Jerry, yes lowering tire pressure would give a softer ride but at the expense of tire longevity and maybe safety. Note my post of 4/9/00 on Michelin MXV4s. The bar stands for barometric pressure and 1,7 bars means 1.7 times barometric pressure (at sea level). It's the unit of pressure used in metric countries (almost all countries except the USA). By the way I live in Exeter and bought my 2000 E320 at MB of Bakersfield three weeks ago - love it. RandyC