My owner's manual recommends 29 PSI for front tires and 36 PSI for rear tires. On previous cars I've owned the manuals always called for same PSI in both front & rear tires. Why does Subaru call for lower pressure in front tires. I assume there is a good reason but would like to know why ! Hope you guys have patience for a first time Subaru owner who will probably have a lot of dumb questions in the future. I just love my Forester and want to become savy about all the nuts & bolts of it.

My '04 Forester manual says 29/28 for light loads and 29/36 for heavy loads. On my other cars I just did 30 cold all around, as they'll heat up to about 33-34 on a trip. As for light loads or heavy loads how are you supposed to judge that? Are 2 people a light or a heavy load? How about one person, 3 suitcases and 2 ice chests?

My '04 Forester manual says 29/28 for light loads and 29/36 for heavy loads. On my other cars I just did 30 cold all around, as they'll heat up to about 33-34 on a trip. As for light loads or heavy loads how are you supposed to judge that? Are 2 people a light or a heavy load? How about one person, 3 suitcases and 2 ice chests?

I would guess heavy would refer to 4-5 people + full trunk or towing. I has to do with increased load on rear wheels making the rear tires effectivelly smaller rolling diameter, which can be detrimental with AWD.

 

My manual for 00 legacy did not have this info, but I inflate rear to 40 psi when I tow.

Tire pressure is usaully biased a bit in the same manner as the weight distribution of the car. That is, if the weight distribution is 54% front, 46% rear, then they will spec 30 psi front, 28 psi rear (or something like that). The reason is so the tires have the same contact patch size and effective rolling diameter, especially important with AWD cars.

 

Commuter

this isnt a subaru thing at all lots of cars have different psi specs for front/rear. not an awd thing either its just a modern car thing.