Originally Posted By: Jeanette_Isabelle
Keeping tires at the maximum pressure prolongs the life of the tire and improves road handling.


No, it does not. The tire pressure listed on the tire itself is the maximum pressure that tire is rated for. Keeping the pressure at the maximum may accelerate wear as the tire isn't in the correct shape for that vehicle and the contact patch size will be reduced. Reducing the size of the contact patch will also negatively affect handling.

Sometimes, for short periods, it makes sense to underinflate a tire, so as to increase the size of the contact patch and get unstuck (but only to reinflate them to the correct pressure again immediately). I'm not aware of any time where it makes sense to overinflate a tire.