![]() ![]() ![]() Checking your tire pressure in this scenario will likely reveal that you haven’t lost all that much air. However, this is usually nothing to worry about. If a nut holds them in place, they probably have pressure sensors inside.Ĭooler weather is another element that can affect your tire pressure-so much so that I’ve had my tire light go off on more than a few cool mornings. Not sure which system your car uses? Take a look at the valve stems. Indirect tire-pressure monitoring systems, by contrast, don’t use pressure sensors at all instead using wheel-speed sensor data to determine the size of your tire based on how fast it’s rotating–an underinflated tire, for instance, is smaller than a properly inflated one. Most of the time, the sensors are mounted inside the tire, and because they’re battery operated, they’ll need replacing every ten years or so–sometimes a dead TPMS battery can trigger your tire light. Direct tire-pressure monitoring systems take internal pressure and temperature readings from sensors in each tire and send them, typically wirelessly through a radio signal, to a central control module. There are two types of systems: direct and indirect. Tire-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) are a great safety innovation, alerting you if they notice any fluctuations in your tire pressure-which could be tell-tale signs of an incoming flat tire. “Driving with incorrect tire pressures can affect a vehicle’s handling and braking, particularly in wet conditions, and can seriously compromise your safety,” Russel Shepherd, technical communications director at Michelin tires, tells Popular Mechanics. The properly inflated tires put down very similar numbers. While this does happen, we put the idea to the test quite a while ago, and the results yielded incredibly small improvements in fuel efficiency-along with considerable discomfort for the test editors involved. Sure, some anoraks would argue that overinflating your tires causes the surface of the tire to balloon ever so slightly, making the contact patch smaller their logic is that less surface area leads to less rolling resistance. Properly inflated tires will have a perfectly flat contact patch.Overinflated tires will have a convex contact patch.Underinflated tires will have a concave contact patch.Properly inflated tires maximize the size of your contact patch without risking safety at higher speeds, though this changes when you’re going off-road. While tires may seem quite large, the contact patch where the rubber meets the road is actually quite small-roughly the size of a football. Quick check-ups every month can not only make sure your rubber goes the distance, but can improve fuel efficiency, comfort, and even performance. And that’s really no surprise, as your tires are the only part of your vehicle that actually touch the ground. Maintaining appropriate tire pressure is one of the easiest (and most overlooked ways) to improve your driving experience. ![]()
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