Tyre pressure
Vehicle placards list cold inflation pressure in psi, bar or kPa depending on the market, and gauges are sold marked in any of them. A 32 psi recommendation is 2.21 bar; European placards typically state 2.2 bar, which is 31.9 psi.
Pressure
Convert psi to bar
1 pound per square inch equals 0.068947573 bars. Enter a value below to convert instantly.
PSI to bar is the tyre-and-workshop conversion. One bar is 14.5038 psi, close enough to 14.5 that the two are often treated as interchangeable in conversation — and far enough apart that a tyre inflated by that assumption ends up a few percent off.
1 psi
0.068947573 bar
Multiply the number of pounds per square inch by 0.0689475729317 to get bars. How this is calculated
Need the other direction? Convert bar to pound per square inch →
Formula
Multiply the number of pounds per square inch by 0.0689475729317 to get bars.
Step by step
- Start with 1 psi.
- Multiply by the conversion factor 0.0689475729317.
- 1 × 0.0689475729317 = 0.068947573 bar.
Pounds per Square Inch to Bars conversion table
| Pounds per Square Inch (psi) | Bars (bar) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.068947573 |
| 2 | 0.13789515 |
| 5 | 0.34473786 |
| 10 | 0.68947573 |
| 20 | 1.3789515 |
| 50 | 3.4473786 |
| 100 | 6.8947573 |
| 500 | 34.473786 |
| 1,000 | 68.947573 |
Where pounds per square inch and bars are used together
Hydraulic and pneumatic systems
Component ratings, hose burst pressures and relief valve settings are published in whichever unit the manufacturer uses. Mixing units when specifying a replacement part is a safety issue, not just an arithmetic one.
Diving and gas cylinders
Cylinder working pressures are stated in bar in most of the world and psi in the US — 200 bar and 3,000 psi are the two common standards, and they are not the same (200 bar is 2,901 psi).
Espresso and pressure washers
Consumer equipment is marketed in bar in Europe and psi in the US. A '9 bar' espresso machine is 130.5 psi; a '2,000 psi' pressure washer is 137.9 bar.
Everyday pounds per square inch worth knowing
Values people actually look up, with the reason each one comes up. Every figure is calculated with the same engine as the converter above.
| Pound per Square Inch (psi) | Bar (bar) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 14.5038 | 1.0000018 | Exactly one bar |
| 14.6959 | 1.0132466 | One standard atmosphere |
| 30 | 2.0684272 | A common car tyre pressure |
| 32 | 2.2063223 | A common car tyre pressure |
| 35 | 2.4131651 | A common car tyre pressure |
| 100 | 6.8947573 | Shop air line pressure |
| 3,000 | 206.84272 | A US diving cylinder |
| 5,000 | 344.73786 | A hydraulic system rating |
How these two units are defined
The pascal is the SI unit: one newton per square metre. A bar is exactly 100,000 Pa, chosen because it is close to average atmospheric pressure at sea level (101,325 Pa, which is one standard atmosphere). The pound per square inch is exactly 6,894.757293168 Pa, following from the exact definitions of the pound-force and the inch. Neither the bar nor the psi is an SI unit, but both remain in wide industrial use — the bar in Europe, the psi in the US and in most tyre and hydraulic equipment.
Rounding and precision
The factor is exact, but tyre and workshop gauges are typically accurate to about ±1 psi (±0.07 bar), so converted values should be rounded to one decimal place in bar or the nearest whole psi. Do not round a converted pressure to a 'nicer' number in the direction of lower pressure on a safety-critical system — round toward the manufacturer's specification and verify with a calibrated gauge.
Mistakes people make with this conversion
-
Confusing gauge pressure with absolute pressure
A tyre gauge reads gauge pressure — the amount above atmospheric. 32 psi on the gauge is about 46.7 psi absolute. Datasheets that specify 'bara' or 'psia' mean absolute and are a full atmosphere higher than the gauge figure.
-
Treating 1 bar as 1 atmosphere
A bar is 100,000 Pa; a standard atmosphere is 101,325 Pa. They differ by 1.3%, which is negligible for a tyre and not for a calibration.
-
Using the maximum sidewall pressure as the target
The number moulded into a tyre sidewall is a maximum, not a recommendation. The correct cold inflation pressure comes from the vehicle's door-jamb placard or handbook.
Read more about these units
Sources for this page
- SI Brochure — The International System of Units (SI), 9th edition
- Special Publication 811 — Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)
Content on this page last reviewed 12 August 2026. Spotted an error? Report it — see also how these values are calculated.
Convert Pound per Square Inch to other pressure units
1 psi expressed in every other pressure unit on this site.
- Pascal Pa 6,894.7573
- Kilopascal kPa 6.8947573
- Megapascal MPa 0.0068947573
- Gigapascal GPa 0.0000068947573
- Hectopascal hPa 68.947573
- Decipascal dPa 68,947.573
- Millipascal mPa 6,894,757.3
- Micropascal µPa 6,894,757,300
- Nanopascal nPa 6,894,757,300,000
- Picopascal pPa 6.8947573e+15
- Femtopascal fPa 6.8947573e+18
- Attopascal aPa 6.8947573e+21
- Centipascal cPa 689,475.73
- Dekapascal daPa 689.47573
- Terapascal TPa 6.8947573e-9
- Petapascal PPa 6.8947573e-12
- Exapascal EPa 6.8947573e-15
- Newton per Square Centimeter N/cm² 0.68947573
- Newton per Square Millimeter N/mm² 0.0068947573
- Bar bar 0.068947573
- Millibar mbar 68.947573
- Microbar µbar 68,947.573
- Dyne per Square Centimeter dyn/cm² 68,947.573
- Standard Atmosphere atm 0.068045964
- Technical Atmosphere at 0.070306958
- Torr Torr 51.714933
- Millitorr mTorr 51,714.933
- Pound per Square Inch psi 1
- Kip per Square Inch ksi 0.001
- Pound per Square Foot psf 144
- Poundal per Square Foot pdl/ft² 4,633.063
- Short Ton-force per Square Foot tonf/ft² (US) 0.072
- Long Ton-force per Square Foot tonf/ft² (UK) 0.064285714
- Short Ton-force per Square Inch tonf/in² (US) 0.0005
- Long Ton-force per Square Inch tonf/in² (UK) 0.00044642857
- Kilogram-force per Square Meter kgf/m² 703.06958
- Kilogram-force per Square Centimeter kgf/cm² 0.070306958
- Kilogram-force per Square Millimeter kgf/mm² 0.00070306958
- Gram-force per Square Centimeter gf/cm² 70.306958
- Millimeter of Mercury mmHg 51.714925
- Centimeter of Mercury cmHg 5.1714925
- Inch of Mercury inHg 2.0360207
- Millimeter of Water mmH₂O 703.06958
- Centimeter of Water cmH₂O 70.306958
- Meter of Water mH₂O 0.70306958
- Inch of Water inH₂O 27.679905
- Foot of Water ftH₂O 2.3067822
- Inch of Mercury (60 °F) inHg (60 °F) 2.0417719
- Inch of Water (60 °F) inH₂O (60 °F) 27.707258
- Foot of Water (60 °F) ftH₂O (60 °F) 2.3089382
About the pound per square inch
The pound per square inch (psi) is a Imperial unit of pressure.
About the bar
The bar (bar) is a Metric unit of pressure.
Related conversions
Frequently asked questions
How many psi is one bar?
14.5038 psi. A bar is exactly 100,000 pascals and a psi is exactly 6,894.757293168 pascals, so the ratio is fixed and exact.
What is 32 psi in bar?
32 psi is 2.206 bar, normally read as 2.2 bar on a European gauge. The corresponding kPa figure is 220.6.
Is a bar the same as an atmosphere?
Close but not equal. One standard atmosphere is 101,325 Pa or 1.01325 bar — about 1.3% more than a bar, and 14.696 psi rather than 14.504.
How many bars are in a pound per square inch?
One pound per square inch equals 0.068947573 bars.
How do you convert pounds per square inch to bars?
Multiply the number of pounds per square inch by 0.0689475729317 to get bars.
What is 1 bar in pounds per square inch?
One bar equals 14.503774 pounds per square inch.
When would I convert pounds per square inch to bars?
This conversion is common when tire inflation, weather forecasting, diving, and industrial systems.