Date:         Mon, 1 Aug 2005 12:16:12 -0400
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: Tire pressure question 2
In-Reply-To:  <42EE430E.9070103@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> Over the years the sticker data turned into a bit of a mess since
> VW adjusted the sticker to reflect that tires that actually came
>  on the given year 


We can only guess at why VW changed the recommended inflation levels. I am
not sure that it always had to do with what tires came on the vehicle, as I
believe that there are cases where the OE tire itself was not changed but
the sticker data was. In other cases it occurred during, or shortly after,
significant changes to the vehicle design (such as engine size/weight).  The
changes that VW made may have been the result of test track results,
engineering data, tire manufacturer input, dealer feedback, warranty claim
data, or any of a number of factors. The recommended specifications for a
vehicle are generally based on a good bit of engineering and testing, not
just randomly determined. Similarly, when a manufacturer makes a change to
the specifications on a subsequent year there is usually a solid reason why
they did so; it's not just an "off the cuff" decision. The most conservative
course of action, of course, is stay very close to the tire inflation
specifications that Volkswagen recommended for your vehicle, rather than
second-guessing Volkswagen's engineers based only on wild guesses as to why
they picked the numbers that they did.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT