Interesting Tyre Observation.

[Joseph D]

I was just waiting my turn this afternoon for the tyre pump this afternoon, and noticed the initial reading of the Ford C-Max in front of me was only 9 PSI. I was a bit taken aback, as from looking at the tyre it did not seem so flat. However, the driver was obviously aware that he had a slow leak, as he only pumped up the one tyre (to 30 PSI).

Anyway, my take away from this is don't go by sight, check your pressures with a reliable gauge.

BTW mine just needed one PSI in the fronts and a couple in the rears. My mpg's are still pretty good, so it was just a routine check.

[Gandalf-LoJ]

A good visual aid that I've recently added to our Prius are some pressure caps that clearly show if the tyres are under inflated. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOTORCYCLE-TYRE-PRESSURE-ALERT-VALVE-CAP-PSI-35-37-/220640626067?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item335f34c593

I've got 38 at the front and 36 at the rear. Slightly over the pressures that is in the manual but well within the limits of the tyres and our fuel economy at the moment is hovering around 70MPG (Indicated on the dash) now it's warming up :) As you say, tyre pressure is the single biggest hit to MPG that's practically free to fix!

Seems that the US get a fancy digital monitoring system but we don't over here. Shame, as it'd be far neater to have something like this built into the MFD :)

[Sagitar]

A good visual aid that I've recently added to our Prius are some pressure caps that clearly show if the tyres are under inflated. http://www.ebay.co.u...=item335f34c593

I've got 38 at the front and 36 at the rear. Slightly over the pressures that is in the manual but well within the limits of the tyres and our fuel economy at the moment is hovering around 70MPG (Indicated on the dash) now it's warming up :) As you say, tyre pressure is the single biggest hit to MPG that's practically free to fix!

Seems that the US get a fancy digital monitoring system but we don't over here. Shame, as it'd be far neater to have something like this built into the MFD :)

For heaven's sake - NO . Have you looked at the specifications for these devices and the wide tolerances that apply.

It is important to make a habit of doing a weekly check of things like fluid levels etc and include your tyres in that check. Look at them for damage, run a hand (carefully) over the parts that you can't see and feel for damage, check for signs of uneven wear and put a decent pressure gauge on them to check the pressure. Re-inflate if necessary.

The condition of your tyres is crucial to your safety and anything that makes it less likely that you will spend a little time getting to know and remaining familiar with their condition is in my view a bad move.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I agree with Sagitar. There are NO short cuts to tyre safety.

Buy yourself a reliable tyre guage and/or pump and check your tyres at least every two weeks. Check them when you wash your car and it takes 2 mins.

Being a professional driver I can't stress enough the importance of looking after your tyres. Look after them and they look after you. I know of a fair number of cases where drivers have had blow outs resulting in near misses or accidents because of tyre issues. You have a £20k car; why risk it for the sake of a set of £4 dubious quality safety caps or saving 2 mins every 2 weeks checking the pressures.

[johalareewi]

Although the visual pressure caps or TPMS system could be a useful addition to regular tyre checks in case anything happens between the checks. Like the local scallywag decides to deflate one of your tyres. But it shouldn't replace regular tyre checks.

[wass]

I believe that these days, petrol stations who provide tyre inflation facilities are obligued to have the pressure gauges on these facilities regularly checked and replaced if necessary. ( use to be recalibrated but replacement with a factory calibrated gauge is cheaper) I always use the same pressure gauge to check my tyres and I check this against the gauges at the petrol stations and the majority of them give similar readings. ( my own gauge always reads about 2 psi low by comparison).