Car Tire Pressure

10 things you need to know about the auto biz if you're shopping for a new car

You've done your research. You've test-driven the vehicles you're considering. You think you're a well-informed consumer, right?

Well, there are things the automakers aren't telling you. But it's not necessarily a case of deception. It's just the quickly changing auto industry.

Here then, are 10 things your automaker isn't telling you.

• "If your tire pressure is low, you have a 25 percent chance of guessing which one."

The federal government requires that all automakers equip new cars with tire-pressure monitors. There are two types. One uses a sensor at each wheel to measure the precise pressure. It's more expensive than the other one, which signals the driver if one wheel is turning at a slower speed than the others. This version, which is more common, doesn't tell you which tire is low. In most cases, the low tire-pressure light can be reset only by the dealer.

• "We did away with the spare tire."

Don't look now, but your next car might not have a spare tire. Some cars, such as the Chevrolet Cruze Eco, replace the spare tire with a tire-inflator kit. Ditching the spare tire and jack saves 26pounds and helps improve fuel economy. Other cars, such as the Mazda MX-5 Miata, don't have room for an on-board spare.

• "Our new option is the same as our competitors'."

The global recession has thinned the number of automotive suppliers. This means that for some options, such as voice activation, transmissions or a night-vision camera, every automaker buys them from the same supplier.

• "Smoking will cost you extra."

All cars and many trucks once were fitted with ashtrays and lighters. Space once used for ashtrays is taken up by a cupholder or mobile-phone slot. If you want an ashtray, it's usually optional, if it's offered at all.

• "You'll need that optional rear-view camera."

The current trend in design is vehicles with small windows and high trunk lids. This makes it difficult to see out of the back window while backing up. Rear-view cameras, which come on when the car is in reverse, are becoming a mandatory option for those concerned with safety.

• "You can't fix your car anymore."

According to an engineer at General Motors, the average new car or truck has 23 CPUs, or central processing units, in it. Some hybrids have more lines of computer code than it took to launch the first rocket to the moon. Aside from an oil and filter change, most maintenance no longer can be handled by shade-tree mechanics.

Maintaining Right Tire Pressure Is A Huge Money Saver | pimsusa.org

Many car drivers spend time looking after their vehicles to be sure that mud and road film are cleaned off regularly. Additionally, they bring their car in for service every 3,000 miles to make the oil changed and check all the filters and fluid levels. And most people will even spend a whole Saturday detailing the inside of their cars to try and make them looking new. Perhaps the wheel trims and sidewalls are kept sparkling, but how about the tire pressures? Accurate tire pressure is a vital part of car maintenance and this article will discuss it in additional detail. Get an Extended Auto Warranty to help.

Tire pressure problems arise from two main reasons: too much pressure in the tire or too little pressure inside the tire. One more thing you must do is to check the owners manual on the car to discover the right tire pressure. Don’t confuse the tire pressure stamped onto the tire itself with the correct on-the-road tire pressure because they are very different. Pressure marked on the tire is the maximum safe inflation for that particular type of tire. The suggested tire pressures can be determined in the owners manual which sometimes show two different figures for front and rear tire pressures.

If you have too much air pressure in your tires, the amount of the tire that is making contact with the ground is much less. As a result, your car becomes less controllable which can be particularly dangerous when driving in the rain or on snow and ice making a major accident much more likely. You could then jeopardize life and limb of yourself and any other car occupants. If you are lucky and escape injury, you will probably end up with a hefty bill to repair the damage to your car.

Tires that happen to be under inflated can create abnormal wear on the outer side of the tread because the sidewall is running on the streets surface. In case you have too little air pressure the tire will run on the sidewalls, and the side walls aren’t planned to be getting contact with the road. When this occurs you can drastically lessen the life of your tires and could even cause blow outs while your driving. This can force you to lose control of your car and you’ll be looking at recovery costs if you don’t carry a spare tire when you do come to a stop.

You can even receive better fuel consumption by simply keeping your tires inflated properly. As stated previously, lower pressure tires put a greater area of rubber onto the asphalt and it makes your engine work more difficult to push against the increased resistance. The result is that you apply a lot more gasoline per mile travelled. The extra drag due to the running on inaccurately inflated tires can cut your miles per gallon figure by as many as 10 per cent which will hit you in the pocket.

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