In Praise Of The AL-TPWS (4-Tyres Pressure Monitor)

[Rabbers]

The contents of the multi-information system are always useful, often indispensable, and can sometimes offer relief

from boredom on long drives or when you are stuck in traffic.  The AL-TPWS is a good addition, and will impress and edify

anybody who, like me, has never previously driven a car that simultaneously shows the pressures of all four tyres, thus

providing, at the touch of a button, figures that might not get checked as regularly as they should and whose fluctuations

in day-to-day driving would otherwise not be visible.

 

I never before realized, for example, how parking parallel to a high wall, as I do in my garden at home, results in significantly

lower pressures in the tyres on the exposed side of the car, where, for the same reason, frost will also tend to be thicker

after a cold night.  Depending on how cold the night was, I have seen readings as low as 2.2BAR (32psi) front/2.3BAR (33psi)

rear, which, in my experience, require you to drive for at least 15km before you can heave a sigh of contentment at the sight

of all four tyres re-aligning themselves to the recommended 2.5BAR (36psi)/2.6BAR (38psi), thus allowing you to proceed on

your way with the happy feeling that everything is ship-shape and under control.  Not that the pressures will necessarily

remain constant, since long curves taken at a brisk speed  can momentarily raise the pressure of the front tyre corresponding

to the direction of the curve by 0.1BAR while a series of tight curves on a winding uphill climb involving frequent braking

and/or use of the paddles will sometimes similarly affect one or both pairs of tyres.  It will be interesting to see what effects

potentially very high ambient and surface temperatures will have on pressures during summer driving, and I suspect these

may be quite dramatic - or, depending on how you look at it, quite entertaining.

 

Of course, none of this has any bearing whatsoever on how one should drive and park, the sole practical value of the device

being its ability to conveniently identify possible serious deviations from set pressures in specific tyres.  What I am saying,

before anybody scoffs at the child-like wonder such a device inspires in a non-technical person like me, is that the AL-TPWS,

beyond its usefulness in potentially saving your tyres and maybe your bacon, has a role as the provider of yet another bit of

entertainment within the car's bag of tricks.

 

[Edward Mitchell IS250]

I'm all for gizmos like TPWS but concerned re the long-term cost. Until recently I wasn't aware that the sender unit batteries only have a life of 6-10 years, and in some instances, less. Then, you are in for an absolute minimum £150 per wheel, in order for the valve/sender unit to be replaced, and the new sender unit to be configured with the vehicle's receiver computer. If this all happens at the time of fitting new tyres, then the increased cost can come as quite a shock!

[Mossypossy]

I have a secondary monitor that shows pressures of individual tyres. This is maybe why my TPMS light on the dash did not trigger an advisory from the MOT man. Common sense prevailed.