle tire placard is required by law and given recent events, what is imprinted there is carefully considered.

I'm going to suggest that your second guessing the vehicle manufacturer on tire pressure is a lot like Russian Roulette.

mcdawgg

The interesting thing about the Camry is look at the 2007 pressure for the 4 cylinder. I think it was either 30 or 32 psi. In 2010, it went to 34 psi. What changed from 2007 to 2010? Not much. The engine and tranny are different (I4 went from the old 2.4L to the 2.5L, and 5 speed AT/MT to 6 speed AT/MT. But not much else. I am wondering if it was just to get a bit more mpg??

capriracer

Let's see. They went to a bigger engine and a trans with more gears ..... Sounds like more weight to me. Ergo, more pressure to hold up the additional weight.

mcdawgg

very minimal weight increase. A 2.4 vs. 2.5 - negligible. Same for 5 speed vs. 6 speed. I'll have to do more research on this when I have a few minutes.

chunt5

The higher tire pressure is all about MPG. Toyota is trying to squeeze out ever bit they can. I dropped the tire pressure on my 2012 Camry LE from 35 to 33 and the ride improved. I still get great gas mileage.

richbf2

Yes, I agree with chunt5's post. I have an 12 LE and my tire pressure now is around 35psi. The ride is still very smooth and more composed ride on freeway.
Now, from 2012 to later model, I have noticed Toyota engineer to allow the car to coast much more than older model. So if you guys keep tire pressure at 40 or 45psi with low resistance rolling tires, it is very dangerous and very likely you will "kiss" :@ someone's rear end pretty soon.

capriracer

A couple of thoughts:

Every vehicle sold in the US has a vehicle tire placard that lists the original tire size and the proper pressure for that size. Starting in 2008, the vehicle tire placard will be on the driver's door frame.

According to Tire Guides, the vehicle tire placard for a 2012 Camry ought to say ..... ah ..... well, it varies so, you'll have to look.

DO NOT ASSUME the vehicle dealer or the tire dealer is going to set the pressures correctly.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd rather have a tire that was 2 lbs over than 2 lbs under.

VHY1933

I also