Need to check your tire pressure? Head to the Internets
Man, for the days of a pressure gauge and a knowledge of your tires correct PSI. Today, if you're thinking about checking out what pressure your ride needs (and you're in the UK), there's a website that can help keep your mileage from suffering due to underinflated tires. Yes, a website.Here's how it's supposed to work:
TyreSafe has teamed up with global information solutions provider, Experian, allowing motorists to have access to an online service which supplies the tyre pressures for their vehicle. Motorists just have to log on to www.tyresafe.org, key in their vehicle registration number, and the tyre pressures for both front and rear tyres will be displayed. The free pressure check facility is being provided to motorists in the run up to, and including, tyre safety month which runs throughout the month of October.
I don't know how tires are made in the UK, but don't they have the correct inflation information printed on the side, the way we do here in the US? Do we really need a website that tells you something you can easily figure out by looking at a tire? I don't doubt TyreSafe's statistic that 90 percent of motorists don't know the correct inflation pressures for their tires, but a website that gives them that info, instead of just teaching them to look? I cannot wait until someone adds WiFi to their TPMS and makes that available online. Perhaps add an RSS feed for when your tires are low, send that info to an iPhone and then we'll be living in the future.
[Source: TyreSafe]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Activist 5:37PM (9/22/2007)
It seems like an Orwellian big-brother scam. Once you give them your vehicle registration number, they'll link it to your email address/IP address/ web browser cookies, etc. Tire pressure advice is just the bait. If they weren't interested in your identity, they would provide your tire pressure from your car's year/model rather than looking up your registration. Experian is a data mining company that is receiving money from so-called anti-terrorism bills. They also track your credit-score. Be on the lookout for other attempts to undermine your privacy, enhance the police state and track activists who "don't play along." How much of your privacy do you want to entrust to government and corporations? Beware of websites asking for your date of birth, also. Sharing this information also makes you vulnerable to identity theft. For tire pressure, read your owner's manual or the tire itself!
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dave 6:36PM (9/22/2007)
Just to clarify, never go by what is printed on the side of the tire, that is the max that tire can handle. On every vehicle sold in the USA there is a tire pressure sticker attached to a door jam or in the trunk. Go by what it says..
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TPR 5:25PM (9/23/2007)
Dave is correct. That number on the side of your tire means that it the maximum pressure the tire could safely sustain. Yes, the sticker is the authority for correct pressures.
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bolhuijo 12:11PM (9/23/2007)
Yeah, what dave said. Tire sidewall numbers are correct only for the max load rating of the tire - usually around 50psi. Check your owners manual! It will tell you where the placard is located that tells you the preferred inflation pressures for your car. Follow those numbers, and you'll get a comfortable ride with the handling characteristics intended by the manufacturer. Pump all 4 tires up to 50psi and you'll get a jittery bumpier ride with unknown emergency handling characteristics. If you want to, you can experiment with a few psi over the recommended numbers to see if you like the results. Also, you can lose a little more air without getting into soft-tire territory that way.
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bill 10:01AM (9/24/2007)
I checked the air pressure in my tires yesterday using a tire pressure gauge. This is becoming a lost art and probably needs to be taught in classes specializing in the teaching of lost arts. Due to the drop in average temperature I added a couple of pounds to each tire based upon the rule of thumb of losing a pound of air pressure for each 10 degree drop in temperature.
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Shaun 2:28PM (9/24/2007)
1) They ask for your tag number not registration.
I used a public traffic camera from the UK and looked up several peoples tires pressures using this. Which seems really silly that I can do this in the US.
2) As mentioned by a few people the MAX inflation pressure is lited on the tire. That is cold tire pressure just as listed on your owners manual/door jam.
I honestly am amazed by the number of people that don't understand cold tire pressure. "I drove home and checked my pressure. It was way to high so I let some air out until it was what the sticker said."
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RON 2:18PM (9/27/2007)
like everyone else is saying look for the sticker on the car, however if your car doesn't have it due to age, repaint, or something else. Your local tire dealer is just a phone call away, and if they are ANY GOOD they should have those #'s readily available
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