I'm not a fan of all the nannies on cars. IMO it makes people lazier drivers. Those nannies are there to add to ones driving safety, not to be a substitute for good driving. Licensing in the USofA is a real joke. Having better driver training would be better than any nanny. Just my .02..... :-)

 

Pilots do a pre-flight inspection before every flight.


Do you fully inspect your car before every single time you get behind the wheel? Check tire pressure? Oil? Coolant? The operation of all lights?


You can defame warning lights by calling them nannies but they serve their purpose.

 

Why yes I can defame them. I do a walk around every time before I drive my car. My hood is pulled at least once a week or more if driven more miles. The FAA does not require me to do a pre-flight, but being vigilant is a very good idea. Most folks have no clue yet they drive among us. With bald under-inflated tires yacking on their phones secure in the knowledge nanny will save them from being stupid. Heck most don't even know they are nanny equipped.

 

A walk-around doesn't check tire pressure nor oil pressure/quantity. And even if you do those things every single time you drive any distance, you can't check anything while you're driving.


Which proves my point that we all benefit from the warning lights.


Yes, there are stupid people who do stupid things like texting while driving. But nobody is perfect all the time.


I think most people know that cars come with warning lights, even if there's an occasional person who keeps driving when a light comes on.


We do need to do a better job, though, letting people know that the TPMS isn't a substitute for occasionally checking tire pressure, because the light comes on after pressure is quite a bit low.

 

Of course one can't tell an exact air pressure by looking at a tire, but you can get a pretty good idea of when one is low. My TPMS nanny doesn't go off so I guess my technique is good enough for me. I do have a car with zero nannies & even though that makes it so unsafe I manage OK. ;-)

If we had better driver training they could be taught about the modern nannies. Or how abs brakes work. Oh well it ain't gonna happen. I've taught my family members.

 

I was specifically taught that you can't get an idea of tire pressure by looking at a tire, not with radials. They could be pretty low before it's noticeable.








I don't know what they teach in driver's ed these days but the safe driver course I take every 3 years covers ABS. Might also cover TPMS but I don't remember.

 

good it helped you. if its a car i drive on a daily basis or my hobby cars i can tell which tire is losing air. the tpms just verifies later if i couldnt get off the road in time. i drive rental cars often for biz and for those cars i like tpms as i am usually unfamiliar with the cars i get as far as how they're supposed to drive.

yah, it is difficult to tell if regular tires like the ones the Fit comes with. people say low profiles tires are even harder to tell, but i never thought so. it's easier to tell as it should look nearly perfectly round with minimal bulging. run flats are tricky to tell when they are low in air due to reinforcements inside..

anyway, good to hear the tpms did its job in your case.

 

I'm not clear if there is a direct link (cause & effect) between the deployment of TPMS and the low tire pressure caused wrecks of Ford Explorers and Cooper Tires. The 80's are a blur for me (kids).

Anyway, as stated above, nobody can really tell if things are A-OK unless they put a reliable gauge on the tire to check. You could drive 1 mile after that, run over a nail, get a slow leak on your thousand mile drive to Florida and think all is well until it isn't.

I have "suffered" mightily from Honda's TPMS with all 4 units dying by ~55K miles and 3 were just after I put new tires on. I could easily have an attitude about TPMS.

My wife's 2009 CIVIC has it and it alerted her of low pressure but she just kept talking and driving through the entire length of Virginia at 70 mph. Two days later when I saw that the tire was flat, she said, "Oh yea, some light on the dash came on during the trip." The tire was blistered inside beyond use and had to be replaced. So, even with TPMS, some people just don't get it and put themselves, passengers, and others on the road with them at risk.

Hopefully, TPMS saves someone. My only wish would be that it didn't require a $50 sending unit, etc, etc.

 

hahahaha! funny story about your wife. but not surprised, most people are like that, i think.

 

It takes time to educate some people. My wife knows what that TPMS light means. It means get your husband to fix it NOW!!!

 

it was ford v firestone that ended with us stuck with these tpms thingamabobs. since i am a person with summer rims/tires and a separate set of winter rims/winter tires on two vehicles. you can imagine i am not a fan of tpms one single bit

 

Yes, I went through that: Light comes on when you "really" need gas, lights show you that your left / right turn signal is on, one shows you that your high beams are on, ......

Told her that all of those lights mean something. If one comes on, the manual is in the glove box or call me.

Like when she couldn't get money out of the ATM. Are you using the Debit card? Ahhh, no. Using the Credit card. There you go.

Running the TV, Roku, stereo is the same way. I numbered each controller and have a flow chart with numbers on how to do whatever she wants. Ahhh, no.

 

When I was in my late teens I worked in a full service gas station. A lady (regular customer) pulled in one day and asked what that oil light was for. I checked her oil and there was none on the stick. I told her I needed to add at least one and maybe 2 quarts of oil. She refused over my objections and said that her husband takes care of the oil. She drove off and locked up the engine on her way home. Her husband came on the next day really POed at me. All I said was she did not like some 18 or 19 year old telling her what to do.

Got a text this Christmas eve from 2 women I know driving a motor home. One stated that it was steering funny. I told them to check the tire pressure in all 6 tires and also the rear air suspension. They drove it that way over 200 miles to their destination and sent me a text today that they finally checked it today. They found several low tires. They had not been checked since the beginning of August.

You can not fix stupid.

 

Years ago a lady that worked for me was complaining about how bad her 2-wheel drive Isuzu Rodeo was in snow. I recommended putting sandbags in the back to get more weight over the rear tires. I was thinking one on each side.

We had a big snow storm and she asked if I could take her to work because the Rodeo was just slipping. When I got there, the headlights were pointing up about 20 deg - 30 deg above horizontal and the back was way down. She had put in 6 sandbags.

While looking at this that's when I noticed the bald tires. Ahhhh..... No wonder!

She also seized a engine in a previous car. Ran it 2.5 yrs without checking the oil (no oil changes).

 

I use cheap chinese steelies from Tirerack and General Alimax Artic snow tires. In my 2012 Sport, going to a set of TPMS sensors was a must. If the TPMS light is on, the traction control cannot be turned off. No biggie UNTIL you get into deep snow and have to power through it. The traction control will not let you do it without turning the traction control off. The only other way to do it without the switch is to disconnect the ABS pump under the hood. I actually run my summer wheels and tires with the TPMS light on all the time. The system can only recognize 4 sensors at one time, and I'm not paying to have them reprogrammed every year. When I put my summer wheels and tires on it does not recognize them, but when I put my winter wheels and tires on it remembers those sensors. This is the fourth year I've used this combination with no issues. I have had every winter tire brand that I can think of, and the generals do very well and last much longer. Just my two cents. I use 185 70 14's btw.

 

I've used Nokian Hakkapeliitta which are by far the best winter tire I've ever used. Had two sets of Blizzak, one set of Hankook IPike and I can say the General Altimax Arctic 12 that I just put on I rank as the worst snow tires I've used. I bought based on all the reviews like yours, and that was a mistake. I believe the worn Blazzak that I took off and put on my sons car worked better worn, than the new Altimax that I installed. Never again, but if you're happy that's all that matters for you. I just wouldn't recommend them.

 

Fair enough. It boils down to personal experience sometimes.

 

i've had blizzaks and xi2's currently. i like 'em both and without giving a recommendation, would just say get winter tires. they make a huge difference

 

The ARCTIC 12 are not the same as the Altimax ARCTIC . The Altimax ARCTIC have much more siping and the sipes go close to the base of the tire . Tread depth is 12/32s' . They're also studdable . The ARCTIC 12 were released in late fall of '17 . The siping is not as deep , maybe 1/4 of the tread depth . That's likely the reason for its poor performance and relies more on studding for grasping . I've looked at them at Wal-Mart and would not purchase them . Hopefully GENERAL won't drop the the Altimax ARCTIC . Very good winter tire for under $70 before studding . Go to , http://generaltire.com/ for details .

 

The direct TPMS on Fits won't do a THING if ALL the tires lose the same amount of pressure, I noticed. Just FYI.