dodomaster

I just bought the 2017 A4 Premium. I love the car but this latest annoyance is bugging me.

How do you see the actual tire pressures using TPMS? All I ever get is that you store the current pressure. If the pressure goes below, you get an alert. If this is how its done, this is STUPID! My old Acura MDX that I traded for the A4 even show pressures for each of the tires. How can a supposedly high technology car not provide the actual tire pressures? It shows the oil contents nicely, why not the tire pressures? This is lame.

VM

There's another thread on this from a few days ago.

The B9 A4 doesn't have individual tire pressure sensors; rather, it uses a system that guesstimates low tire pressure from differential wheel speed sensor readings. Hence the only option is to set the 'normal' readings that the algorithm will use as a baseline...

Dan in St. Louis

I guess you could do this.

exmeaguy

Add it to the list of "surprises" that you come to expect from having it in past cars. I was disappointed too. Buy a good tire gauge and check each tire until you find the one that is low.

lowjdml

If one of your tires is losing air, the system will tell you which tire.

jeffj2h

Sears sells a battery operated hand held tire inflator. It's great. It has a built in pressure gauge too. Have to buy the battery separately.

No more trips to the gas station and digging around for quarters.

exmeaguy

Thanks, good to know it at least does that.

j2488

Theres reason behind the madness.

Comparing tyres to each other is actually a better way to monitor tyre pressure. The reason is that, in cold weather the pressure will drop slightly, and in hot weather it will rise. It will rise even more during spirited driving. So, since the Tyre pressure changes alot, if you had a system measuring actual Tyre pressure, it would need a very small tolerance for it to be accurate between services. This means it would need to be re-calibrated every service.

As well, if all 4 tyres gain pressure or lose pressure because of the conditions, if its a small change, its not likely to be a serious issue. Its only problematic when there is a significant change between the tyre circumferences. Because of that, if you had a system measuring actual tyre pressure, it would throw up warnings relatively often, telling you there was either too much or too little air in the tyres when it was perfectly fine. Measuring circumference is actually more accurate an indicator of the effect of the tyre pressure on the car.

And this doesn't even begin to explore the liability minefield that such a precise measurement might bring with it...

IMYM

To each of its own I guess. One of the reasons I picked the A4 is specifically because it doesn't require the TPMS sensors.

Up here in Canada we need to deal with winter tires, and TPMS is a major PITA. Sometimes car makers switch their TPMS mid-year, and some uses different TPMS in different trims, and some systems have self learning while some don't. Getting the correct information even from the dealer is close to impossible. After dealing with TPMS last time on my van I swear I wont buy another car with TPMS sensor anymore.

yvantheterrible

Not to mention that TPMS will add $200 to $300 to a set of wheels.