Kilopascals to PSI
Enter kilopascals and read psi. Divide by 6.894757, or multiply by about 0.145: a tire placard of 240 kPa means about 34.8 psi.
Formula: psi = kPa × 0.14503773773
| Kilopascals (kPa) | Pounds per square inch (psi) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.1450377 |
| 2 | 0.2900755 |
| 3 | 0.4351132 |
| 4 | 0.580151 |
| 5 | 0.7251887 |
| 6 | 0.8702264 |
| 7 | 1.015264 |
| 8 | 1.160302 |
| 9 | 1.30534 |
| 10 | 1.450377 |
| Kilopascals (kPa) | Pounds per square inch (psi) |
|---|---|
| 12 | 1.740453 |
| 15 | 2.175566 |
| 20 | 2.900755 |
| 25 | 3.625943 |
| 30 | 4.351132 |
| 40 | 5.80151 |
| 50 | 7.251887 |
| 60 | 8.702264 |
| 75 | 10.87783 |
| 100 | 14.50377 |
Reading a metric tire placard
The placard in the driver's door frame lists cold tire pressures for the front and rear axles. Cars sold in metric markets give the figure in kilopascals, often with psi in brackets: 230 kPa (33 psi). If only kPa is shown and your gauge reads psi, divide by 6.9 for a figure accurate to a fraction of a psi, close enough for any pump.
Heavy loads or a full set of passengers can call for a higher pressure, and many placards list a second, loaded value. Use that one when you set off on a long trip with a full car.
Common placard values
- 200 kPa ≈ 29.0 psi
- 220 kPa ≈ 31.9 psi
- 240 kPa ≈ 34.8 psi
- 250 kPa ≈ 36.3 psi
- 300 kPa ≈ 43.5 psi
The kilopascal and the psi
The pascal is the SI unit of pressure, one newton on one square meter. It is tiny, so pressures you can feel are written in kilopascals: the air at sea level presses at about 101 kPa. Psi comes from the US system, the force of a pound on a square inch, and equals about 6.895 kPa. The SI Brochure defines the pascal; NIST gives the exact route to psi.
Bar is a third common unit, exactly 100 kPa. To move between bar and psi, use bar to psi or psi to bar.
Gauges sold for export often print both scales on one dial, kPa on the outer ring and psi on the inner one, so you can read either without converting.
Do
- Set pressures with cold tires
- Use the placard figure, not the sidewall maximum
Avoid
- Rounding 6.895 to 7 when the result decides a safety margin
- Mixing an absolute reading with a gauge reading in one calculation
One kilopascal in other units
One kilopascal in every other pressure unit on this site
- Bar0.01 bar
- Pounds per square inch0.14503774 psi
- Standard atmospheres0.0098692327 atm
kPa to psi questions
What is a single kilopascal in psi?
About 0.145038 psi.
What is 220 kPa in psi?
About 31.9 psi.
How many kPa is 32 psi?
About 220.6 kPa. Multiply psi by 6.894757 to go the other way.
Why do some tire placards show kPa?
Canada, Australia and other metric countries use the kilopascal for tire pressures. Many placards print kPa and psi side by side so drivers can use either gauge.