Tire Talk: Obama's Gas-Saving Strategy Will Cause People to Overinflate Their Tires if They Aren't Careful

I've been listening to the current political chatter about inflating our tires to save on gas; some people are going to inflate their tires to the maximum limit and have blowouts. Obama's making an error.

According to those in the know, he needs to add a disclaimer to his "advice" for saving fuel that the PSI printed on the side of the tire means that's the tire's maximum rating when the tires are hot. Air pressure increases as the tire heats up, so the secret is to inflate the tires to under the limit so that when the tire gets hot it doesn't go over the printed limit.

I'm no mechanic, but I've read enough to know that cold weather will drop the air pressure in tires, so more air might need to be added during winter months; in hot weather, the PSI will increase due to the heat so less air is needed.

It's amazing what becomes politicized in an election year. Tire pressure of all things...