42 front and back partial load is silly. Read comments about load
capacity at psi and weight of car. It is your car and you can do what
you want but generally comfort, handling and tire life have an optimum
pressure. Sometimes those three variables don to intersect at the same
values but usually they are not way far away from each other.

Last time I read this debate a driving instructor from Road Atlanta
weighed in with some comments. I don't think I saved his posts but he
was not recommending this silly inflate to the maximum or close to the
maximum for a variety of reasons. One is the handling gets messed up
with overinflated tires. An overinflated tire will skip over bumps
more than a properly inflated tire. Skipping about is a loss of
traction which is not good in panic and threshold situations.

Here is one educated drivers observations> Note that the correct
pressure for autocrossing is not the correct pressure for regular
driving.

Quote

Sounds like some lawyers got involved somewhere. Let me explain.

Some years back, I used to autocross a Honda CRX on street tires. One
of the things I was taught was to mark the tires with white shoe
polish at the outside corners. Basically, you make a stripe from about
1 inch in on the tread surface, wrap around the edge of the tire, and
end about 1 inch up the treadwall. Make a run, look at your marks,
then adjust the tire pressure as needed. You where looking for a clean
break right at the edge of the tread, which resulted in optimal grip.
Running at street pressures typically scuffed the mark right on up the
sidewall. Even with high performance 175/60-15 (running stock class)
tires, I was running around 48PSI in the fronts and 40PSI in the
rears. Every car there with a front weight bias, just like any modern
water pumper VW, ran higher, NOT lower pressures in the front.

Lower pressures in the front cause the car to understeer when going
into a corner too hot. In other words, the car tends to just plow on
straight while you attempt to turn. Typically, this is considered
safer than oversteering, for the inexperienced driver. Hence my lawyer
comment.  A properly setup front wheel drive car will tend to
understeer if you keep your foot in the gas, although, it can be made
to oversteer if you tap the brake, or if you have a manual
transmission, quickly dump the throttle after turning in. You can
adjust the balance/oversteer/understeer characteristics of your car by
adjusting tire pressure.

Regardless of the what it says on the door jamb, your personal tire
pressure settings may be different from what is suggested. If you find
the corners/edges of the tread wearing quicker than the center, your
tire pressure is too low. Likewise, if you are wearing the center
quicker than the edges, your tire pressure is too high. Personal
driving habits, how much load you carry, and how it is distributed,
play a huge factor.

All that said, always keep your tires inflated above the minimum
recommended pressure and below the max. Under inflation and excessive
load are the WORST things you can do for your tires, and its not too
good for fuel economy either.

The whole Ford/Firestone mess could have likely been avoided if owners
had followed the numbers on the tire sidewall rather than what Ford
posted on the door jamb. Fords numbers made for a softer ride, with
lower handling limits, but allowed too much heat to build up in the
tires.

BTW, I have a 1994 Passat now, and keep 38PSI in the fronts and 33PSI
in the rears. It isn't much of an autocross monster, but I'm not
afraid to let the tail get a little loose on occasion. ;-)

David Glos

end quote.

Jim B.

....

   It often in not in the manual since they may change tires and if they
use a different size tire, then the numbers need to be changed.

   Glad you found the right numbers.

   I suggest you consider following the recommended numbers.  The
front/rear difference is important for handling.  Running 42 in the back
should be fine, but overinflating the front could cause handling problems.
My guess is the front could loose grip too early in a turn and you could end
up with excessive understear in an emergency situation.  I doubt if you
would see it in normal driving.

   Keep in mind they have developed those numbers with test, not guesses.

   Note the full load recommendations assume you have additional weight in
the back.   If you don't, then you may want to consider that as well.

   In any case good luck.