I have a 2006 A8L with factory Pirelli all season tireson 19 inch rims. Has anyone played with finding the optimal tire pressure for good handling? The car placard recommends 38psi front and 36 psi rear, but on my previous 1998 BMW 7 series I found the generic dealer recommendations not to be particularly accurate. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

I also have a 06 with 19s. I've been dring this car with 33 psi for quite a while. And after last service, the dealer put it back to 38psi all around. Now the car feels lighter, almost "jumpy" at higher speed, causing me to lift my right foot from time to time. It could be fun, but not as "planted" as before. I don't know if this helps, but that's my impression of driving with different tire pressure.

 

I always set the 04 and newer A8 tire pressures to 40 psi all the way around and 35 psi all the way around for older body A8 models.
The reason i use 40 psi in 04 and newer A8 is due to the weight of the vehicle, low profile tires, picky tire pressure monitoring, and for the long life of the tire. But even then don't expect to get more than 25k out of a set on an A8 [sm=nonono.gif]

 

So Franzm - what pressure did you finally settle on? (and why had you originally set the tires so low vs the manufacturer's recommendation.)

Auditech79 - why the symetrical inflation all the way around vs Audi's recommendation of higher in the front vs the rear.Is your setting higher than Audi's just because the tires are low profile, ordo you find you get better handling regardless of the tire?