[BobU]

Many of you may know that the sticker inside the door on tire pressure is most usually assuming 4 passengers and a full load in the luggage area. The Taos says 41. Mine was delivered with 44.5 all around.. Neither number is likely the sweet spot for tire wear and handling.

With my Audi Q3, which had recommended 44 front and 39 rear, I found after a good bit of trial and error that 36-37 was the sweet spot. At 30K miles still had about half tread left and held cornering well.

What have you found with your Taos?

 

[SomeDude]

It will depend on wheel and tire combo. My sticker says 36. I typically inflate cold pressure to +1 of door sticker on every car I have ever had. No issues with tire wear and I can squeeze 38 MPG out of my GTIs that are rated at 30.

 

[derekdal]

yup its is model dependent FWD/AWD and tire size. mine says 45 I think

 

[BobU]

Interesting. Mine AWD SEL. Will have to double check to be sure. Appreciate the discussion.

 

[The Smurf]

Pressures for me are owner specific. If you want to run lower do it. Tires have a min and max pressure. Experiment with what works best and go from there . TPMS can be set at whatever pressure you set it at 😀

 

[k.aoi]

I believe mine (FWD) is rated for 36. I'm also pretty annoyed that VW doesn't actually display individual tire pressures in the MMI or cluster. Even the Kia Forte can do that.

 

[SomeDude]

I believe mine (FWD) is rated for 36. I'm also pretty annoyed that VW doesn't actually display individual tire pressures in the MMI or cluster. Even the Kia Forte can do that.

Indirect versus direct TPMS. I prefer indirect.

 

[k.aoi]

Indirect versus direct TPMS. I prefer indirect.

When it tells you individual pressure for each tire it is easy to tell when/if the light comes on if it's ALL tires are low because of temp etc, or if one specific tire is low because it has a leak. When it just comes on with a warning light and nothing else that's pretty unhelpful since all it tells you is you need to check all tires manually. Far less useful and convenient.

 

[CRVW]

When it tells you individual pressure for each tire it is easy to tell when/if the light comes on if it's ALL tires are low because of temp etc, or if one specific tire is low because it has a leak. When it just comes on with a warning light and nothing else that's pretty unhelpful since all it tells you is you need to check all tires manually. Far less useful and convenient.

I remember one of the cars saying which tire it thought was low - "Check right rear tire pressure" or something, as well as the warning indicator. May have been the Q3. Maybe the Taos would do that too...
The big benefit of the "compare the speed of each wheel" method vs the in-wheel sensor is being able to throw on a set of winter rims and tires, reset the TPMS, and you're done. No messing around with having to dismount/mount tires to move the sensors or trying to get a second (expensive) set of sensors to work.

 

[BobU]

My Q3 did do that.

And yes, my AWD SEL is 41. I do think that is higher than optimum. Likely will be spring before I do tests and decide.

 

[SomeDude]

When it tells you individual pressure for each tire it is easy to tell when/if the light comes on if it's ALL tires are low because of temp etc, or if one specific tire is low because it has a leak. When it just comes on with a warning light and nothing else that's pretty unhelpful since all it tells you is you need to check all tires manually. Far less useful and convenient.

I will admit, I haven't had it come on in the Taos, but like CRVW said, all my VWs since 2013MY and up have said which tire was low. I'd be very surprised if this one is different.

 

[dman71]

I will admit, I haven't had it come on in the Taos, but like CRVW said, all my VWs since 2013MY and up have said which tire was low. I'd be very surprised if this one is different.

I don't believe the FWD SE shows individual pressures, at least mine doesn't. Maybe on the SEL or higher? IDK

 

[CRVW]

I don't believe the FWD SE shows individual pressures, at least mine doesn't. Maybe on the SEL or higher? IDK

It can't show actual tire pressures as there is no pressure sensor inside the tire, but it can tell you which tire is low (which wheel is rotating faster than the others).

 

[CorradoG60]

To show individual pressures require an expensive system to relay that to the computer. The TAOS doesn’t have that. Most modern non-luxury brands use a system that calculates if the tires are low via driving data. It’s why you must reset the pressure calculator screen when you refill the tires.

 

[S_B]

I believe mine (FWD) is rated for 36. I'm also pretty annoyed that VW doesn't actually display individual tire pressures in the MMI or cluster. Even the Kia Forte can do that.

For me that's a strike.

 

[CorradoG60]

The Taos is not a true off roader but if it says 41 it must be for the load rating of the XL tires for use in all conditions, since if they were SL tires they would max out at 36.

if not offroading or carrying a full load, even 36 psi would still give more than enough load for normal highway use. You might see a slight drop in economy, but maybe not, and the ride would be smoother.

For me that's a strike.

It’s expensive down the road to repair and may not be accurate anyway.

 

[k.aoi]

To show individual pressures require an expensive system to relay that to the computer. The TAOS doesn’t have that. Most modern non-luxury brands use a system that calculates if the tires are low via driving data. It’s why you must reset the pressure calculator screen when you refill the tires.

My previous car was a 21 Kia Forte and it had the ability to do this, so I was surprised a much more expensive VW doesn't.

 

[CorradoG60]

I don't believe the FWD SE shows individual pressures, at least mine doesn't. Maybe on the SEL or higher? IDK

I don’t know if any VWs do in the USA. My Touareg did and didn’t require you to reset the tire pressure screen when adjusted as it knew already, but none of the other VWs we’ve owned have.

 

[SomeDude]

I don’t know if any VWs do in the USA. My Touareg did and didn’t require you to reset the tire pressure screen when adjusted as it knew already, but none of the other VWs we’ve owned have.

MK5 Golf chassis and B6 passats had in wheel sensors for individual display. Not surprised the Touareg did as well.

 

[CRVW]

The in wheel sensors largely disappeared with the advent of anti-lock brakes. Some smart engineer figured out that you could use the ABS wheel speed sensors instead and save some cost on hardware.
Personally, for reasons I already listed above, I much prefer the system the Taos has.