Product information
Tyre pressure monitor
INSTALLING AN AFTERMARKET TYRE PRESSURE MONITOR
Do you want your tyres to last longer?
- Irregular or excessive
tyre wear is often caused by driving on under-inflated tyres.
How often do you check the pressure in your tyres?
- Tyre pressures should
be checked every few days as an under-inflated tyre can seriously affect
the handling of your car or bike. It is also one of the major causes of high-
speed blowouts.
Our ‘tyre pressure monitors’ provide an instant visual check on the air pressure
in each tyre. These simple devices will alert you to any problems with your tyres
before you drive away !! The ‘tyre pressure monitors’ work on a simple ‘Traffic Light’
system. When the tyre pressure monitor is firmly screwed onto the valve stem of a
cold tyre at the correct tyre pressure, the see through dome at the top of the
monitor turns GREEN.
When the tyre pressure drops 3 to 6psi, the AMBER indicator starts to become
visible, and it is now recommended that you top up this tyre with air.
When the tyre pressure drops more than 5 psi the RED indicator starts to become
visible. At 6 to 10 psi drop in pressure, the red is very visible, and this indicates a
seriously under-inflated tyre which should be re-inflated immediately. The pack
contains 2 pressure monitors, for the front or rear axle of your Car/Van. (order
one set of onitors for the tyres on each axle - check your handbook for the
recommended pressures).
The risks of under-inflation:
- Tyre durability and mileage
- Many motorists seem unaware of the fact that a tyre loses pressure naturally over
time, like a balloon, and that driving on incorrect pressure is dangerous and expensive.
- Beyond the dangers of reduced handling control, low tyre pressure has an extremely
negative effect on tyre durability, due to excessive shear stress in the tyre shoulder and
strong heat build-up from sidewall bending.
- Based on the “Think Before You Drive” pressure-check results, 12.5% of drivers, or
1 in 8, face a high risk and possible tyre failure due to these factors.
- A further 1.2% of motorists can be considered to be in imminent danger.
- The effect on tyre wear is no less dramatic. Based on 2005 tyre-check data,
Bridgestone’s Technical Centre Europe calculates that the 44% of motorists at risk are
losing 20.7% of tyre wea life – an average of 10.000 km or 9 months of tyre use (based
on an average wear life of 50.000 km and annual mileage of 13.600 km).
- A further 50% of motorists are losing 5.2% of tyre wear life; an average of 2.500 km or
2 months of tyre use. Adding these two groups together shows that 25.9% of tyre wear is
being lost through under-inflation.
Significant costs for the environment
- Inflation pressure has a strong influence on tyre rolling resistance, which is itself a key
factor in determining vehicle fuel consumption. Depending on type of road and driving style,
rolling resistance represents 18% to 26% of the total force on a vehicle. Since low inflation
increases rolling resistance, it has a direct effect on fuel efficiency and emissions.
- Taking our check-up sample, Bridgestone’s Technical Centre Europe has calculated
that 44% of vehicles face increased fuel consumption of 2.9% due to under-inflation; an
average per vehicle o almost € 40/year (based on average fuel consumption of 8.4l/100 km
and 13.600 km/year). A further 50% of the motoring public loses over 1% in fuel efficiency
through failing to maintain correct tyre pressure.
- Projected on a European basis of 197.5 million cars, this means that more than 8.4
billion litres off additional petrol and diesel costing €10 billion are being consumed due to
under-inflation releasing an additional 19.2 million tons of C0² into the atmosphere.
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