Hey everyone,
As many of you know, I got a new car from a dealer not too long ago and have been happily driving it since August 2023. Recently, though, with all the rain in Sydney, the roads are like a minefield of potholes. I've tried my best to dodge them, but sometimes you just can't see them until it's too late.
Tonight, my tyre pressure monitor decided to make my evening interesting by flashing a 'low pressure detected' warning. I immediately thought, "Great, must be from that pothole I hit earlier today." So, I rushed to the nearest servo to check things out. The tyres looked fine—no flats or anything—but I figured I'd better top them up just in case.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. I checked the door sticker for the recommended pressure, and to my surprise, it was all in kPa and bar, no PSI. Luckily, the servo had kPa measurements. The sticker said 250 kPa for minimal passengers, so I went with that since I'm usually driving solo.
To my shock, it took forever to fill up the tyres. Turns out, all four tyres were at 180 kPa—grossly under-inflated! This whole time since I left the dealer, I'd been driving around on under-inflated tyres. Apparently, the dealer must have rushed the prep and set the pressure way too low, and the tyre pressure monitor just accepted that as the norm.
So, lesson learned: when you drive off the dealer's lot with your new car, head straight to the servo and check the tyre pressure. Chances are, it might be all wrong like mine was. Fingers crossed I didn't cause any damage to these pricey 18' continentals!
Stay safe and check those tyres, folks!
As many of you know, I got a new car from a dealer not too long ago and have been happily driving it since August 2023. Recently, though, with all the rain in Sydney, the roads are like a minefield of potholes. I've tried my best to dodge them, but sometimes you just can't see them until it's too late.
Tonight, my tyre pressure monitor decided to make my evening interesting by flashing a 'low pressure detected' warning. I immediately thought, "Great, must be from that pothole I hit earlier today." So, I rushed to the nearest servo to check things out. The tyres looked fine—no flats or anything—but I figured I'd better top them up just in case.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. I checked the door sticker for the recommended pressure, and to my surprise, it was all in kPa and bar, no PSI. Luckily, the servo had kPa measurements. The sticker said 250 kPa for minimal passengers, so I went with that since I'm usually driving solo.
To my shock, it took forever to fill up the tyres. Turns out, all four tyres were at 180 kPa—grossly under-inflated! This whole time since I left the dealer, I'd been driving around on under-inflated tyres. Apparently, the dealer must have rushed the prep and set the pressure way too low, and the tyre pressure monitor just accepted that as the norm.
So, lesson learned: when you drive off the dealer's lot with your new car, head straight to the servo and check the tyre pressure. Chances are, it might be all wrong like mine was. Fingers crossed I didn't cause any damage to these pricey 18' continentals!
Stay safe and check those tyres, folks!