Tyre Pressure Chart: PSI to Bar and kPa (Cars, Bikes and Cycles)
Air pumps, car manuals and tyre sidewalls don't agree on units. American cars and pumps use psi, European and Indian cars often use bar, and Canadian and Australian ones use kPa. Here is a chart that converts between all three, with figures worked out from the exact definitions (1 bar = 100 kPa; 1 psi = 6.894757 kPa).
PSI, bar and kPa chart
| psi | bar | kPa | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1.38 | 138 | Mountain bike (low) |
| 26 | 1.79 | 179 | Small car, rear |
| 28 | 1.93 | 193 | Hatchback |
| 30 | 2.07 | 207 | Sedan / hatchback |
| 32 | 2.21 | 221 | Typical passenger car |
| 33 | 2.28 | 228 | Sedan, loaded |
| 35 | 2.41 | 241 | SUV / loaded car |
| 36 | 2.48 | 248 | SUV, motorcycle front |
| 40 | 2.76 | 276 | Motorcycle rear, light truck |
| 44 | 3.03 | 303 | Max for many car tyres |
| 60 | 4.14 | 414 | Hybrid bicycle |
| 80 | 5.52 | 552 | Road bicycle (wide tyres) |
| 100 | 6.89 | 689 | Road bicycle |
| 120 | 8.27 | 827 | Narrow road racing tyre |
For any other value, use the psi to bar, bar to psi or psi to kPa converter. Quick mental rule: divide psi by 14.5 to get bar.
Finding your correct pressure
The right pressure for a car is set by the vehicle maker, not the tyre maker. Look for the placard on the driver's door frame, inside the fuel flap or in the owner's manual. It often lists different front and rear pressures, and a higher figure for a full load. The number moulded on the tyre sidewall is the maximum pressure, not the recommended one.
How to check properly
- Check cold — before driving, or after the car has been parked for a few hours. Tyres warm up as you drive and read 2–4 psi higher.
- Check monthly and before long trips. Tyres lose about 1–2 psi a month naturally, and air pressure also drops as the weather cools.
- Under-inflation wears tyre edges, raises fuel use and makes handling worse. Over-inflation wears the centre and reduces grip.
The units explained
- psi — pounds-force per square inch, ≈ 6.895 kPa.
- bar — exactly 100,000 pascals, close to atmospheric pressure at sea level (1 atm = 1.01325 bar).
- kPa — kilopascal, 1,000 pascals; 100 kPa = 1 bar.
Tyre gauges show gauge pressure — the pressure above the surrounding air. A tyre at 32 psi gauge actually holds about 46.7 psi absolute at sea level.